Tomorrow evening, we will all come together at Firhill to celebrate the career of Stevie Lawless, with his testimonial match against St Mirren. Tickets are still available and can be bought here.
Across his two spells, Stevie has provided a decade of service in red and yellow, helping the Club to some of its great successes and to recover from some of its more challenging times.
We could think of no better way to mark his contribution to our Club than by commemorating him with the 26th Thistle Pin!
In addition to having sponsored a number of the Testimonial events, TJF has pledged a share of the proceeds from the Lawless Pin will go towards the Testimonial Fundraising efforts.
Kids versus experience
Stevie, a dynamic winger and attacking midfielder, was a graduate of Motherwell’s youth system. But the 5’6” magician found first team games hard to come by at Fir Park as a teenager. He had loan spells at Annan and Albion Rovers, and was told towards the end of the 2011-12 season that his contract in ML1 would not be extended.
He wasn’t to be out of action for long, however. Stevie signed a two-year deal with Thistle days later. He was one of several signings made by novice Jags gaffer Jackie McNamara that summer. He had focused on giving talented but unfancied youngsters from top-flight clubs the opportunity of a fresh start and to prove something with regular game time.
Stevie made an instant impact, scoring on both his Club and league debuts (against Alloa and Falkirk respectively). Incredibly, he would go on to feature in 35 of Thistle’s 36 league games that season, despite fracturing his cheek-bone on league debut. He scored 14 times in competitive action that year and was an integral part of the league winning side, which saw Youth triumph over Experience.
Premier regular
Although he faced greater competition for game time in the top flight, Stevie continued to be a core part of the first team in the ensuing five seasons under Alan Archibald.
In that time he scored several memorable goals, including a brace up at Dingwall in 2013 and an audacious long-range opener against Aberdeen in 2016.
In his first spell at the Club, he racked up 44 goals in just over 250 appearances. He departed for newly promoted Livingston after Thistle’s 2018 play-off heartache.
A Red and Yellow return
Lawless remained a Premier-league regular with the Almondvale outfit, being joined for a while by former Jag, Chris “Squiddy” Erskine. After a brief stint with Burton Albion during the pandemic, he returned to Scottish football at his boyhood club Motherwell. A further season at Dunfermline would follow before Ian McCall made a bid to bring the cheeky wingman back to Firhill.
Stevie built-up an almost telepathic relationship with Jack McMillan on the right flank in the 2022-23 season, and the pair would terrorise Championship defences together on the overlap. He has always made football exciting to watch in both his stints with the Jags.
Despite sustaining a bad injury in 2024 Lawless has clocked-up 380 appearances (and counting) for Thistle across his two spells, and found the net in competitive action 50 times. And you can’t help but think the wee man still feels he has a point to prove.
How can I buy a Lawless Pin?
The Lawless Pin will be available to members on a pre-sale basis at the Testimonial tie tomorrow. TJF will be running a stall on the Jackie Husband stand concourse between 6.45pm and 7.45pm.
As with previous Thistle Pin releases, you can get yours for ÂŁ10. Part of the proceeds of this Pin will go to the Testimonial Fundraising effort.
Thereafter, the Pin will go on general sale to members on Saturday 15th November from 7pm on TJF’s online shop.
If you’re not a member of TJF, you can join online today. There are affordable rates for all circumstances, beginning from ÂŁ1 per month.