Jackie McNamara
Jackie brings to the job as manager of Partick Thistle a wealth of experience gained during a distinguished playing career. That career began back in 1991 with Dunfermline Athletic with Jackie moving to Celtic in September 1995 for a reported transfer fee of £650,000.
He made an almost immediate impact at his new club collecting the SPFA Young Player of the Year award at the end of his first season at Parkhead. In season 1997-1998 he was part of the Celtic squad that won the Premier League title and ended Rangers run of successive run of the league titles at nine. In total Jackie would be part of four title winning squads while a Celtic player and was a three time winner in both the Scottish and League Cups.
It was while a Celtic player that Jackie won the first of his 33 caps for Scotland. The first cap came against Wales at Rugby Park in May 1997, a match that also marked Simon Donnelly first full cap for Scotland, when he replaced Christian Daily in the second half of a 1-0 defeat.
The highlight of Jackie’s Scotland career came in the 1998 when he featured in the matches against Norway and Morocco in that year’s World Cup Finals.
To add to his SPFA Young Player of the Year award received in 1996, Jackie was given the accolade of the Football Writers Player of the Year award in 2004.
Jackie’s service to Celtic saw him rewarded with a testimonial against the Republic of Ireland in May 2005 but his time with Celtic was soon to be at an end, with a move down south taking McNamara to Wolverhampton Wanderers before the start of the following season. In total Jackie would spend two seasons in the Championship with Wolves before returning to Scotland when he signed for Aberdeen.
From Aberdeen, Jackie moved to Falkirk and played a pivotal role as, thanks to a last day win at Inverness, they avoided relegation from the SPL at the end of the 2008/2009 season before featuring in the Falkirk side that were defeated by Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final.
The association with Partick Thistle first began in February 2010 when he joined Thistle on loan from Falkirk. His, then, temporary switch to Firhill though came to a halt when he sustained a broken leg in a fixture with Ayr United at Somerset Park.
He was back at Firhill though in time for the start of the 2010/2011 season and prior to taking up the position of interim manager he had made a total of 19 appearances before announcing his retirement from the playing side.
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