The Thistle Archive

In spirit, if not in fact, Joe McBride was one of the Lisbon Lions, the greatest club side ever produced in Scotland. Had injury not cruelly robbed him of the chance to play in that match, he most probably would have featured in the Celtic side which famously won the European Cup on 25 May, 1967. A natural centre forward with an unerring eye for goal and considerable heading ability, McBride was an explosive forward who could make space for himself instantly and was deadly with boot and head. ~ Martin Hannan, The Scotsman, July 2012

Joe was born in Govan, just 200 yards from Ibrox Park. He attended St. Gerard's RC Secondary in Govan, and was a prolific goalscorer for their teams. A clear standout early on, he signed for Kilmarnock when he was 15, and was loaned out to junior sides Shettleston and Kirkintilloch Rob Roy. He made an immediate impact when he was brought into the Kilmarnock first team in late 1957, and was sold to Wolves two years later for £12,500, a significant transfer fee at the time. He was unable to break into the Wolves team in his short period with the club though, and moved to Luton Town for £8,000 but he was unsettled and made little impact, soon returning to Scotland, in November 1960, to join Partick Thistle in a swap deal involving Jim Fleming.

The 22-year-old rediscovered his form with the Jags immediately, and scored on his debut in a 2-1 league win at Dens Park. “Here comes the McBride” said the Evening Times! Despite joining Thistle so late in the season, Joe was only pipped to top scorer by a single goal, with Davie McParland top on 17 goals in all competitions. Almost inevitably, he was the main man in 1961-62, with 21 competitive goals, including an excellent first-half hat-trick in a 3-1 league win at Love Street in November 1961. He was a near ever-present that season, appearing in 43 of the 44 games. After a poor run of results in September 1962, Joe was surprisingly dropped to the reserves, and he was not a happy man. It seemed manager Willie Thornton scored a great own goal, for Joe signed for Motherwell just over a month later. There was extreme disappointment within the Partick Thistle community at this news, and Joe's ratio of over a goal every two games for the Thistle cause explains all. Of course, Thistle went on a stunning run in the immediate aftermath, and were joint-top of the league at New Year, finishing 3rd in the end. Where would they have finished with Joe up top?

In the Scottish game, Joe's good reputation continued to deepen further after his £8,000 transfer to Fir Park. He was Motherwell's top goalscorer in three successive seasons, which attracted the attention of new Celtic manager Jock Stein, who signed him for a fee of £22,000 in the summer of 1965. Along with Alex Ferguson of Dunfermline, Joe was the top goalscorer in the 1965–66 Scottish League with 31 goals. He again scored prolifically during the first part of the 1966–67 season and earned two British Home Championship caps for Scotland in the Autumn, a 1-1 draw away to Wales being followed by a 2-1 win over Northern Ireland. He did well to win any caps at all, competing with the likes of Denis Law and Alan Gilzean up front in the dark blue! Alas, Joe suffered a serious injury in December 1966, which meant that although part of the Lisbon Lions squad, he did not play in the 1967 European Cup Final. He never regained a regular place in the Celtic side, and subsequently transferred to Hibernian in November 1968.

Joe quickly regained his goalscoring form with Hibs, scoring on his debut against Rangers, followed by a hat-trick in his second match against Lokomotive Leipzig, and four goals in his third match against Morton. He was Hibs' top goalscorer in both the 1968–69 and 1969–70 seasons, and scored a second European hat-trick for the club against Malmö FF. Joe left Hibs in 1971, apparently because the club were unhappy that he did not want to move from his home in Glasgow. He ended his playing career in 1972 after short spells with Dunfermline and Clyde. Joe followed many other footballers into the licensed trade, firstly running The Sideline near Celtic Park with former teammate Bertie Auld, and then taking sole charge of the Wee Mill near Shawfield. There was a twist in the tale as he became, as he himself admitted, “my own best customer.” Joe did, however, win his battle with the bottle, to his great credit. Blessed with a natural sense of humour, Joe's self-deprecation was a trait that he used to good effect in his social circles. He was one of the most popular Celtic legends who would meet and greet on official club hospitality duties, and was very often a guest of honour at functions for supporters.

His son, Joe Junior, played as a winger for several clubs including Hibs, Dundee, Everton as well as Scotland Under-21s. Latterly living with his family in Bishopbriggs, Joe’s wife Margaret was one of Scotland’s longest surviving kidney transplant patients before her death from cancer in June 2004. Joe himself died on 11 July 2012 at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, days after suffering a stroke at his home. His funeral took place in Bishopbriggs.

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

1963 - SFL FIRST DIVISION