SilvioBerlusconi
Well-Known Member
INVESTIGATION: John Lambie is revered as a footballing great. A mercurial and complex man, his reputation has been tainted by his apparent failure to prevent sexual attacks by his physio
He was a famous and much-loved Scottish football manager but the late John Lambie, who led Partick Thistle and Hamilton Academical to success, has been accused of failing to halt a sexual predator who preyed on younger players
His ink-stained fingers and fascination with the pranks of Dennis the Menace led classmates to refer to him as “Beano”. In his 4 spells at the helm of Partick Thistle — Glasgow’s underdog third force — the former milkman drove a cart through the staid world of Scottish football
Shrouded in cigar smoke and with a face as craggy as a West Lothian slag heap he was hailed as a wisecracking working-class hero
The results he delivered, however, were not to be sniffed at. On January 31 1987 a makeshift squad of journeymen he had assembled at lowly Hamilton Academical dumped Graeme Souness’s Rangers, the most expensive team then ever assembled north of the border, out of the Scottish Cup
Lambie’s habit of producing miracles on a shoestring, and reviving the club’s fortunes, led to him being installed in Partick Thistle’s hall of fame. Dying in 2018, they announced the North Stand, home to their most vociferous fans, would be permanently renamed in his honour
However, disturbing new evidence has emerged which suggests that the clown prince of Whitburn brought something far more noxious than avian pick-me-ups into his dressing rooms
Gary, a gifted 20-year-old, was left in searing pain when he sustained an injury playing for Partick in the summer of 1991. It was nothing, however, compared to the life-changing agony he suffered when he reported for treatment with John Hart, the club physiotherapist
️ “Hart was a greasy wee guy who was bursting out of his tracksuit,” he recalled. “He had a horrible shuffling walk and his head was always down facing the ground. He looked exactly how you’d imagine a sex offender to look".
That is exactly what he proved to be
️ “Hart started off asking me creepy questions about my sex life and kept insisting he needed to massage the glute muscles in my backside,” he said. “He started touching the insides of my thighs and then my groin area"
Horrified, he confided in Lambie, a man he revered and respected, and begged him to intervene.
️“John laughed it off. It was like it was some kind of joke. He told me that was just how Hart was"
He reluctantly returned for treatment only for the abuse to escalate
Haunted by flashbacks and dogged by depression his footballing career, which had begun with him representing his country at under-21 level, failed to reach the heights it should have done
️ “It destroyed me mentally,” he said. “I lived my life in darkness for many, many years. It was heartbreaking for my family to see me in such pain."
Hart, in contrast, received praise for the “innovations” he brought to the club
Last December, Gary wrote to Gerry Britton, a former Partick striker who is now the club’s chief executive, and made a new appeal for help.
“It is simply incredible that John Lambie continues to hold pride of place in your hall of fame. He should be in the hall of shame"
Gary, speaking out after legal efforts to hold the club to account proved fruitless, insists he has received no response from Britton or anyone else at the club
Partick Thistle said “ongoing legal proceedings at that time” meant that “direct correspondence was not considered appropriate”.
The club stressed that Gary’s legal representatives had been informed of their stance
A spokesman insisted that the safety and wellbeing of children and young people involved with the club was of paramount importance.
️ “Everyone associated with Thistle is appalled at the extent of allegations of historic abuse in Scottish football"
Confidants of “the gaffer” insist he took swift action to root out the predator within Partick Thistle.
️ “My understanding was that John wanted rid of Hart as soon as the allegations came to light. I heard he was raging about it"
Partick Thistle confirmed that Hart had been banished from the club in 1992, a year after Gary’s pleas and warnings appeared to fall on deaf ears.
The club said: “As soon as the alleged abuse was raised in 1992 the club dismissed the individual with immediate effect"
However, it has emerged that when he died of alcoholism in 1995, without ever facing charges or being questioned by police, Patrick Thistle paid lavish tributes to him
