Full name John Lambie 1969-1974 St. Johnstone Name John Lambie | Years Team Role Football player 1958-1969 Falkirk | |
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Date of birth (1941-03-02) 2 March 1941 (age 74) | ||
Place of birth Whitburn, Scotland | ||
John Lambie (born 19 March 1941) is a Scottish former football player and manager. Lambie made over 200 appearances for Falkirk and also had a successful time with St Johnstone. However, he is perhaps most famous for his three spells as manager of Partick Thistle, guiding them through a financial crisis and seeing them into the Scottish Premier League. He also had spells as manager of Hamilton Academical and Falkirk.
Contents
- Early life playing and coaching career
- Managerial career
- Other information
- Managerial honours
- References
Early life, playing and coaching career
Lambie was born and brought up in the mining town of Whitburn. He began his playing career with the local junior club, Whitburn, before turning senior with Falkirk at the age of 18. He began his playing career as an inside forward before converting to full back. His most successful playing spell was spent at St Johnstone, whom he joined in August 1969. He helped the club to a Scottish League Cup final, a third placed finish in the League and their first venture into European football. He retired in 1974 after playing in excess of 400 competitive matches. He joined St Johnstone's coaching staff, before further coaching appointments with Hibernian and Hamilton Academical.
Managerial career
Having become assistant manager under Bertie Auld at Hamilton Academical, in 1984 Lambie stepped up to succeed Auld in the manager's chair. Success quickly followed as he led them to the First Division title in 1985–86 and a shock Scottish Cup defeat of Rangers at Ibrox the following season; Adrian Sprott entering football folklore as the sole scorer in a 1-0 victory for the Accies.
In 1988, Lambie became Partick Thistle manager, in the first of three spells at the club. Despite moulding a team that was challenging for promotion to the top flight, he was tempted by an offer to rejoin Hamilton in 1989. Subsequently deciding that this had been the wrong move, Lambie accepted the chance to return to take over at a Thistle side who had plummeted in the months since he had left in 1990. Lambie's Thistle side went on to secure promotion to the Premier Division in 1992, and his motivational skills helped keep them there over the next three seasons despite meagre financial resources. This, combined with Lambie's outspoken views and quirky personality - including a fondness for cigars and pigeon racing - made him a favourite 'character' within the Scottish football media.
In 1995 Lambie parted company with Thistle and, looking for a fresh challenge, took over at his old club Falkirk, leaving there in March 1996. After this experience Lambie stayed out of senior football for a while, and it was thought he may have retired completely. However, in March 1999 he was tempted back by yet another offer from Partick Thistle, who had plummeted spectacularly since Lambie's departure. Having already been gone down twice, the club were in danger of relegation to the Third Division when Lambie arrived. In arguably his greatest managerial feat, Lambie beefed up Thistle's performances and kept them up, subsequently going on to guide them to successive promotions and a place in the Scottish Premier League. This period also saw the club surge to the Scottish Cup semi-finals. Having once again kept Thistle in the top flight, he retired as manager in 2003, taking up a seat on the club's board. This wasn't to be entirely the end of his time as Thistle manager, however, as he did make a brief return downstairs in a caretaker capacity in December 2004, including a 2-1 win at Firhill over league leaders (and eventual winners) Falkirk.