The Thistle Archive

● Bertie Auld, 1977 (WAT)

FIRST MANAGERIAL SPELL

(Mon-01-Jul-1974 ↔ Tue-18-Nov-1980; 6y,4m,17d)

Within a couple of weeks of Davie McParland's resignation, Thistle advertised the post, and the trend of “the young tracksuit manager” continued with the appointment of this Celtic great, who was one season into his new coaching career at Hibs. The deal was announced on 11th June, 1974, and Bertie officially got to work a few weeks later, on the first day of July. Only the Top 8 survived in the new cut-throat Premier League, and Bertie's Jags never faltered once they got there. It often seemed that in his mind he was acting out some kind of weird managerial fantasy whereby he was bossing the Lisbon Lions; that Tannadice was the Iron Curtain, and that we could do them over the 2-legs kind-of-thing! An unpredictable man by nature, the dour could just as easily be followed by the skilful, and six wins over Rangers solidifed his legendary status.

Alas, his characterful and succesful 6-year stint ended when second-tier Hibs came calling, seeking a replacement for the failing Willie Ormond. The mid-season departure in November, 1980, was a huge blow to all Jagskind, and marked the beginning of a slow and sure downward spiral.

SECOND MANAGERIAL SPELL

(Mon-31-Mar-1986 ↔ Thu-17-Jul-1986; 108 days)

Following Benny Rooney's sacking, it was Bertie Auld, who had been out of the game for a couple of years after managerial stints with Hibernian and Hamilton Accies, who was charged with saving Thistle from falling into the third tier, and had 7 games to try and spark a revival. “We can talk about contracts later” said the bold Bertie. Assistant Mike Jackson stayed on, breaking up his long association with Rooney. The Auld magic was immediately tangible, and it was mission accomplished.

Alas, a very promising future path was destroyed when new owner, Ken Bates, imposed Derek Johnstone as a player-coach. Getting wind of Johnstone's salary and perks, assistant Mike Jackson quit and, 4 days later, Bertie did likewise, unhappy at having been undermined with regards to Johnstone's appointment in the first place. What might have been.

Bertie was in charge of Thistle for 343 games in total, as well as managing at Hibernian (1980-1982), Hamilton Academical (1982-1983) and Dumbarton (1988).