John Wallace
John Wallace
John Wallace
● John Wallace, 1936 (HA)

probably born in Scotland

John Blyth Wallace was born on Sunday, 3rd September, 1916, in Glenbuck, East Ayrshire.

The 5' 10 (11st 0lbs) forward signed for Donald Turner's Thistle on Friday, 29th November, 1935, having most recently been with Cumnock Juniors.

Aged 19, he made his debut appearance on Saturday, 7th March, 1936, in a 2-2 draw at home to Ayr United in the SFL First Division.

John scored his first goal for Thistle on Saturday, 9th May, 1936, in a 3-0 win away to St Mirren in the Paisley Charity Cup.

He scored the last of his 100 goals on Saturday, 17th November, 1945, in a 2-1 defeat away to Falkirk in the Southern League.

He played his last game for the club on Saturday, 20th April, 1946, in a 2-2 draw away to Clachnacuddin in the Victory Cup, having clocked up 152 appearances as a Jag.

His club-list included Glenbuck Cherrypickers, Cumnock Juniors, Partick Thistle and Ayr United.

John died on Friday, 20th October, 1961, in Ayr, South Ayrshire, aged 45.

Bio Extra

Son of George Wallace (coal miner) and Elizabeth Wallace (née Brown).

Like his father, John played for the local Glenbuck Cherrypickers side, notorious for producing around 50 professional footballers, pretty much 1 per year of their existence, despite having a population average of 1,000.

As Adam Powley's “Shankly's Village” tells, John was also a nephew of Glenbuck stalwart Willie Wallace, and also a nephew of Sandy 'Towey' Brown (Preston North End, Tottenham, Scotland etc) whose incredible goalscoring exploits were fundamental to Tottenham Hotspur winning their first-ever FA Cup final in 1900-01.

And, just like his Uncle Sandy was for Spurs, John was a deadly marksman for the Jags, averaging 30 competitive goals-per-season until the outbreak of WWII ruined everything. He was top-scorer in 1936-37 and 1938-39. John was an expert penalty taker for us, converting 7 out of 7. War even spoiled that too, as the League games (1939-40) were voided, striking 3 from his official record.

Somewhat ironically, his last game in Thistle colours was in the Victory Cup, where the spoils were shared in the battle of Clachnacuddin. John soon transferred back down to the Ayrshire wilds, landing at Somerset Park in the close season of 1946.

He married Andrewina Johnstone and was a construction foreman. His premature death in 1961 was due to a blood clot.

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

(WS/JK)



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