The Thistle Archive

Stuart came through the youth set up at Thistle, and had already featured for the reserve team before joining the club full-time as a modern apprentice in the summer of 2009. After impressing during pre-season, Stuart made his first team debut for Thistle against Clyde on the opening day of the 2010-2011 season. Stuart spent much of the latter half of season 2010-2011 on loan with Ayr United and he helped them to promotion to the First Division via the end of season play-offs. In the second half of season 2011-12, Stuart really started to establish himself in the Thistle first team, scoring his first goal on the final day of the season at Hamilton and showing he can play in a number of positions, filling in at left back from his more usual central midfield role.

Stuart really began to shine during the 2012-13 championship winning season, establishing himself as one of the club’s most promising stars and he was rewarded when he was selected for the Scotland Under-21 side in an away match with Greece before winning a further cap later in that season. Stuart adjusted easily to life in the top flight of Scottish football and continued his excellent form at the heart of the Thistle midfield. He was rewarded with a new two year contract until at least the summer of 2016. Stuart maintained his tough tenacious style of play in the heart of the midfield as he became an automatic selection choice for Alan Archibald.

After a serious knee injury saw Stuart miss two years of action, Banzo returned to the Thistle line up in September 2018. From that point, he featured in 21 of Thistle’s next games, only missing one fixture due to a yellow card suspension. He finished the 2018/19 season as captain having played 28 games taking him beyond 200 for the Club. The midfielder led the Jags to safety on the final day of the season, scoring the third and final goal in a 3-0 win over the team he returned against, Queen of the South, from the penalty spot before celebrating passionately with the Thistle fans behind the goal.

Bannigan was a standout for the Maryhill men during the 2020/21 season as he played a big part in Thistle’s League One title win. The number eight was voted by the fans as the McCrea Financial Services Player of the Year that term and signed an extension to his contract during the close season. With Ian McCall’s side back in the Championship, Stuart continued to feature regularly, racking up 46 appearances during the 21/22 season, taking him past the 300 competitive games marker. On 17th September 2022, he scored on his 30th birthday in a 2-2 League draw at home to Cove Rangers, becoming the first player to do so since Iain Flannigan did likewise in a 6-1 win over Stirling Albion back in January, 2011.

In 2023, Stuart became the 10th longest-serving Thistle player of all-time, and the longest serving (single spell) Jag since Jackie Campbell who bade his farewell in 1982. 13 years, 2 months and 4 days on from his debut in July, 2010 he enjoyed his testimonial match at Firhill, featuring around 20 of his old team mates as well as the current crop. See 'Gallery' tab above. That day - 17th September 2023 - also happened to be his 31st birthday, and he became just the 6th Jag in history to play in successive birthdays.