Jimmy Galt
Jimmy Galt
Jimmy Galt
● Jimmy Galt (FFW)

born in Scotland

James Hill Galt was born on Tuesday, 11th August, 1885, in Saltcoats, North Ayrshire.

The midfielder signed for George Easton's Thistle on Friday, 8th December, 1916, having most recently been with Everton.

Aged 31, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 9th December, 1916, in a 1-0 defeat at home to St Mirren in the Scottish Football League.

There were no goals for Jimmy during his spell with Thistle.

He played his second and final game for the club on Saturday, 23rd December, 1916, in a 2-0 defeat at home to Celtic in the Scottish Football League.

His club-list included Rangers, Ardeer Thistle, Ardrossan Winton Rovers, Everton, Fulham, Partick Thistle, Third Lanark, Clydebank FC and Alloa Athletic.

Jimmy died on Sunday, 17th November, 1935, in Glasgow, aged 50.

Bio Extra

Jimmy signed on at Firhill, and played on two occasions in late 1916. The defender played his first match in a 1-0 defeat in the SFL at home to St Mirren on 8 December 1916. His final Thistle performance was in a 2-0 home defeat to Celtic in the SFL a fortnight later on 23 December 1916. From 1906 to 1914 Jimmy was a Rangers player, but moved to Everton in 1914, and played with them until 1916. He moved from the Toffees to Thistle when war broke out and football was suspended in England. He was also a guest wartime player with Fulham. In an archive record held by the University of Wolverhampton titled “Fulham and the First World War” his recruitment as a guest for Fulham in a match against Brentford was explained as follows: “A number of players failed to turn up for the game due to Army or Munitions commitments and Fulham’s Scottish International inside forward “Wattie” White managed to persuade his old friend Scottish International Jimmy Galt to turn out for Fulham in the match. Galt was a sergeant in charge of a military encampment for motor machine guns in Surrey.” Fulham won 2-0.

Jimmy was awarded two Scotland caps in May 1908 when he was a player at Ibrox. Against Wales and Ireland. Described by Andy Mitchell in “The Men who Made Scotland” as “a cultured half back who played on the left or in the centre” he also appeared for Scotland in an unofficial wartime international match between Scotland and England in 1916. Jimmy was also a very capable golfer, and played to a high standard.

Jimmy subsequently became a Lieutenant in the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders, but was wounded in action. He didn’t fully recover from his wartime experiences, and several attempts to return to post war football failed. In retirement he and his former Ibrox teammate Jimmy Gordon started a business running billiard halls. He died in Whitecraigs in November 1935 aged 50.

On account of his service during WWI, Jimmy is included in our feature piece, The Partick Thistle returned →.

(DMAC)



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