Thistle had very quickly become part of the fabric of Maryhill, and that throws up the question “Why not Maryhill Thistle?”. There have been many theories put forward, most of them speculative, such as they wanted to maintain links with their roots; they didn’t want to alienate their supporters from the burgh of Partick; the board were Partick men. The real reason is simple – there was in existence a team in the burgh - Maryhill that is – called Maryhill Thistle! Things were past being parochial by that time anyway with both Burgh’s having been swallowed up by the expansion of the City of Glasgow.
On the field of play, a modest improvement had been made, with the Jags settling in nicely to their new surroundings and after the final game of the season they found themselves in 16th position in the League.
The May saw the conclusion of that season, with the Scottish Junior Cup final being held at Firhill. Unsurprisingly Thistle’s neighbours Ashfield FC ran out winners with a 3-0 victory over Kilwinning Rangers.
The new season kicked off on 20thst August 1910 and Thistle must have done something that summer. If you could bottle it, you’d be a millionaire. A spectacular run saw the team reach the end of the year undefeated at home. The only team to leave Maryhill with dignity intact was St Mirren. The crowds continued to grow, with several matches being played in front of audiences in excess of 10,000.This spectacular run saw Thistle competing at the right end of the league table, in touch with the leaders, Rangers. Success was partly due to the attacking duo Willie Gardner and Frank Branscombe, the latter being considered a legend to this day. He was one of the group of mavericks, known as Firhill wingers. His story isn’t without tragedy though, in December 1909 he had been involved in a collision with James Main of Hibernian. the player died of his injuries four days later.
“Main's life and career was cut short, however, when he suffered a ruptured bowel after being kicked in the stomach by Partick Thistleoutside-left Frank Branscombe during a match played at Firhill on Christmas Day 1909. John Sharp, a teammate of Main, later said that the incident was an accident because the Thistle player had slipped on the icy surface before making contact.[1] Main had returned home on the night of the game, but he was rushed to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary when the extent of his internal injuries were realised.[2] An emergency operation was initially successful, but further treatment was ineffective and Main died from his injuries.” (source: Wikipedia).
Frank was deeply affected and so was his form, it was only at the beginning of the 1910-11 season that he truly established himself in the starting 11.
Frank Branscombe