Stuart Bannigan

Stuart Bannigan (born 17 September 1992) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for Scottish Premiership club Partick Thistle. A product of Partick Thistle's youth setup, Bannigan played his first professional season on loan at the then Scottish Second Division side Ayr United. He has also played for the Scotland U21 national team.

Partick Thistle

Bannigan made his first team debut as a substitute on 24 July 2010 against Clyde in the Scottish Challenge Cup. Going on to make his league debut for Partick Thistle from the start on 11 September 2010 against Stirling in the Scottish First Division. He made one more appearance before being sent out on loan.

On 4 November 2010 Bannigan joined Scottish Second Division side Ayr United on a one-month loan deal. He made his debut against Dumbarton on 13 November 2010. After only 5 games his loan was extended until the end of the season. Bannigan made 24 Appearances scoring 4 goals to help Ayr gain promotion to the Scottish First Division via the play-offs. Following his loan spell at Ayr United, Bannigan would be often used in first team ins and out in the 2011–12 season. After the last game of last season in which he scored his first thistle goal in against Hamilton Academical, which the results was 2–2.

In the 2012–13 season, Bannigan was on a high and scored his first goal of the season against Queens Park at Hampden Park in a 5–4 thriller, in the second round of the Scottish Challenge Cup. Just a week later, on 25 August 2012, Bannigan set up a goal for Kris Doolan before scoring the goal for himself, in a 3–0 win over Dumbarton. In a match against Falkirk, on 27 October 2012, Bannigan suffered a leg injury in the first half and was substituted. Forty-eight-hour later, Bannigan revealed he passed his driving test. Though it was serious at first, Bannigan managed to escape the injury, which he describe it as "relieved". Soon after, on 24 November 2012, Bannigan scored his second league goal of the season, in a 2–0 win over Livingston. Then, the next game, on 15 December 2012, Bannigan scored his third goal of the season, in a 3–2 win over Raith Rovers. Bannigan won the club's young player of the year for 2012/13. He was substituted during the extra-time period of the 2013 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, which Partick lost to Queen of the South. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Bannigan was named in the PFA Scotland Team of the Year. He signed a new two-year contract at Thistle in June 2013.

In September 2013, Bannigan was awarded the Scottish Premiership Young Player award. On 14 May 2014, Bannigan signed a new two-year deal with the Jags. Bannigan made his 100th league appearance for Partick Thistle against Hamilton Academical at Firhill Stadium on the 23rd of August 2014.

Bannigan decided to leave Partick Thistle at the end of his contract in May 2016, having rejected their offer of a new deal. However, on the 27th June 2016, Bannigan reversed his decision to leave Firhill, and committed to Partick Thistle for a further two years.

Bannigan, along with team-mate Stephen O'Donnell, was called up by Billy Stark for the Scotland U21 squad. Bannigan played his first match international debut, in a 1–1 draw against Greece U21. He was also called up for an under-21 match against England.

As of 06:23, 2 June 2016 (UTC)

Partick Thistle

• Scottish First Division: 1

2012–13

• Scottish Football League Young Player of the Month:

January 2013