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Fullname: Gerard Joseph Britton
aka: Gerry Britton, Gerard Britton
Born: 20 October 1970
Birthplace: Glasgow, Scotland
Signed: (youth) 1990
Left: August 1992
Position: Striker
First game: Dundee United 1-3 away 8 December 1990, League
Last game: Motherwell 2-4 Hampden 9 April 1991 Scottish Cup semi final replay
Internationals: none
Biog
A product of Celtic Bhoys Club Gerry Britton was a striker with a prolific scoring record at reserve level. He signed an S-Form for the club in April 1986 whilst playing for the Boys Club U15 team having played for Scottish Schoolboys at U15 level.
He signed professional terms with the Hoops in May 1987 and would make his competitive first team debut as a sub in a 3-1 defeat at Dundee United on 8th December 1990.
A strong and hard-working forward he scored an impressive 122 goals from 196 appearances at reserve level but frustratingly he could not hit the target in any of his four first team outings. He was believed to be a great hope for the first team and push Gerry Creaney for a starting role in the first team, but it just wasn’t to be. Celtic during the period were on a low, and it was the days of off-field turmoil (‘Sack the Board’), the club was poorly managed/coached and Gerry Britton was amongst one of many who suffered as a result.
He was out of contract at the end of the season and started 1992/93 on month-to-month deals. Gerry Britton would sign for Partick Thistle in August 1992 in a £100,000 deal. He scored regularly for the Jags including in the surprise 3-0 defeat of Rangers to keep Partick Thistle in the Premier League on 4 May 1993.
Subsequently he had spells as a player with Dundee, Dunfermline, Raith Rovers, Livingston, before returning to Thistle and Lambie and still scoring after an unproductive year injury ridden at Livingston. He gradually did more coaching of the Jags U21’s. He became joint Player-Manager with Derek Whyte when Gerry Collins was sacked in November 2003. Both Whyte and Britton were themselves sacked in January 2005.
He carried on training at Motherwell who signed him for the latter part of 2004/05 season. He then moved to Dundee for a short term deal before going to Brechin City where he continued to the end of 2005/06. He left Brechin to become manager of Stranraer for the 2006/07 season.
He left Stranraer to take the Assistant Manager’s job at Partick Thistle under Ian McCall.
Originally from Bishopbriggs he married the grand-daughter of former Celtic left-back Mick Davitt (1935-41).
Later became a lawyer, and made himself a popular figure with some for supporting & representing Green Brigade members who were charged for using the term ‘Hun‘ on a banner. With his help they were cleared, they never should have been charged in the first place.
Football was too much of a pull for the former player, and he became best known for his role as part of the Partick Thistle administration team, becoming their Chief Executive which covered also the difficult time during the COVID-19 crisis which saw Partick Thistle relegated to the third tier. He stuck by the club, stepping down in 2023. Incredibly, he even had to take on a couple of stints as the caretaker manager during his time at the helm of the club too.
We wish him the best.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1987-92 | 0 (2) | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | (4) |
| Goals: | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
( ) = Substitute appearance.
None (it was the barren years)
Pictures
Articles
CELTIC fans who unfurled a banner calling Rangers fans “huns” walked free from court after a three-day trial.
The Sun
Green Brigade members Daniel Ward, 23, and Daniel McCorgray, 22, both of Glasgow, were charged with breach of the peace aggravated by religious prejudice at a Celtic v St Mirren game in August 2010.
Their banner showed Hoops boss Neil Lennon outside a flaming Ibrox with the slogan ‘Huns FC’ on the main stand. Another banner said: “Let’s go to war.”
The pair were granted legal aid as the court heard complex legal arguments in the trial.
But Sheriff Alayne Swanson took just 20 minutes to return a not proven verdict last week at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
Ward’s lawyer, ex-Celt Gerry Britton, said as no-one had complained there was no breach. He added: “The charge tried to link two banners but they were separate.
“Our argument was that the word “huns” may be none too pleasant, but is not a religious comment.”
Read more: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scot…#ixzz1qCvlLdP7
No rest for Gerry Britton as Partick Thistle reach out to their fans
In the latest instalment in our ‘life without football’ series, we find out how the Jags are helping supporters
By Andrew Smith
Monday, 6th April 2020, 6:00 am
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/no-rest-gerry-britton-partick-thistle-reach-out-their-fans-2530044
There is a weariness detectable in the voice of Gerry Britton. It isn’t difficult to reason why. The end of football for the foreseeable future as the coronavirus took a grip in mid-March marked the beginning of myriad issues to fill him with concern, and fill his inbox.
Britton’s home office has been a hub of activity, fretting and focusing on potential solutions to problems for which there are no real answers. The game might be in shutdown, but for any individual in a football club tasked with controlling operations, that means the ramping up of workload.
“There has been an awful lot on,” the 49-year-old Partick Thistle chief executive said. “We have to look after our players, our staff, analyse what might happen with the league, consider the implications of that and the government’s job retention scheme and, as importantly as anything else, play a vital role within our community.”
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If this crisis has reminded us of anything it is that, in Scotland, football is more of a force for good than is ever appreciated. The outreach efforts for those in need are stitched into the fabric of Thistle, situated in the north west of Glasgow, an area that contains some of the most ingrained pockets of poverty across western Europe. Recognition of how such problems will have been exacerbated by the school closures for families that rely on depleted and stretched food banks, Thistle haven’t sat on their hands. They have stretched them out. As they do throughout the year.
Each summer the Partick Thistle Charitable Trust runs a holiday food programme for children not guaranteed a square meal when outside of the school environment. They link this with a camp where they can pursue a range of sporting activities.
“Right now of course, we can’t offer the camp but we can still get the meals out to as many families as possible,” said Britton. “As well as that we have had players and staff phoning round season ticket holders to see if there are any issues we can help them with. We aren’t naive, we know we can’t magic up solutions for everything, but we will do our absolute best.”
Britton is uncomfortable with pleading poverty in the context of the football operation. “We are denied gate income, and really any major revenue, for the next three months so that is a struggle for any business, but I know there are countless businesses across the world in the same position as us.
“We just need to seek to get through one phase at a time. We are in a helluva lot better position than some others. We don’t have any debt, and have built up a reserve. And because of that we will be able to pay our staff in full up till the end of May. Thereafter, nothing can be said with certainty. We have looked at the whole furloughing programme but believe there are aspects that aren’t as clearly set out as they might be. We still want to pick through all the details to see what we might do with regard to that further down the line. We are humbled that as we are looking to help fans, whose lives have been turned upside down, they are still thinking of us. It is incredible that they have raised £50,000 with a crowdfunder. It shows just how much the club means to them and that isn’t something we would ever take lightly. Their efforts are immense.”
Nothing can prepare a chief executive with only 20 months experience for the global emergency that has whipped up a financial maelstrom. Britton is grateful that he has worn many hats throughout his adult life, not least in pursuing a career as a criminal defence lawyer once he had hung up his boots before the lure of a second return to Thistle proved too great to resist. A club wherein he has been player, assistant manager, manager and academy director.
“I don’t think anyone has the blueprint for how you cope with what we are facing, but my legal background and knowledge of the admin side through my academy role I can certainly lean on, and makes me better placed than others to deal with what’s on our plate,” he said.
Yet, when it comes to the fate of Thistle as a football team, Britton recognises that he and all of those within his club are effectively powerless. It has become apparent that the SPFL will be required to call the league without any further games being played. Restrictions on social distancing and public events are unlikely to be lifted before June in a way that would allow for football games to be staged. With talk of September before there is a playing resumption hopes that the issues of this season could be settled on the field are fading. And that could have desperate consequences for the Firhill club when they currently sit bottom of the Championship.
“The longer this goes on, the more people that lose their lives, the less it seems proper to get caught up in debates about football. But if you are pushing me on what should happen with the leagues, I just think any decisions – and they are really tough – should penalise as few clubs as possible and seek to help as many as possible come out the other side.
“I think to relegate us, when we are two points behind second bottom with a game in hand and nine matches still to play, would be entirely unjustifiable. As much as any financial considerations, mentally this would do real harm to the players, staff and fans. I remember how tough it was psychologically when we dropped out of the top flight two years ago, and that was warranted.
“I do feel that this is the time to be creative with reconstruction, even just for a season, so that clubs don’t suffer for circumstances entirely outside of their control. But, though we can make our case to the authorities, ultimately we don’t really have a voice. It is down to the SPFL board. We can only hope they do the right thing.”
Gerry Britton to step down as Partick Thistle chief executive
19th July
Gerry Britton
https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/23665824.gerry-britton-step-partick-thistle-chief-executive/
Gerry Britton has been a player, manager, academy director and chief executive during his 30-year association with Partick Thistle <i>(Image: SNS)</i>
Gerry Britton has been a player, manager, academy director and chief executive during his 30-year association with Partick Thistle (Image: SNS)
Gerry Britton will step down from his position as Partick Thistle chief executive and away from his role at the club’s academy at the end of this month.
The 52-year-old, who enjoyed two separate stints at Firhill as a player, succeeded Ian Maxwell as the Jags’ chief executive in 2018 and was named as the club’s academy director a decade ago.
In a statement published on the club’s website, Britton reflected on his 30-year association with the Glasgow club as he wished Thistle all the best in the future.
“It’s with a heavy heart that I announce that I will be leaving Partick Thistle Football Club,” Britton said. “I informed the club of my wish to leave after what was an exhilarating end to the season past.
“Having now worked with the management and backroom staff to lay the foundations for the new season ahead, I feel now is the right time for me to leave the club to pursue other opportunities.
“It has been a great privilege to serve the club for the past five years in the chief executive role, and for the five years prior establishing the Thistle Weir Youth Academy as its first academy director.
“Whilst helping to lead the club through the Covid pandemic and the associated fallout was an unprecedented challenge, being part of the subsequent journey to win League One and then be within a penalty kick of promotion to the Premiership, created amazing memories that I will always cherish.
“I would like to thank all the staff, players, volunteers, supporters and board members I have encountered at the club over the past three decades.
“My association with the club dates back to 1992 when I first signed as a player for the late John Lambie. I have also served as first team manager, assistant manager, academy director and chief executive.
“It goes without saying that the club will always have a special place in my heart. Partick Thistle is a wonderful club with an amazing set of supporters who I want to personally thank for all their support. I wish the club continued success, forever and ever”.
Thistle chairman Alistair Creevy added: “Gerry has been an outstanding employee of the club both as a player and CEO.
“The board wishes to thank Gerry for the dedication and service he has shown to the club. We wish him every success in the future and look forward to seeing him back at Firhill supporting the Jags.”