“If there was a better professional in Scotland, I've still to see him. Fantastic guy.” ~ John Lambie. Praise indeed! In the close season summer of 2000, the 24 year old Stephen Craigan was freed by Alex McLeish – John Lambie knew an opportunity when he seen one. Ho-ho, thank you very much. Motherwell’s loss was very much Thistle’s gain. After two seasons of faffing around in the third tier, Partick Thistle desperately needed to get out of there. Lambie got busy, assembling a crack squad that could not be beaten. Craigan would be the cornerstone. The steely defender made his competitive debut on the 8th August and ended up starting in every single game from there. How fitting that after giving his all for 39 games consecutively (and 90 minutes every time) he would net his first goal on the very last day of the season. It was the title party day at Firhill - and the Jags were in the mood to celebrate! The BBC reported thus:

Despite being held for the first 45 minutes, Thistle left their fans happy with a storming four-goal second period. With just three minutes gone in the second half, Partick broke the deadlock when a superb run by Peter Lindau carved open the Stenny defence and Paul McGrillen drove the ball into the corner of the net. After 56 minutes Partick added a second when a floated free-kick by David McCallum was headed in by Barry Elliot. And just to prove the gulf between the teams, Partick added two more within 60 seconds. With 69 minutes gone, defender Steve Craigan moved forward to flash a header past goalkeeper Ryan McGurk, and McGrillen finished the rout off with a fourth to set the scene for jubilant celebrations.

When Stephen's goal went in, the warmth around the ground was palpable. As the huge roar subsided, Thistle fans looked at each other knowingly with big grins, nodding heads and clapping hands. The chant soon went up: “One Stephen Craigan, there’s only one Stephen Craigan!” His “taps aff” celebration epitomized the joyous spirit of the much-loved one-goal wonder. Craigan was pivotal to Jags’ meteoric rise from third to first tier football – and he helped us stay there. He’ll always be well thought of by the Firhill cognoscenti. Partick Thistle and Stephen Craigan had three great seasons together – and thankfully there was a wee goal to show for it.

His excellent defensive form at Partick Thistle earned him his first ever international call-up to the Northern Ireland national team squad in March 2002 and his first three caps were won as a Jag in the springtime of 2003, including European Championship Qualifiers against Armenia and Greece. He played his final game for Thistle in May 2003 before returning to Motherwell, where he spent the remainder of his playing career. He became Motherwell's record cap holder, having received 51 caps for Northern Ireland while playing for the club. He played in their 1–0 victory against England in September 2005 and the 3–2 win over Spain a year later. He captained his country on their end of season tour in 2010 against Turkey and Chile and continued as captain against Montenegro on 11 August 2010. His 50th cap came in a surprise victory away to Slovenia on 3 September 2010, in their first game of the Euro 2012 campaign. On 19 July 2011, Stephen announced his retirement from International football, earning 54 caps, the last of those coming against Slovenia.

Motherwell and Partick Thistle - his two senior clubs - later reunited at Fir Park in July 2011 to play a special testimonial match in his honour. Fittingly, he netted the only goal of the match, his second minute penalty giving Motherwell the one nil win before his last minute substitution afforded him a standing ovation from both sets of supporters in the 2,122 crowd at Fir Park. After his playing days, Stephen transitioned into a prominent media pundit and coach, most recently joining Stephen Robinson's backroom staff as a first-team coach at Aberdeen FC in June 2026.

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

2001 - SFL SECOND DIVISION

2002 - SFL FIRST DIVISION