The Thistle Archive

Jonny was one of those cult legends at Thistle, mainly for the mysterious aura that enveloped his arrival and departure. It was (accurately) said that John Lambie heard about this Swedish striker on a Thursday, phoned him on the Friday and played him on the Saturday! Following his March 2000 debut (a 2-0 win over Arbroath) The Daily Record helped the legend on his way…

THISTLE GO LIKE A BLOM - BUT HITMAN IS IN DARK OVER DEAL. PARTICK THISTLE exploded into promotion contention after destroying Arbroath with a double Blom blast. Swedish striker Jonny Blom answered an 11th hour plea from boss John Lambie to help his injury-hit strike force. The towering hitman jetted into Scotland to make his Jags debut and lit the fuse for a victory that fired them up the table into second place behind Clyde. Trialist Blom scored one goal and set up the other - but he is unsure if he has a future in Scottish football. The 27-year-old, who previously played for Sandviken IF back home in Sweden said:

I don't know what is to happen with me here at Thistle. I came over to Scotland earlier in the season and was at Dundee United for a spell before I went down to Carlisle. But I was back home and got the call to come back over here on Friday. I was happy to get a goal and that we won.

So were the fans and the last thing they are likely to want to hear is Blom's away. Thistle were in a crisis after losing strikers Scott McLean, Peter Lindau and Scott Miller with knee injuries. Boss Lambie said:

One of my friends in football had heard about my strikers being out and suggested Blom to me. I had not even seen him play so I was not sure what we were getting. In the first few minutes I was still wondering - but then he pulled down a ball and flicked it to the side and that eased my worries. He is a big lad and with the way he can knock the ball down, an Ally McCoist-type of striker playing beside him would score goals. We will take our time and think about things before making any decisions.

Blom took just 13 minutes to show Lambie what he could do. Des McKeown whipped over a cross and he stooped low to steer the ball into the net and leave Arbroath keeper Craig Wright helpless. He picked up a booking in the first half and then, in 68 minutes, knocked a header back across goal for Albert Craig to head in No.2. But a major turning point was his involvement in a shock red card for Arbroath defender Scott Peters. Referee Craig MacKay ruled that Peters had kicked out at Blom after a free- kick had already been awarded against the Swede. Arbroath boss Dave Baikie said: "We lost a soft opener and our midweek game seeemed to affect us more than theirs affected them."

Just three days later Jonny started his second game, this time paired with fellow Swede Peter Lindau, returning from injury, for an evening league game at Stranraer. It was a quiet night for Jonny, and Thistle fell to a surprise defeat by three goals to one. It was only their third loss since the beginning of October, but it cost them the chance to cut the gap on leaders Clyde, who were held 2-2 at Ross County. Lambie was apoplectic and there was to be no deal for Jonny, who returned home after just one week in Scotland. It's hard to get a handle on his Swedish career, but one game in particular (from June 2004) stands out; Wreta Kloster 4 Norrköping 3 in the Östgöta-Cupen. This was a bit of a giant-killing act and Jonny was the hero of the hour, netting a haul of hour, 3 of which were penalties. We can only imagine at what might have been!