The Thistle Archive

Despite attending rugby union-playing Stirling High School, Jimmy developed a keen interest in football, through representative games with his local boys brigade. He began his professional career with Partick Thistle, whom he joined from junior side Airth Castle Rovers in 1968 and spent four seasons with the Jags. During this time they suffered their first relegation from the First Division since season 1900-01, finishing bottom of the table in 1969–70. However, the next season Jimmy was an integral part of the side that won the Second Division title and instant promotion back to the top-flight. He earned another, unexpected, medal in 1971–72 when Thistle won the Scottish League Cup by beating the overwhelming favourites Celtic. Celtic were the reigning League champions and had been European Cup finalists only two years earlier but Jimmy famously “walked the ball into the net” in the 37th minute for a 4–0 half-time lead, the Jags eventually winning 4–1. In all competitions, Jimmy scored over 70 goals in 4 seasons from 1968-69 to 1971-72 and was top of the charts on 3 out of the 4 campaigns.

Sadly for the fans at Firhill, Jimmy moved south of the border in February 1972, joining Norwich City in a £30,000 deal. Whilst at Norwich City, Jimmy travelled with Scotland for the Brazil Independence Cup in the summer of 1972 and played in the 2-2 draw with Yogoslavia. 4 months later he again turned out for Tommy Docherty's side in the World Cup Qualifier in Denmark, scoring in an important 4-1 win. Scotland would top the three-nation group, which also included Czechoslovakia, and reach the finals in Germany. Nice one Jimmy! Noted for his very fast runs down the wing, he helped Norwich secure the Second Division championship at the end of the 1971–72 season and scored the club's first ever goal in Division One at the start of the following campaign. He joined Sheffield United for £30,000 in March 1973. Jimmy made further moves to Celtic (£25,000) and Arbroath (£12,000) in 1974 and 1975 respectively. He stayed with the Red Lichties for three seasons but even his consistent scoring was not enough to make the cut for the new Premier Division, following the league reconstruction of 1975–76.

In January 1978, Jimmy became one of Alex Ferguson's last signings as St Mirren manager, moving to the Paisley club for £25,000. He was appointed captain by Ferguson's successor, Jim Clunie, and helped the side to victory in the Anglo-Scottish Cup and qualification for the UEFA Cup in the 1979–80 season. He moved to Hong Kong Rangers in 1981 and returned to Britain with Hearts in August 1983. Jimmy was one of several veterans in the Hearts team and as a result the side was caustically dubbed Dad's Army. However, the recently promoted side performed above expectations, finishing fifth in the League and qualifying for European competition. Jimmy scored several important goals, including the winner as Hearts defeated derby rivals Hibernian at Tynecastle for the first time in ten years. The following year he notched the side's 6,000th League goal.

He left to take up the role of player-manager at Arbroath in February 1985. Managerial stints followed with Airdrie (1989–1991), Power Dynamos (1991–1992), St Mirren (1992–1996), East Fife (1996–1997) and Stenhousemuir (2001–2002). He served as Alex Smith's assistant at Ross County between 2002 and 2004, before Dick Campbell made him his assistant at Partick Thistle in 2005. When Campbell was sacked in March 2007, Bone assumed the role of caretaker manager for the last two months of the season. He left Partick after their appointment of Ian McCall as manager on 25 May 2007. The following December he moved south of the border to assist fellow Scotsman Bobby Williamson at Chester City but left the position just two months later after a poor run of form.

It's testament to Jimmy's impact that he's a hall-of-famer at Partick Thistle, Norwich City, Arbroath & St Mirren!

He's included in our feature piece, The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists →

1969 - GLASGOW CUP

1971 - SFL SECOND DIVISION

1971 - LEAGUE CUP