John Lambie (2 March 1941 – 10 April 2018) was a Scottish
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player and
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
. Lambie made over 200 appearances for
Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...
and also had a successful time with St Johnstone.
After retiring as a player, Lambie had four spells as manager of
Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...
. In his third spell, he guided them to consecutive promotions and entry to the
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...
in 2002, while also leading them to the semi-finals of the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Hamilton Academical (twice, winning the First Division in 1986) and Falkirk.
Lambie was known for his
eccentricity
Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to:
* Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal"
Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics
* Off-Centre (geometry), center, in geometry
* Eccentricity (g ...
, cigar smoking and fondness for pigeons. An occasion when he instructed for a concussed player to be told he was
Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...
and sent back onto the pitch is one of the most famous quotes in British football.
Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...
in 1958, where he turned professional and switched position from
inside forward
In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...
Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
-based club's first European campaign (reaching the third round of the
1971–72 UEFA Cup
The 1971–72 UEFA Cup was the inaugural season of the UEFA Cup, now known as the UEFA Europa League, which became the third club football competition organised by UEFA. The tournament retained the structure and format of the Inter-Cities Fairs C ...
In 1988, Lambie was appointed manager for the first time at
Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...
, but a year later returned to Hamilton, before going back to Thistle in 1990. He led Thistle to promotion to the top flight in 1992. Lambie subsequently kept Thistle in the top flight for the following three seasons, and qualified for the
1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup
The 1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup was the first edition of the tournament administered by the UEFA. It saw Strasbourg and Bordeaux win their semi-finals to advance to the first round of the UEFA Cup, the latter eventually finishing runners-up. It also ...
, the first time The Jags had been in European competition since the 1970s. He left in 1995 for his former club Falkirk, but quit his post in March 1996. ''The Herald'' wrote in 2002 that "It is odd how, despite Lambie playing over 200 games for Falkirk, and scoring a decent haul of goals as a defender, he is only remembered for his disastrous managerial reign".
Lambie returned for a third spell at Partick in 1999, with the club now in the third tier. The club had only just managed to save its existence through the ''Save the Jags'' campaign. Lambie got them into the
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...
Alan Archibald
Alan Archibald (born 13 December 1977) is a Scottish association football, football coach and former player, who is currently a first-team coach at Heart of Midlothian F.C., Hearts. Archibald, who played as a Defender (football)#Centre back, def ...
and Kenny Arthur. Also in 2002, he guided the club to the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Hampden Park
Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...
. The final stages of the season were chronicled in the
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...
fly on the wall documentary ''Grasping the Thistle'', known for Lambie's use of profanity.
In January 2003, Lambie announced that he would retire at the end of the season as he did not agree with new regulations in football; he had attempted to sign Nathan Lowndes and Steven Ferguson on loan from English clubs but was barred by
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
as they had both recently played in Scotland for other teams. On 17 May 2003 he made his farewell in his last game at
Firhill Stadium
Firhill Stadium, also known as Wyre Stadium at Firhill for sponsorship reasons, is a Association football, football and former rugby union, rugby league and Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, greyhound racing stadium located in the Maryhil ...
, a 1–0 loss to
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...
, having already guaranteed survival in the SPL on a considerably lower budget than their competitors. He became a member of the club's board. In 2004, Lambie returned as manager for a fourth spell, this time as Caretaker, briefly around the end of 2004 and beginning of 2005, in a bid to help the team's struggles on the pitch under the new management foil of
Derek Whyte
Derek Whyte (born 31 August 1968) is a Scottish former association football, footballer, who played for Celtic F.C., Celtic, Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrough, Aberdeen F.C., Aberdeen and Partick Thistle F.C., Partick Thistle. He also won twelve ...
and Gerry Britton, who were later dismissed from their roles, as Dick Campbell took over reign at Firhill.
Lambie is remembered for his reaction when Partick player Colin McGlashan suffered a concussion; he ordered his assistant Gerry Collins to "Tell him he's
Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...
and get him back on". A book of football quotes titled ''Tell Him He's Pelé'' was released in 2010. He is also remembered for taming Chic Charnley, a player sent off 17 times in his career, whom he signed once for Hamilton and three times for Partick.
Personal life and death
Lambie was known for his love of pigeon racing and cigars. He spoke of the importance of his Christian faith in his life. He was a member and activist for the
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...
but said that he was not a suitable candidate to seek elected office.
He was awarded the position of Honorary Vice President of Partick Thistle F.C. in August 2006. He was inducted into the Halls of Fame at both Falkirk and Partick Thistle.
Lambie had three daughters with his wife Mamie, from whom he was separated at the time of his death at the age of 77 on 10 April 2018.
Honours
Manager
;Hamilton Academical
*
Scottish Football League First Division
The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship.
History
The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...
Scottish Football League First Division
The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship.
History
The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...
Scottish Football League Second Division
The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013.
History
The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...
1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...