Chic Charnley

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Personal information
Chic Charnley
Full name	James Callaghan Charnley
Date of birth	June 11, 1963 (age 43)
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Nickname	Chic
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth clubs
	Possil Villa
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–91 1991–92 1992 1992–93 1993–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998 1998 1998 1998–99 1999–2002 2002–03	Rutherglen Glencairn St Mirren Ayr United Pollok Clydebank Hamilton Academical Partick Thistle St Mirren Bolton Wanderers (loan) Djurgårdens IF Partick Thistle Dumbarton Dundee Hibernian Clydebank (trial) Partick Thistle Tarff Rovers Portadown Kirkintilloch Rob Roy Partick Thistle	n / a 1 (0) 17 (3) n / a 31 (11) 14 (0) 73 (22) 42 (5) 3 (0) 46 (2) 18 (1) 27 (6) 29 (4) 1 (0) 5 (0) n / a n / a 2 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

James Callaghan Charnley, more commonly known as Chic Charnley, (born 11 June 1963 in Glasgow) is a former Scottish footballer.

He played for a number of clubs: Clydebank, Hamilton Accies, St. Mirren, Bolton on loan, Djurgårdens IF, Dumbarton, Dundee, and Hibs. He also played for non-league clubs Pollok, Tarff Rovers and Kirkintilloch Rob Roy.

It was as a player with Partick Thistle that he will be best remembered, he played for the club on a few different occasions and is considered something of a cult hero at Firhill. Chic was raised in the North of Glasgow, a gifted footballer, Chic was tipped for greatness. However the early part of his career was chequered by poor discipline which gave him the reputation as a hot head. This scared many clubs away from his obvious talent.

Chic had a voracious appetite for trouble. During a training session in Glasgow's Ruchill Park, he was attacked by two locals brandishing samurai swords. Charnley responded by leading his team-mates in an attack on the two men^{[citation needed]}.

He was brought up a supporter of Celtic. He did have a trial for Celtic playing one game for them in a friendly against Manchester Utd at Old Trafford. Many rated him as the best player in the game and it was rumoured that he had done enough to win a contract. However, Celtic's manager Lou Macari was sacked not long after this friendly game and rumours of a dream move to Celtic came to nothing.

Charnley was an inconsistent performer with displays ranging from poor to outstanding. At many points in his career it seemed that top-flight football was beyond him, he was freed by Partick Thistle when the Maryhill club was in the Premier Division.

Many consider his time at Hibernian to be the best period of his career. Whilst at Hibs many called for his inclusion in the Scotland squad, this did not materialise.

His final season as a player was with Partick Thistle in the Premier League during the 2002-03 season. Chic was approaching the age of 40, so appearances were few and far between. His final match was perhaps fittingly against Hibs at Easter Road. He came on as a substitute in a 3-2 victory for Thistle.

The next season (2003-04) he was appointed coach at Thistle under manager Gerry Collins, but when Collins was sacked by the Thistle board he resigned in protest at their decision.

Chic returned to Firhill during the 2006/2007 pre-season for ex team-mate Kenny Arthur's testimonial match versus a Celtic XI. With the game in injury time and Thistle losing 2-1 Chic rifled home a 25 yard strike to draw level. Since this match, Chic spent time training at Firhill and is expected to return for ex manager and Thistle hero John Lambie's testimonial in January 2007. The opposition is expected to be provided by Glasgow Rangers FC.

Many Thistle supporters rate him the best player their club has had.^{[citation needed]}