It is with sadness that Westa announces the sad passing this morning of Janet Hopkins, original member of both Westa & The Partick International.
In her 88 years she was a mainstay of Partick Thistle & Scotland, indeed her mother washed the strips for the Jags. Bill Shankly was a house guest during the second world war. Alan Rough and the Alan Hansen family were friends. When Thistle won the League Cup beating Celtic 4-1 in 1971 she was at Firhill to meet the bus returning with the trophy only to discover nobody had the key to get into the stadium.
In her 88 years she was a mainstay of Partick Thistle & Scotland, indeed her mother washed the strips for the Jags. Bill Shankly was a house guest during the second world war. Alan Rough and the Alan Hansen family were friends. When Thistle won the League Cup beating Celtic 4-1 in 1971 she was at Firhill to meet the bus returning with the trophy only to discover nobody had the key to get into the stadium.
Janet & her late husband Sam were ever present on the busses run by Jim Brown and the late and great Tommy Madden, 3 world cups and 2 Euro Championships, younger Westa members eat you hearts out, in fact Sam & Janet's honeymoon was the 1967 Wembley 3-2 win when we very temporarily were World Champs.
For those members proud of their 10 points she was at every home international in Glasgow,London, Belfast & Cardiff from 1947 onwards, no Ryan Air or Easy Jet then. She witnessed Wembley heartache in the 1955 -7-2 defeat and even worse the 9-3 humiliation courtesy of Frank Haffey. Mind you there would be the joy of the 1962 2-0 win over the Auld Enemy at Hampden after 25 years of home defeats.
She was a member of the short lived breakaway Summerston Young Farmers Supporters Club formed to travel by bus to the Dublin 1987 Euro Qualifers where chairman Jim Brown insisted they dress up as farmers to beat the travel ban on the Irish ferry.
Janet & Sam were the winners of the Westa 2003 Trip of the Year Award for their good humour both their and back on the bus to Amsterdam for the Euro Qualifiers play-off 6-0 debacle.
She was a star guest in the audience for Tam Cowan's TV show where she took at least 10 goes at introducing the next guest.
I include a picture of Janet at the world famous Westa Burns Supper where she loyally said the Selkirk Grace.
I include a picture of Janet at the world famous Westa Burns Supper where she loyally said the Selkirk Grace.
It is always sad when we lose one of the Westa family as we have occasionally do, each a legend, each a Scotland fan.
Hamish
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