The Jags formation date is given as 1889 but evidence now suggests it was 1897! They initially competed in local competitions such as the Banffshire Cup and the more prestigious Aberdeenshire Cup. It was in 1901/ 02 that the Jags really caught the attention up North when they had the ‘temerity' to defeat Highland League Elgin City en route to winning the Elgin District Cup Final, which brought a response from Elgin of ‘how dare they'. After great success locally in 1908/ 09 the Jags decided to apply for Highland League status and this was granted for 1909/ 10. 1908 saw the Jags also changed from White Shirts and Black Shorts to the Green & White Hoops, sadly not as a gift from Celtic as the legend goes but by being acquired from another local side who wore those colours and whom the Jags effectively swallowed up. The Jags struggled in their early Highland League existence but still had success in local cups. After the Great War things changed dramatically as Thistle entered their first great-Era which, more or less, lasted until World War II broke out. 1919/ 20 saw the club become the first side out with of Inverness and Elgin to lift the Highland League championship. 1919 also saw the team move to their current Victoria Park home, courtesy of Lady Seafield, and this was marked with a game against Aberdeen. Four more championships would follow before 1939 as would two Aberdeenshire Cups, the first coming in 1936/ 37. The most remarkable of the League successes came in 1933/ 34 when the Jags won the title in FEBRUARY and won it by a then record fourteen points. On top of those successes the Jags also lifted the Aberdeenshire League, then competed for by the first teams, on six occasions and in winning it for the first time in 1923/ 24 they defeated a powerful Aberdeen Reserve side in a play-off. Sadly the Jags also had difficult times financially and this led to a threat to their existence, something that would bedevil them more than once in their history, and in retaining their title in 1927/ 28 the players played without receiving a penny - a remarkable achievement in its own right. There were some great servants in that era between the Wars such as George ‘Toshie' Macintosh, who had been awarded the Victoria Cross in the Great War, Peter Bain, who was one of a few Jags that also played for Partick Thistle, Sandy Middleton who possessed a rocket shot and goal-machine Sandy MacLennan.

After the Second World War, which sadly claimed the life of Jags star George ‘Kitchy' Cormack, the Jags, like many clubs, had to start again and rebuild and the early years were tough but they did retain the Aberdeenshire Cup in 1945/ 46, seven years after winning it. They also reached the Highland League Cup Final for the first time, in 1949/ 50, only to lose to Ross County. By 1952 though the Jags were ready to challenge for honours again and in 1952/ 53 they reached the Highland League Cup Final only to lose to Caledonian. A couple of months on though the club tasted memorable success when they lifted the Scottish Qualifying Cup (North) for the first time. In those days it was played over two legs and Thistle faced Clachnacuddin. In the first game at Buckie the Jags edged a classic game 3-2 and then a 1-1 draw at Grant Street Park secured the cup. This success sparked a magnificent few seasons for the Jags none more so than in 1953/ 54 when their fans witnessed the greatest ever Thistle team in action. The Jags were simply irresistible that season and achieved the astonishing feat of completing the ‘Grand Slam' by wining every North competition they could enter, a feat that only Clachnacuddin had achieved before (1947/ 48) and a feat that has not been repeated since. Revenge over Caledonian saw the first trophy annexed, the League Cup, and then Inverness Thistle were defeated in the Scottish Qualifying Cup (North) Final. It was 2-2 after the first leg but there was an incredible start to the second as Buckie's south based keeper Dick Hamilton failed to arrive for the start. Jags great defender George Tough took over in goal before back-up keeper Willie Shearer donned the jersey. Dick Hamilton did turn up but Shearer played ion and the Jags won 2-0. In the League the Jags were virtually unstoppable and a draw at Dingwall clinched the championship. A strange thing about the Grand Slam is that it took twos seasons to complete! Due to horrendous weather the Aberdeenshire Cup competition for 1953/ 54 was not completed until 1954/ 55 hence a delayed Grand Slam! In 1953/ 54 the Jags also became the first HFL side to win the Dewar Shield, competed for by teams in the Aberdeenshire, Forfarshire and Perthshire FA's, and Thistle saw off Brechin City to clinch the Shield. The rest of the 1950's brought in a horde of trophies including back-to-back League titles in 1956/ 57 and 1957/ 58 (sadly this is the last time the title was won), and a hat-trick of Highland League Cup wins 1955-57, the Jags being the first side to achieve this and only Keith have matched this since. The Qualifying Cup was again won in 1958/ 59 with Fraserburgh defeated but little did the fans know 45 years would pass before another captain would hoist the trophy aloft! This period saw many great stars don the colours such as local heroes Alex Stewart, Jimmy Thain and ‘Gentleman' Jim Leask and Aberdeen based stars like Martin Buchan (father of Martin junior a hero for Aberdeen), Jimmy McIntyre and George Cowie.

The 1960's began with an almost completely new side and with success as the League Cup was annexed in 1960/ 61. However, there then followed an astonishing decline that was akin to the fall of the Roman Empire as the Jags went from being on top of the world to being a complete non-entity. They did reach the Qualifying Cup Final in 1963/ 64 but lost to Forres Mechanics but after that they free-falled into an abyss culminating in 1969/ 70 when they ended bottom of the HFL with NO wins and 146 goals conceded, 21 of those to Ross County over two league games! Just how the mighty had fallen and with no crowds and little income many wondered of the Jags Phoenix could rise from the ashes. Gradually in the 1970's it did and in September 1979 the ‘Wilderness Years' ended when the League Cup was annexed. On a glorious night at Nairn a fantastic game against Inverness Thistle ended in an astonishing conclusion when 16-year old schoolboy Gordon Robertson drilled home the winning goal for Buckie - cue absolute bedlam! The start of the 1980's should have seen then Jags clinch their first title since 1958 but after a great Scottish Cup run that saw Meadowbank Thistle and Stranraer defeated the Jags fell away in the League. Things then got dramatically worse as the Jags entered financial crisis and fans shed tears after a game at Nairn in 1982 as many felt it was the end of the road for this great club. Fortunately the town rallied round the team, backed by the likes of local celebrity Isla St Clair, and Thistle lived to fight another day. The rest of the decade saw the Jags improve and success came with a 3-0 victory over Fraserburgh in the Aberdeenshire Cup Final in 1984/ 85 and two cups in 1986/ 87. In the League Cup Final the Jags romped to a 5-0 half-time lead against Ross County but that's how it finished and in the Aberdeenshire Cup Final replay a Gary Whyte hat-trick at Victoria Park saw off Peterhead. One season in the long wait for another title seemed to be over when a glorious 4-3 win was recorded over nearest challengers Caledonian at Telford Street. However, on an agonising afternoon in their last home game the Jags went down to Peterhead allowing Caley to nip in and clinch the title. That Jags side then began to break up and thus the 1990's were all but a non-event as the club struggled. It came to a head in 1998/ 99 but then former player Alan Scott took over as manager and the outlook brightened considerably. Sadly in his spell in charge no trophies came but in the League the Jags came close and their defence was recognised as the best in the League. Sadly an old failing of not taking chances cost them their title hopes. Former player/ assistant-manager Kevin Will then took over and in 2003 glory came for the Jags on an incredibly tense afternoon at Forres in the Qualifying Cup Final against Clachnacuddin. Despite going down to 9 men Clach led 1-0 but a John Coutts strike levelled it and then a dramatic penalty shoot-out was won by the Jags and that ignited a mass pitch invasion in celebration and up went skipper Paul Lamberton to hoist the trophy aloft and some party followed in Buckie that night, I can tell you! Sadly, things did not work out well after that and Kevin Will left in 2004 and the Jags needed a big name to replace him and none bigger came than in the form of former Aberdeen legend Duncan Shearer. In his first full season (2005/ 06) the Jags lifted the Aberdeenshire Cup for the first time since 1987 with a penalty shot-out win over Deveronvale but, sadly, no trophies came in 2006/ 07 last season although the standard of their play improved. In 2007/ 08, though, there was glory for the Jags in the local competitions. The form in the early part of the season was excellent and this bore fruit. The first of two trophy successes came in the Aberdeenshire Cup when the Jags faced up to bitter rivals Keith in the Final at Huntly. A mere four months earlier the Maroons had hammered the Jags 5-0 in the League Cup Final so it was payback time. There was no real chance of Thistle matching Keith's win but all the faithful wanted was revenge and they got it in what was a tense, taut and tight affair. One moment settled the destiny of the trophy and that was in the 13th minute when Lewis McKinnon powered home a header and from then on the Jags stood firm to win the trophy for the second time in three seasons and oh how the players and supporters enjoyed this win! Just over a couple of months later more joy for the Jags as they captured the Aberdeenshire Shield for the first time since 1992 and no close final this time as Inverurie Locos were demolished 3-0 at Huntly in a scintillating display from Thistle. Sadly the cup form could not be repeated enough in the League and there were some dire displays even in victory notably a 2-1 win at Fort William, a team everyone else had been wiping the floor with, the winner coming in injury time! That was enough for the Jags to part company with manager Duncan Shearer.

Summer 2008 saw the search for a new manager and with the main target not available and others declining the Jags opted to re-employ former boss Kevin Will and his brother Doug but it proved to be a poor choice. From the off the camp was not happy and results were also so up and down it was untrue. Thistle relinquished their hold on the Aberdeenshire Cup in the semi-finals but the straw that broke the camels back came in October when a truly awful display saw the Jags dumped out of the Shield by junior side Banks O' Dee who are members of the Aberdeenshire FA. The Jags immediately sacked the Will's and the hunt began again for a manager. By now though, the first original target was ready to return to the game, Gregg Carrol, who had managed Deveronvale to a host of successes including two HFL titles. His appearance at the end of the home game after the Banks O Dee debacle all but confirmed he would take over and he was installed soon after. His full introduction could not have been tougher with a dispirited side away to Lochee United in the Scottish Cup and the Bluebells stung Thistle 3-0. A home defeat by Clach followed but then, as if the script had been written, his first win as manager came over his old side at Banff and it was no fluke. This lit the Blue Touch paper for the Jags went on to 12 games undefeated including nine wins on the spin and the mood changed from gloom to hope. There was title talk but that was never really on due to the poor start but there was always the League Cup, a trophy Gregg never won with Deveronvale. Sadly a dire display at Keith put paid to that and gone was the last chance of silverware for the season. In the end the Jags finished sixth, some achievement after being third bottom when Gregg took over. In the Summer of last year Gregg Carrol and his management team set to work on their plans to make the Jags a successful side and really got going on building spirit and morale and instilling a belief into the players that they could succeed but behind that they knew the gaffer would not accept second best from any of them and he would not be shy in telling them if they were not matching his standards. It did not look too rosy at the start of the league campaign last season with two defeats in the first two games and in their third game they were 2-0 down to new boys Formartine United before staging a sensational recovery to win 3-2 - perhaps this was the first sign of things to come. They then had another remarkable recovery against Formartine in the Aberdeenshire Cup before a display of awesome power saw them thrash Keith in the semi-final to set up a meeting with reigning Highland League champs Cove at Turriff. It was a close game but it was glory for the Jags as two brilliant goals, the first out of this world, by local loon Stephen ‘Marra' Bruce saw them triumph in a game attended by First Minister Alex Salmond, a Banffshire lad. Winning this magnificent trophy was great but the Jags main goal was to secure the ‘Holy Grail' of the league championship which they had not done since 1958! To win it in Gregg Carrol's first full season in charge would be some achievement and would probably be ahead of schedule in the gaffer's plans. However, after that recovery against Formartine the Jags went on an incredible run for they remained undefeated in the league from that match (August 15) until February 13 this year when an unusually poor display saw them defeated at Inverurie albeit they so nearly pulled off an undeserved draw coming back from 2-0 down to 2-2 late on only for Locos to net a winner. Up to then crucial wins had been recorded over fellow challengers Inverurie (1-0 at home in October), Deveronvale (2-1 away in December) and Cove Rangers (2-1 at home in January) as well as other vital victories.

The loss at Inverurie was a wake up call though and the Jags responded magnificently for they never lost another game in the league after that. The final turning point really came on April 10 for on that day the Jags saw off a battling Fort William side 5-3 at Claggan Park whilst at the same time Cove Rangers lost at Lossiemouth, not a great shock, and Fraserburgh lost at Grantown to Strathspey Thistle, now that was a shock! The title was now the Jags to lose and after a draw at Fraserburgh wins at Huntly and Grantown took them to within touching distance of the title. They now required five points from their last three games to be champions for the first time since 1957/ 58. Task 1 was at Rothes with the Jags red hot favourites but this was no ordinary situation and Rothes are stubborn opponents on their own ground. 0-0 at half-time did nothing for the Jags fans nerves but the worst goal they scored all season nudged them ahead and a second made sure. All roads then led to Wick on May Day to a venue where the Jags were thrashed 4-0 the previous season. Academy are tough to beat anytime but especially at home and yet the Jags had a chance as the home side were not quite as strong as in 2008/ 09. By the 15th minute the Jags were on their way to glory with a superb finish from Martin Charlesworth and a penalty from Dave MacRae. In a sensational turn of events in the second half Wick were reduced to nine men and from the free-kick Martin Charlesworth got on the end of a cross to notch number three and it was party time. When the full-time whistle went the hordes of Jags fans invaded the pitch to celebrate in astonishing style with their heroes - 52 years of hurt were over and the faithful let their emotions run riot! This went on into the night and into the next day and beyond right up to eleven days later when, after a 1-0 win at home to Brora, courageous Jags skipper Kevin Small lifted the HFL championship trophy and the fans finally realised it was no dream it had happened! The question now was could Thistle retain the championship for the first time since 1957/ 58, it would be no easy task especially as every other side would be out to get the champs scalp. The Jags got an early wake-up call in their defence but soon recovered and come the end of the year they were sitting very prettily and in great form, the only blip had really been in the Aberdeenshire Cup Final where they never turned up and Cove Rangers righty won. Thistle at this point had been beating teams for fun but then it all went horribly wrong at the start of 2011 with an incredibly embarrassing defeat at Banff which will hurt for years to come when recalled! This was not ideal preparation for the Scottish Cup clash with east Stirlingshire but it was postponed and the Jags got over their Banff nightmare in the next game by beating Inverurie Locos. However, then came the incredible events surrounding the Scottish Cup game at Stenhousemuir what with the pre-match carry-on with the strip to the 2 players fighting just before half-time to the defeat and then the astonishing news that leads to reinstatement in the national competition and a date at home to Brechin City. Fervour surrounding the latter was immense and distracted a bit from the main goal of retaining the League. Form was generally patchy and although Thistle did okay against Brechin the cup hopes ended thanks to two sublime finishes. Form then dived and it culminated in exiting the League Cup. Something had to change and suddenly it did as from nowhere the Jags re-found their form. However, an incredible run by Deveronvale almost from nowhere saw them emerge as the only threat to Thistle's crown and as it transpired there would be a last-game showdown between the two at Victoria Park, Thistle just needing a draw to retain the title, Vale a win. There was massive interest in the game and a season high crowd of 2600 piled into the park for the big match. It did not go to plan for the Jags in the first half and Vale led at the break thanks to a goal from Buckie-born Mark Chisholm. Thistle had to strike early in the second half and did with s sublime finish from Martin Charlesworth. Chances were then missed and there was always the fear that the Vale would get another glimpse of goal and mane the Jags pay. With seven minutes left they got that chance with a free-kick in Mike McKenzie territory but huge sighs of relief followed as his effort was poor. Then with about a minute remaining a free-kick for Thistle in Andy Low territory and the sub stepped up to send home a glorious strike - cue total pandemonium amongst the players and fans, utter bedlam. The final whistle soon followed which sparked a pitch invasion by the jubilant Jags fans and led to celebrations long in to the night after the trophy was presented. The current season saw the Jags have one major goal to make it a hat-trick of titles for the first time in the club's history but sadly, at the time of writing, this looks unlikely as very inconsistent form allied to uncharacteristic defending has cost the Jags dearly. It started promisingly but then fell away. However, if the club emerges with any silverware come the end of the season then it will still be a success and will add to the glorious club history. Even if no trophies are secured Thistle will go on from there striving to improve and to bring more glory to this famous club.

Easton Thain