Famous Former Players

We have been blessed over the years with the amount of great players who have played for the club, and if we were to try and give a complete list of every player to have stepped up Senior then we would have to start another website. Here we give a brief taste of some of the players to have worn the maroon jersey, with those players who went on to win full international honours.

Torry Gillick

His time at Petershill was brief, but the schoolboy from Airdrie was only 16 when he was signed in late 1932 to replace top scorer George Fulton who had stepped up to St. Johnstone. Torry would score 30 goals by the end of the season and was snapped up by Rangers. He would win various honours with Rangers, and is the only player to have been signed by Bill Struth twice and also the only player to have won the Scottish Cup either side of WW2. In between his two spells at Ibrox he played for Everton, where he also won a Football League Championship. The tricky winger won 5 caps for Scotland.

Alex Massie

Alex was born in Possilpark and led a somewhat nomadic life, and after spells with various Junior clubs, including Petershill, he ended up playing in America with Bethlehem Steel and in Ireland with Dolphin. He returned to Scotland to sign for Hearts in 1930, and there his career would finally flourish. He won 18 caps for Scotland , firstly with Hearts and then Aston Villa. After retiring he went into management with Villa, Torquay United and Hereford among the clubs he took charge of.

Johnny McKenzie

Johnny was born in Glasgow, but spent his early years in Tiree where his mother came from. The family returned to Glasgow when Johnny was 8, and he struggled initially as he only spoke Gaelic. He took an engineering apprenticeship when he left school and performances for his work’s team saw Petershill sign him in early 1944. Early interest from Rangers followed, but after nothing happened he signed for Partick Thistle, where “the Firhill Flyer” would make over 400 appearances. He won 9 caps for Scotland between 1953 and 1955, and after one match against the famous Hungary side, Magyars captain Ferenc Puskas described Johnny’s display as “the most magnificent display of wing play that I have ever seen.” Johnny is the first and only Gaelic speaker to play for Scotland at full international level.

Ernie McGarr

Ernie left Petershill to play for Kilbirnie Ladeside, and from there he stepped up to Aberdeen. He won 2 international caps in 1969, against Eire and Australia.

Johnny Kelly

Johnny left Petershill to go to Arthurlie, and from there on to Celtic and Barnsley. He won 2 caps when he was with the Tykes, against Wales and Northern Ireland in 1948.

Other former Petershill players to be capped at full International level for Scotland are:

John McTavish (Falkirk), 1 cap against Northern Ireland in 1905.

Bobby Howe (Hamilton Accies), 2 caps in 1929 against Norway and Holland.

John Miller (St. Mirren), 5 caps, England, Italy & Sweden (1931), France (1932) & England (1934)

James Boyd (Newcastle), 1 cap against Northern Ireland in 1933