Mike Smith

The Joe Jordan era at Tynecastle faced its sternest test yet as season 1992/93 got underway. The honeymoon period was well and truly over. At the end of Jordan’s first full season in charge – 1991/92 – Hearts had finished as runners up to Rangers in the Premier League. Jordan had brought in a bustling striker in the shape of Iain Baird to help take some of the pressure off John Robertson and he also gave Derek Ferguson the responsibility of running Hearts midfield, something Jordan’s predecessor Alex MacDonald had been reluctant to do. Jordan also brought several English based players such as former Manchester United defender Graeme Hogg, Brighton winger Steve Penney and former Leeds United player Glynn Snodin.

Hearts fans weren’t entirely happy, despite Hearts league standing looking better than it had done for five years. Jordan had adopted a more cautious approach than his predecessor and some of the players he brought in – such as Iain ‘Yogi’ Baird, Graeme Hogg and, most notable of all, Ally ‘bite yer legs’ Mauchlen  - seemed to think passing the ball on the ground was an alien concept. Mauchlen played in the same Motherwell team as Gary McAllister some ten years before and was small in stature – but some of his ‘tackles’ made you wince. Iain Baird was another who was rather cruelly described by one irate fan during a scrap at Tynecastle as ‘being like Sandy Clark but without the skill’. Graeme Hogg once played for Manchester United but is best remembered by Hearts fans for having his lights punched out by team mate Craig Levein during a friendly match at Starks Park as bemused Raith Rovers players looked on.

Hearts second place finish in the Premier League in 1992 meant another tilt at the U.E.F.A. Cup. The maroons were drawn in the first round against Slavia Prague. The Czechs weren’t the biggest name in European football – but then again neither were Hearts. But Joe Jordan was doubtless happy to avoid Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United, Roma and Benfica  - can you imagine those teams in today’s U.E.F.A. Cup? The Hearts manager was also happy that the first leg was played in Prague and Hearts defended resiliently on a balmy September evening, losing 1-0 in front of a paltry crowd of less than 5,000. They couldn’t secure the away goal which would make life so much easier for the return leg but, a fortnight later, a crowd of over 16,000 headed for Gorgie – and another memorable European night for the JTs! 

Hearts: Smith; Hogg; McKinlay; Mackay; Van de Ven; Robertson; McLaren; Baird; Snodin and Bannon.

The big crowd received a boost as the teams warmed up. For, doing strenuous exercises was Alan McLaren, a defender who had blossomed into one of the most talented in Scotland. McLaren had made his Scotland debut that summer against the USA and Canada and, with added responsibility following the departure of Dave McPherson back to Rangers, it was clear the youngster had a big future in the game. McLaren had missed the previous seven games – including the first leg in Prague – due to injury and his return to the Hearts team was a welcome sight. Interestingly, McLaren was deployed to a ball winning role in midfield with Hogg and the Dutchman Peter Van de Ven – a surprise summer signing from Aberdeen – being the central defensive partnership. Slavia Prague fancied their chances after winning the first leg and listed among their substitutes was eighteen-year-old Patrick Berger, of whom great things were expected…

The game kicked off with typical fervour from a noisy Hearts support but the Czechs showed they weren’t going to be intimidated with barely legal tackles going in on John Robertson and Graeme Hogg in the opening few minutes. Silhavy, in particular, could well have caused Robbo serious injury but he escaped punishment, a decision he would celebrate soon after. Hearts seized the initiative, though, and while Joe Jordan had appealed to the fans to be patient, reasoning that even a goal in the last minute would be enough to force extra-time, the maroons opened the scoring after just ten minutes. It was a night that Gary Mackay, given a free role in midfield thanks to Alan McLaren’s ball-winning responsibilities, revelled in and the Hearts legend was clearly doing just that. He delivered a fine pass to Iain Baird who fed Glynn Snodin. The Englishman fed a through ball to the ever-dangerous John Robertson who set up Mackay who had maintained his run. The Scotland midfield man appeared to stumble as he was about to pull the trigger but he maintained enough composure to fire in a shot from just inside the penalty box past keeper Janos and into the net to put Hearts a goal ahead on the night and level the aggregate scores.  

The Czechs were rattled, their game plan of frustrating Hearts scuppered just minutes into the game. But those Johnny Foreigner types can be the masters of spoil. Midfielder Tatarchuk appeared to have been shot by a sniper in the tenements on Gorgie Road – as no one else was near him when he fell to the ground it seemed to be the only explanation – and, remarkably the Swedish referee stopped play while the Prague player received treatment. What for exactly, was far from clear and the Hearts fans made their irritation known in no uncertain terms. Irritation that turned closed to hostility when the player was allowed treatment on the pitch, thereby holding the game up for several minutes. If Slavia’s ploy was to distract Hearts after their excellent start then it worked. After fifteen minutes, they forced their first corner kick of the game. Necas swung the ball over and found Silhavy who flicked the ball past a startled Henry Smith to level the score on the night. Hearts fans worst fears were realised – the away goal meant their heroes now had to score two more goals to avoid going out in the first round. But, roared on by the crowd, Hearts refused to throw in the towel. Six minutes later, Eammon Bannon belied his advancing footballing years with a powerful run that took him from defence towards his forwards. John Robertson took a pass from his balding team mate, returned it down the right wing for Bannon to swing in a superb cross into the Slavia penalty box. Rising like a phoenix was Iain Baird who bulleted a header past Janos to put Hearts back in front. Hearts still required another goal but there was time aplenty to get the crucial third strike. As half-time approached tension rose in both camps with Penicka, having committed foul after foul all evening, at last getting his name entered in the referee’s notebook. Almost as if to redress the balance, however, Tosh McKinlay then found himself booked for the heinous crime of stealing a yard at a throw-in. But with two minutes until the break, Tynecastle roared again when Craig Levein superbly headed Bannon’s corner kick home. Hearts went in at half-time 3-1 ahead on the night, 3-2 on aggregate but knowing the Czechs just needed to score again to tilt the tie back in their favour.

The brutal nature of Slavia’s game was starkly illustrated when the second half got underway. Silhavy, the Czech’s self-proclaimed hard-man, lunged in, not once, but twice on John Robertson. Both were ‘challenges’ off the ball and both were missed by a Swedish referee who was in danger of losing the plot. A belief underlined when Tatarchuk launched a scything tackle on Iain Baird – only for referee Larsson to send Penicka packing form the field. Mistaken identity it may have been but there was little doubt Slavia deserved to be down to ten men as the Hearts players were in danger of serious injury. Hearts were on top but the inevitable sucker punch duly arrived with twenty-five minutes left. A tiring Alan McLaren left the field to be replaced by Tommy Wilson and as the Hearts defence reorganised, Slavia moved forward. Necas delivered the perfect through ball to Kuka who lobbed keeper Henry Smith to make the score 3-3 on aggregate – but with the Czechs having two vital away goals. But the most dramatic moment of the night was still to come! With little over ten minutes left and Hearts facing yet another European knock-out on the away goals rule, the maroons were awarded a free-kick thirty yards from goal. With Baird and Robertson jostling in the penalty box, the Slavia defenders were having their hands full to keep the strikers at bay. They didn’t reckon on the diminutive figure of Glynn Snodin who ran like an express train to the dead ball and smacked it as hard as he could. From thirty yards out the ball screamed past the despairing Slavia defensive wall and into the roof of the net!  Tynecastle erupted! It was a goal worthy of winning the U.E.F.A. Cup itself and Snodin was engulfed by delirious teammates as Hearts moved ahead on aggregate. The gamed ended Hearts 4 Slavia Prague 2 and another famous European night at Tynecastle entered Gorgie folklore.

Hearts 2 Atletico Madrid 1, UEFA Cup 1993

It was a remarkable quirk of affairs that, despite Hearts sacking Joe Jordan in 1993, they still managed, so to speak, to finish in fifth place in the Premier League thereby stumbling into the following season’s U.E.F.A. Cup. Thanks partly to the efforts of Aberdeen and Dundee United, Scotland’s standing in European club football was still pretty good in the early 1990s and so Hearts were happy to take their chances in the U.E.F.A. Cup particularly as debts were rising once more and the Taylor Report would soon mean the end to old styled terracings as Hearts and other top flight clubs were faced with the prospect of having to redevelop their grounds.

Sandy Clark had done an outstanding job with Hearts youth policy to the extent that Hearts youngsters had lifted the Scottish Youth Cup under his tutelage. Clark had taken temporary charge when Joe Jordan was given his P45 towards the end of the preceding season and kids such as Allan Johnston, Kevin Thomas, Tommy Harrison and Gary Locke were all given their first team chance in the spring of 1993. With money too tight to mention, Hearts gave Clark the job on a permanent basis - if a football manager’s job can be called permanent - in the summer of that year. Hearts fans nodded their approval - Sandy Clark was a big part of the revitalised Hearts team that came ‘back from the brink’ in the 1980s and he knew how much the club meant to its long suffering supporters. Naturally, Clark was given next to no money to spend and he brought in only one player for the start of the season - striker (and I use the term loosely) Justin Fashanu whom Brian Clough once paid a million pounds for, a decision which highlights the perils of alcohol abuse.

I thought of myself as a man of vision (usually blurred after a night in The Diggers) and thought this would have to be the year when I would make my first trip abroad to see the famous Heart of Midlothian play on the continent. So it was with some excitement that I waited for news of the U.E.F.A. Cup First Round draw. Hearts were paired with Atletico Madrid. Bingo! Hearts fans couldn’t have asked for more. Atletico have always been the poor relations of the Spanish capital and in the 1990s went through more managers than The Diggers sells pints of eighty shillings (all this free publicity must mean something fellas?) The first leg was at Tynecastle but this didn’t stop me and my mate Gordon ‘it’s your shout’ Robertson booking our trip to Spain ahead of the first game in Gorgie.

The first leg, on September 14^th attracted more than 15,500 fans to Tynecastle on one of those European nights that excites the fans so much. Having forked out £150 for the pleasure of travelling to Spain by coach, we naturally prayed that Hearts would still be on level terms at least for the return leg. We weren’t disappointed.

Hearts: Smith; Locke; McKinlay; Levein; Weir; McLaren; Colquhoun; Mackay; Fashanu; Leitch and Robertson. Substitutes: Berry; Hogg; Johnston; Thomas and Walker.

It was a typical September evening in Gorgie - dreich! Driving rain and wind induced that oft-used cliché ‘conditions are not conducive to good football’ which, given Hearts struggles at the time, we considered a good thing as we downed our pre-match pints. The conditions certainly seemed to put off Swedish referee Bo Karlsson. He was replaced at the last minute by a fella who would go on to make a name for himself in refereeing -  Anders Frisk. You often hear managers speak before such games of the need to be patient but Hearts wasted little time in posting their intentions. With just two minutes gone, attacking full back Tosh McKinlay found himself in acres of space on the left but his cross which skimmed across the greasy Tynecastle surface was clutched by goalkeeper Diego (an unusual name for a Spanish goalie, I know). Seconds later Justin Fashanu went for a fifty-fifty ball with the take-no-prisoners Juan Lopez. The Spaniard appeared to be the victim of an indiscriminate sniper hidden on the roofs of the Gorgie Road tenements but a quick check from an anxious Mr Frisk revealed it was nothing more serious that a pesky eyelash….Then Gary Mackay tackled Perez and several minutes passed while the Madrid man received lengthy treatment to repair a broken fingernail. Madrid, when they did decide to play football, were a tidy looking team with Manolo and Garcia coming close to opening the scoring as the Hearts support became edgy. A John Colquhoun tackle on Kiko resulted in an inevitable double twist with pike. Referee Frisk booked Colquhoun much to the fury of coach Sandy Clark. Midway through the first half, Hearts created the best chance thus far with a flowing move. Craig Levein launched a long ball towards debutant Scott Leitch. The former Dunfermline Athletic man waited to beat Madrid’s off-side trap then slipped a beautiful pass to Colquhoun. The former Celtic winger tried to place his shot but this enabled Lopez to make a saving tackle. Then, with half-time fast approaching, Gary Mackay made one of those searching passes which was such a feature of his game. He found John Robertson who turned sharply before firing in an effort which was well saved by Diego. No goals at half-time and time for another European cliché - it’s important to keep a clean sheet at home….

The second half began in much the same way the first half ended - Hearts on top with Madrid falling back on defence. So much so that Atletico replaced their Mexican international striker Garcia ten minutes into the second half. Minutes later, Robertson and Colquhoun again linked up well giving Leitch a chance on goal but the youngster was a shade too late on getting on the end of JC’s cross. Hearts were proving more than a match for one of the best teams in La Liga and bedlam ensued at Tynecastle when Sandy Clark’s side made the breakthrough with twenty minutes left. Youngster Gary Locke - an inspiration on the night - sent a superb delivery from his free-kick into the penalty box. Fashanu rose above the defence and headed towards goal. Diego could only scoop the ball away which, with John Robertson around, was not the best option he could have chosen. Robbo lashed the ball into the net to give Hearts a sensational lead!

Five minutes later and I thought the shed roof would be blown away! Gary Locke played a magnificent through-ball to John Colquhoun. JC used his pace to great effect and placed a fine right foot shot past Diego to put the Jambos two goals ahead. We couldn’t quite believe it and our apprehension at booking our tickets for the away leg in Spain before the first game disappeared. Our joy was tempered however, when Polish striker Kosecki sprinted away from Levein and McLaren before striking a superb effort past Henry Smith to nick a crucial away goal in the dying seconds. When the referee’s whistle went moments later Madrid’s apparent joy at losing the game 2-1 was undisguised - they clearly felt they would finish Hearts off in the Spanish capital a fortnight later.

Eleven days later we set off for Madrid confident Hearts would secure a famous result. Our plans were thrown somewhat when the return leg was switched from the Wednesday to the Tuesday night - apparently television dictated this would be the case, but who could possibly believe that? In our infinite wisdom we opted to travel to Spain by coach. This meant a somewhat fraught Saturday. Hearts defeated Celtic 1-0 at Tynecastle on 25 September - wee John Robertson scoring the goal in an all too rare win over The Hoops - and we duly retired to the pub after the game to celebrate. Our excuse - not that we needed one after beating Celtic - was that we had three hours to kill before our coach left for Madrid….

If there was anyone who boarded the official Hearts fans coach outside Tynecastle at 8.00pm that Saturday night who hadn’t had an alcoholic beverage beforehand, I certainly didn’t notice them. A wee word of advice here to anyone thinking of going to watch Hearts play in Europe - for God’s sake fly! Our coach trundled along Gorgie Road just after eight o’clock as we tried to guess if we would make it across the border until the first toilet stop. We got our answer as we passed through Penicuik by which point the toilet on the coach was already out of commission and fifty Hearts fans were desperate to part with the residue of three hours of eighty shillings ale….

By its very nature, thirty six hours is a bloody long time to spend on a coach. Inevitably, the coach broke down halfway across France on Sunday afternoon resulting in an impromptu kick-about on a motorway service station car park. We also took the opportunity to grab some much needed food and witnessed the somewhat primitive attempt by Hearts fans to ingratiate themselves into French culture. On opting for a salad, one of our maroon clad colleagues asked the madammoiselle behind the counter ‘Huv ye got ony chips, Hen?’ The next time I was to witness such a look of disbelief on the face of a French national was five years later when Stephane Adam scored the winner in the 1998 Scottish Cup Final….

We fell off the coach at 9.00am Monday morning as the bemused good citizens of Madrid were heading to work. One of our group awoke seemingly in a daze - we weren’t entirely sure if he hadn’t just fallen on to the coach in error some thirty-six hours before and had only just woken up.

As so often happens, the build-up to the game was better than the game itself although this assertion is challenged when you consider that our coach driver, taking us to the Vicente Calerdon Stadium, managed to drop us off at the Atletico end! A sure remedy for constipation if ever there was one. Hearts always looked uncomfortable defending a slender lead and they weren’t helped by Henry Smith adding to his catalogue of errors in a Hearts jersey by letting a harmless shot squirm through his legs. Atletico won 3-0 on the night to go through 4-2 on aggregate and another European sojourn was over. Hearts supporters earned the respect of their Spanish counterparts however, by staying behind after the final whistle to applaud their side. Numerous players such as Gary Locke, John Robertson and John Colquhoun came back on to the field of play to take the acclaim of the fans. Funniest moment of the night, however, was when Chairman Wallace Mercer thought he would do likewise - the cascade of boos from the Hearts support soon had Wallace scuttling back inside!

As we headed back to Edinburgh the following day we contemplated our second thirty-six hour coach journey in five days - the tortuous return from Madrid to Edinburgh. Seventy-two hours on a coach to see Hearts was perhaps beyond the call of duty for Hearts fans (and the fact I missed my daughter's fourth birthday is something she has never let me forget fourteen years on) But it was all part of the legend that is following the Hearts in Europe. 

And more adventures on the continent would follow!

Mike Smith, July 2007 

The eagerly awaited top of the table clash at Celtic Park this Saturday evokes memories of a stirring encounter between Celtic and Hearts in the east end of Glasgow just weeks into the new millennium. Less than two years had passed since Hearts lifted the Scottish Cup in such memorable fashion but the intervening period had been, at times, traumatic as the club fell from challenging the Old Firm for the league championship to flirting with relegation in the space of twelve roller coaster months. Season 1999/2000 had seen manager Jim Jefferies try to steady the ship, however, and with a substantial transfer kitty available thanks to a multi-million pound ‘investment’ from media group SMG, some serious money was shelled out to ‘try and take Hearts to the next level’ (ã all newspapers) Having brought players such as ex Celt Darren Jackson, former Rangers defender Gordan Petric, Slovakian international Robert Tomaschek and former Manchester City stalwart Fitzroy Simpson to Tynecastle, Hearts were once again in the top half of the table. However, they were some distance away from the Old Firm and as Jim Jefferies brought his side to Parkhead on Saturday 5^th February 2000, few people outside the hardy band of travelling fans thought the result would be anything other than another convincing Celtic victory.

Nearly 60,000 fans packed into Celtic Park, most in their usual expectant mood. Darren Jackson was making a return to the arena he had strutted his stuff in the green and white hoops before serious illness threatened a lot more than his footballing career. He was given a warm welcome from the Celtic hordes but there was little sentimentality in the opening twenty minutes as the Bhoys almost set up camp in the Hearts half. As the best Hearts goalkeeper this writer has had the privilege to see - Antti Niemi - and Steven Pressley tried manfully to stem the tide it seemed only a matter of time before Celtic would make the breakthrough. They did after eighteen minutes when Lubo Moravcik fired them into the lead, a lead which was doubled only ten minutes later when Mark Viduka shot past Niemi. Celtic 2 Hearts 0 and the Hearts support folded their arms in disgust and wore furrowed brows - we had seen this all too often in Glasgow as the maroons yet again paid the price for showing the Glasgow giants just too much respect. But as the Jambo following contemplated heading for a pie and Bovril - anything to take their eyes off what was happening on the pitch - the game turned just three minutes later. Colin Cameron latched on to a through ball and with just Jonathan Gould to beat, coolly slipped the ball past the Celtic keeper to make it Celtic 2 Hearts 1. It was the immediate response that Jim Jefferies demanded and, more importantly as things were to turn out, it planted the first seeds of doubt in the minds of the Celtic players. Managed by former Liverpool legend John Barnes, there had been increasing speculation in the press that all was not well behind the scenes at Parkhead and the events that followed were to prove there was more than a grain of truth in the rumours.

Jim Jefferies certainly believed Celtic were there for the taking and he fired belief into the bellies of his Hearts players at half-time. Hearts began the second half like a maroon swarm around the Celtic goal. Fitzroy Simpson didn’t enjoy a particularly productive period at Tynecastle but he produced arguably his finest performance in a maroon shirt that afternoon. Simpson was given plenty of space to spray passes to the all too eager Jackson and Cameron but one of his passes ten minutes after the re-start was to the unlikely figure of Gary Naysmith. The Midlothian youngster was scarcely noted for his goalscoring prowess but the full-back collected Simpson’s incision pass, galloped into the penalty box and rifled an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net leaving keeper Gould grasping thin air. Remarkably, Hearts had levelled the game at 2-2 - but Jefferies marauders weren’t finished yet!

John Barnes response was to replace Johan Mjallby and the ineffectual Eyal Berkovic with youngster Mark Burchill and the experienced Tommy Johnson but it was Hearts who were now in the ascendancy with Darren Jackson causing havoc for the Celtic rearguard. The home support’s dismay turned to dejection with just seven minutes to go. Jackson was bundled unceremoniously off the ball inside the Celtic penalty box. Referee John Rowbotham immediately pointed to the penalty spot. Colin Cameron did his usual expert job with the penalty kick and Hearts had come back from the dead to lead 3-2. To a cacophony of boos and jeers from a disbelieving home support, the final whistle blew minutes later and Hearts had secured a famous and unlikely victory. Hearts had often been accused of lacking the belief to take on the Old Firm, particularly in Glasgow but once Colin Cameron had pulled a goal back just after the half hour, they had belief in bucketfuls.

Celtic’s misery was compounded four days later when First Division Inverness Caledonian Thistle surpassed Hearts memorable triumph by knocking the Hoops out of the Scottish Cup by winning 3-1 at Celtic Park. It was to prove the final nail in John Barnes managerial coffin in Glasgow.

Hearts were just happy to savour a rare victory in Glasgow’s east end. Not even ‘auld yins’ like myself could remember the last time Hearts had come back from two goals down to defeat Celtic in Glasgow and it was a result and a performance which would become part of Gorgie folklore.

The Hearts players that day went on to have different fortunes. Antti Niemi, Gary Naysmith and Colin Cameron went on to play in England. Tam Flogel and Robert Tomaschek returned to their respective homelands (Flogel reluctantly so as he loved life in Edinburgh). Darren Jackson and Grant Murray would move on to St. Johnstone, Gary Wales would eventually join the growing ex Hearts colony at Kilmarnock while Petric and Simpson returned across the border. Steven Pressley? He would, of course, become one of Hearts best ever captains, a Scotland regular - and King of the Comebacks at Falkirk!

Just a few months later, manager Jim Jefferies would also be leaving the club he loved so much and a new era under Craig Levein would begin. But no one would forget that winters day when Hearts silenced the Celts!

The old cliché that there are no easy teams left in the quarter finals of a cup competition was trotted out on more than once occasion at the beginning of 1989. And so it proved when Hearts - the last of the Scottish hopefuls still left in Europe having enjoyed a memorable run by defeating St. Patrick‘s Athletic, Austria Vienna and Velez Mostar - were paired with Bayern Munich when the draw was made for the last eight of the U.E.F.A. Cup. In just six years, Hearts had progressed from playing the likes of Clydebank and Dumbarton to playing one of the biggest names in Europe in the latter stages of a major European competition. The first leg was played at Tynecastle on February 28^th and more than 26,000 fans – including a smattering of expectant Germans – headed for Gorgie on a cold winter’s night.

Legendary striker John Robertson was only on the substitute bench as he was recovering from injury but it was a chance for Iain Ferguson to reproduce his goalscoring feat from two years earlier when he scored for Dundee United against Barcelona at the Nou Camp Stadium. Bayern were confident – the Germans are always confident – and the talk in the Munich camp before the game was of how much of a lead they were going to take back to Germany for the return leg. And as the game began in a tumultuous atmosphere it appeared Hearts had been listening a tad too closely to their more illustrious opponents. The maroons began cagily with the three Macs at the back – McLaren, McKinlay and McPherson – preferring to cautiously play the ball back to safety rather than incur the wrath of a Bayern team not unaccustomed to such occasions. Further forward, John Colquhoun appeared to be sucked into a midfield role leaving Iain Ferguson as the lone striker but with Mike Galloway and veteran Eammon Bannon providing support. After thirteen minutes, a misplaced pass from Ferguson went to Thon who delivered a superb pass to the Swedish striker Johnny Ekstrom whose flick just went past the post. Shortly after Ekstrom fell down in the penalty box after a challenge form Craig Levein but the Austrian referee ignored German (and Swedish!) pleas for a penalty. Hearts, if truth were told, were struggling to make an impact. A highlight of their European campaign had been the strength of Mike Galloway up front but Bayern had clearly done their homework and Galloway was struggling to even touch the ball, far less maintain his impressive scoring record. However, after half an hour, Hearts finally threatened when Eammon Bannon delivered a tantalising cross which keeper Aumann could only punch out. Tosh McKinlay rattled the ball into the net but Hearts celebrations were soon muted when the referee blew for a foul on the German goalkeeper.

Bayern were clearly rattled by the physical nature of the game. Kenny Black, never averse to a challenge or two, lunged in on Reuter and the German reaction was not unexpected. Thon responded with a brutal tackle on John Colquhoun and as tempers frayed the game threatened to get out of hand. If the referee was loath to show anyone a yellow card he had little choice when Alan McLaren kept his foot high when he went for a fifty-fifty ball and the teenager was booked. Bayern had threatened on a couple of occasions in the first half but there was precious little incident around either penalty area. Manager Alex Macdonald had stressed before the game the importance of not conceding the dreaded away goal and when half-time arrived we hoped Hearts would at least look like scoring a goal in the second period.

Hearts did indeed throw off their shackles at the re-start. Just three minutes had gone of the second forty-five when Craig Levein sprayed a long pass to Mike Galloway. The former Halifax Town player turned the ball across goal, out of the reach of Iain Ferguson but towards Eammon Bannon whose effort cannoned off a Bayern defender. The 26,000 plus crowd roared their approval as hopes rose that the Jambos would make the breakthrough. After fifty four minutes, Ferguson rifled in a free-kick which brought a fine save from Aumann and the huge Jambo contingent sensed the breakthrough was imminent. It came barely two minutes later. Kenny Black was brought down on the edge of the penalty box, just in front of the Tynecastle shed. The practice put in on the training ground as about to pay off. The unlikely figure of Tosh McKinlay stood along side Iain Ferguson as the Germans tried to figure out the threat. Tosh discreetly rolled the ball to Fergie who let rip with a rasping shot which flew high into the net. Delirium at Tynecastle! Standing in the shed, I was hurtled several rows down the terracing as Hearts fans celebrated wildly.

Spurred on by a cacophony of noise from the home support, Hearts continued to drive forward with Ferguson and Colquhoun going close to extending the lead. But Bayern were dangerous on the counter-attack and the ever dangerous Thon seemed set to score a vital away goal only to be denied by a last gasp tackle from McKinlay. Thon’s frustration soon showed when he was booked for another crude challenge on Colquhoun who also took an arm in the face from Pfugler shortly afterwards - but the referee missed the incident. It was patently obvious that Bayern were rattled and their discomfort could and should have been increased eight minutes from the end when Dave McPherson found himself all alone in the Bayern penalty box – only to scoop the ball over the bar from ten yards out! The Germans didn’t know what hit them and they clearly took the option for damage limitation as the game drew to its close. When the referee blew his whistle for full-time, Hearts had secured their most memorable victory in European football. They had beaten the mighty Bayern Munich 1-0 and they headed for the Olympic Stadium a fortnight later in high spirits.

Of course, this wouldn’t be Hearts without a hard luck story. Wearing their away candy striped shirts, Hearts survived an edgy start in Munich to look the likelier team to score. Until Klaus Augenthaler smacked in a shot from thirty five yards which left keeper Henry Smith helpless. Alex MacDonald had warned his players beforehand about the threat of Augenthaler and was clearly annoyed that his players didn’t heed his words. The scores were now level on aggregate but still Hearts had chances to notch a priceless away goal. John Colquhoun in particular had two glorious chances – one of which clipped the post. Hearts were just inches away from a fantastic achievement – but, inevitably, the game’s second goal was scored by the home side. Bayern won 2-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate. While the Germans had criticised Hearts for their physical approach in the first game in Edinburgh, they were quick to praise Alex MacDonald’s side after the return game, saying Hearts were one of the best teams to play at the Olympic Stadium for some time. Hearts had done themselves - and Scotland - proud with their performances. Whilst on holiday in Gran Canaria a couple of years back I was chatting to a Bayern supporter in a bar (as you do) and when I mentioned I was a Hearts fan he immediately replied ‘ah, yes, I was at the game in Edinburgh in 1989’. Clearly Hearts made a big impression on a memorable night!

                                                  Hearts 1 Kilmarnock 0

                                         Scottish League Cup Final 1962

Hearts have had numerous ‘spats’ with Kilmarnock over the years. It was Killie who won the league championship at Tynecastle on the last day of a fateful 1964/65 season when the Ayrshire men won 2-0 to pip Hearts themselves for the title on goal average. In 1982, Killie thrashed relegated Queen of the South 6-0 to claim the second promotion spot to the Premier League ahead of a Hearts team who lost 1-0 at home to Motherwell on another last game of the season tale of woe. Similarly, Killie defeated what amounted to a Celtic reserve team on the final day of the 2000/2001 season to edge Hearts out of a U.E.F.A. Cup place. If all this sounds like fortune has favoured Kilmarnock over the years, then it’s worth looking at what happened when the two clubs met in the 1962 League Cup Final at Hampden Park.

The glorious Hearts side that dominated Scottish football for much of the 1950s was beginning to break up in the early 1960s. In the summer of 1962, just four years after Hearts record breaking championship winning season, players such as Dave Mackay, Alex Young, Jimmy Wardhaugh, Alfie Conn and Willie Bauld had all left Tynecastle for good. Manager Tommy Walker was in the process of rebuilding the team. The new breed of Hearts player saw the likes of Roy Barry, Willie Wallace and the gifted Willie Hamilton – signed for a ridiculously low fee from Middlesbrough – charged with maintaining Hearts place as one of the top sides in the country. Hamilton, in particular, had set Tynecastle alight with some dazzling displays and Hearts after a difficult start to season 1962/63 had reached the final of the League Cup, a trophy they had won twice in the previous decade. Opponents Kilmarnock, however, had played like a team that believed its name was on the trophy. Unbeaten in the competition, Killie had beaten competition favourites Rangers in the semi-final and so a crowd of 51,280 turned up at Hampden on a miserable October afternoon of wind and heavy rain to witness a game to remember.

Hearts: Marshall; Polland; Holt; Cumming; Barry; Higgins; Wallace; Paton; Davidson; W. Hamilton; J. Hamilton.

Hearts made a nervous start. In the opening minutes, keeper Gordon Marshall tangled with Killie forward Black and ‘Iron Man’ John Cumming cleared the danger. Black threatened again shortly after and it seemed the Hearts players were struggling with the heavy Hampden pitch. It took the maroons some time to make an impression with Norrie Davidson creating Hearts first real chance with a rasping twenty yard shot which Killie keeper McLaughlin tipped over. This encouraged Tommy Walker’s men and the enigmatic Willie Hamilton began to revel in the huge space that Hampden had to offer. In the 27^th minute Hammy produced a piece of magic befitting a major cup final. Collecting a long ball from Willie Wallace, Hamilton deftly controlled the ball, skipped past Killie defender Jackie McGrory and raced in on goal. He looked up and delivered a glorious pass into the penalty box where Norrie Davidson thrashed the ball past McLaughlin to give Hearts the lead.

It was a brilliant goal, created by the magic of Hamilton and finished by the guile of Davidson. Against the run of play it may have been but it transformed the game and Willie Hamilton tormented the Killie defence thereafter, although Gordon Marshall had to save brilliantly from Frank Beattie and Davie Holt made a crucial tackle on McIlroy following a slip from Roy Barry just before half time. Killie’s Jackie McInally – father of former Celtic and Bayern Munich player Alan – was injured during that first half. This was the era before substitutes so McInally limped bravely on. Hearts took advantage and dominated much of the second half and could – indeed should – have added to the one goal they had. Then, with just seconds remaining and the Hearts fans whistling at referee Tom ‘Tiny’ Wharton urging him to blow for full time, Kilmarnock launched one last desperate attack. Richmond floated a free kick into the Hearts penalty box. Frank Beattie rose above everyone to head the ball past the flailing arms of Gordon Marshall and into the net. It appeared Kilmarnock had tied the game at the death. Blue and white shirted players forgot their tiredness and danced for joy. Hearts players slumped to the sodden Hampden pitch. But…..referee Wharton was not signalling towards the centre circle. He was giving a free kick to Hearts. The referee had spotted an infringement that no one else appeared to have noticed. Furious Killie players urged the official to consult his linesman, which, to his credit, he did. But his decision remained the same. Free kick to Hearts. Wharton believed Beattie had handled the ball as the cross came in.

Seconds later Wharton blew his whistle for the end of the game. Hearts had won the Scottish League Cup for the fourth time in eight years, their seventh major trophy since 1954. Triumphant Hearts headed back to the capital for a night of celebration. Willie Hamilton was the toast of Edinburgh. Hammy was a natural ball player although he was bedevilled by injury throughout his colourful career. Manager Tommy Walker knew how important Hammy was to the team even if his penchant for hugging the ball when it might have been better passing to team mates was sometimes infuriating!

Sadly, however, Hamilton and his Hearts team mates would taste no more success in the maroon jersey. Although no one knew it then, it would be nearly thirty-six long years before Hearts would win a major trophy again. And bitter, dejected Kilmarnock would return to haunt Hearts soon after…….

Mike Smith, June 2005

                                                 Hearts 5 Lokomotive Leipzig 1

                                   European Cup Winners Cup, September 1976

In 1969 Hibs played two German clubs, Lokomitiv Leipzig and SV Hamburg in the  U.E.F.A. Cup. By a remarkable coincidence, those two clubs would return to Scotland’s capital city seven years later to face Edinburgh’s big team. In 1976 it was Hearts turn to face Leipzig and things looked ominous after a 2-0 first leg defeat in the first round in East Germany. John Hagart set out a fairly defensive formation and the maroons played reasonably well in the first leg but lost 2-0 meaning it would be a huge task to overturn the deficit in the return at Tynecastle. But on a balmy September evening in Gorgie, Hearts produced a performance that is still talked about in pubs and clubs by those of a maroon persuasion today. More than 18,000 Hearts fans packed Tynecastle hoping for the early goal that would catapult John Hagart’s men back into the tie.  

 Hearts: Cruickshank; Brown; Kay; Callachan; Gallacher; Clunie; Aird; Busby; Gibson; Park; Prentice.

 With Hearts needing two goals, Hagart gambled by starting with Kenny Aird who had been struggling with a heel injury, but in Drew Busby and Willie Gibson there was an obvious goalscoring threat.  

With an atmosphere that sent shivers down the back of the neck, Hearts threw players into attack from the off. Just thirty seconds had gone when Jim Brown and Willie Gibson worked the ball across the Leipzig goalmouth where Drew Busby lurked. Busby took the ball on the turn and smacked a typically ferocious effort against the post as Hearts posted their early intentions. Willie Gibson also went close and it was clear the East Germans didn’t appreciate Hearts bustling up-and-at-’em style. Leipzig were in retreat and after just thirteen minutes the mercurial Rab Prentice lofted the ball towards the unlikely figure of Roy Kay. The full back moved into the penalty box and beat Leipzig keeper Friese with a low right foot shot to give Hearts a crucial early lead.

Inspired by a frenzied crowd, Hearts swarmed forward and Rab Prentice, Willie Gibson and Kenny Aird fired in shots that had the German defence in a panic. Leipzig didn’t know what hit them but were always dangerous on the counter attack. Jim Brown was forced to clear a Grobner effort off the line before Tynecastle erupted as Hearts scored a second goal just before the half hour. Kenny Aird made light of his injury and drove in on goal. His effort on goal looked menacing enough but when team-mate Willie Gibson stuck out a foot to divert the ball past Friese to put Hearts two goals ahead on the night, the Hearts fans went crazy! They could scarcely believe that their team, who hadn’t won a league game thus far, were taking one of East Germany’s finest teams apart. But, as so often happens in European ties, it took just one slip of concentration to prove costly. Just before half time, Leipzig hit Hearts on the break and a sweeping move saw Fritzsche score with a low shot just minutes before the referee blew for the break. Not only were the East Germans now back in front on aggregate but they had scored an away goal which would count as double if the aggregate score was level at the end of the night.

Tynecastle was stunned. Hearts had been so impressive in that first half but it looked as if their efforts would count for nothing. They would have to score another two goals in the second half to progress. Matters weren’t helped when John Gallagher limped off at the break to be replaced by Jim Jefferies. And when the game restarted it was the East Germans, buoyed by that away goal, who looked the more purposeful as they swamped the midfield, giving Hearts little space to breath. But they reckoned without the maroons indomitable spirit.

Urged on by a passionate support, unaccustomed to big nights of European football, Hearts swarmed forward in pursuit of the goal that would level the tie on aggregate. Captain Jim Brown led by example. With half an hour his determination forced a through ball to Willie Gibson whose effort on goal was superbly saved by Friese. There then followed a frenzied succession of corners, which resulted in substitute Graham Shaw almost single handledly attempting to notch the vital third goal as he followed a header that just cleared the bar with two shots at goal that had Friese scrambling to keep out. It seemed that Hearts had to score and a third goal duly arrived with just fifteen minutes left - from an unusual source. Full back Jim Brown collected a pass from Shaw and lobbed the goalkeeper from the edge of the penalty area to put Hearts 3-1 ahead and level the aggregate scores. Leipzig still stood to go through on the away goals rule but, with Tynecastle in frenzy, it took only sixty seconds for the tie to be turned on its head. A Rab Prentice corner was nodded on by Willie Gibson to the inimitable Drew Busby who headed past a startled Leipzig goalkeeper to make it 4-1 to Hearts! Tynecastle was now a cauldron of noise and with just six minutes to go and the East Germans now realising they had to score to remain in the competition, Willie Gibson capped a magnificent night by adding a fifth from a cross by Busby to make the final score Hearts 5 Locomotive Leipzig 1.  

The fans could scarcely believe it and a pitch invasion by delirious Jambos at the end of the game invoked a rather needless fine from tut-tutting U.E.F.A.  It was a result and a performance that made Europe sit up and take note. Leipzig were touted by many as one of the favourites for the competition and the fact they were taken apart by a team that couldn’t score against Dumbarton five months previously was nothing short of startling. The more excitable among the Hearts support were thinking of the Jambos being among the favourites to go on and lift the trophy. Yeah, okay, but remember this was the innocent 1970s – and before the word ‘relegation’ had entered Hearts fans vocabulary. Live football on the telly was an extremely rare event in 1976 (Hearts defeat in the Scottish Cup Final wasn’t even live) with only the BBC and Scottish Television showing highlights of games. The BBC’s Archie Macpherson clearly didn’t rate Hearts chances against Leipzig and so Auntie Beeb sent that doyen of sports commentators – Alan Weeks – to do the commentary. Weeks was more accustomed to ice-skating but it’s doubtful if he spent a more exciting night in is career than that tumultuous September evening at Tynecastle. The fact he held up scorecards with 5.9 on them at the end of the game was a bit of a giveaway…

It was a memorable night occasion Hearts supporters on that September night in 1976. A night when Hearts made the rest of Europe sit up and take notice.

Mike Smith, June 2005  

Heart of Midlothian 3 Rangers 2 

     Scottish Cup Third Round, January 25^th 1986 

For many fans, one of the most exciting periods of the season comes when the third round draw is made for the Scottish Cup at the beginning of the year. No matter how your team is doing in the league, the Scottish Cup opens up dreams of a day out at Hampden, of lifting a trophy, of seeing your team touring your city or town in an open-topped bus. When the draw for the third round was made in the first week of January 1986, Hearts fans were looking forward with even more anticipation than usual. For Heart of Midlothian FC were sitting top of the Premier League, four points clear of their nearest title challengers. Unbeaten since the end of September 1985, Hearts, under the ebullient leadership of Alex Macdonald, feared no one. And when the maroons were drawn out of the hat to face Rangers at Tynecastle, the bookies immediately installed the Gorgie Boys as favourites – and rightly so!

Hearts had already beaten the Ibrox side twice in what had been an already momentous season. A 3-0 triumph at Tynecastle in November was as comprehensive a defeat Jock Wallace’s men had suffered all season – fitting that the game marked Hearts assistant manager Sandy Jardine’s 1000^th senior appearance, the first Scots player to achieve such a remarkable feat. Three days after Christmas 1985, as if to prove the Tynecastle rout was no fluke, Hearts went to Ibrox and literally skated to a 2-0 win  - the Ibrox undersoil heating was faulty and there was a frosty skin to the pitch – thanks to a double from John Colquhoun. Such was Hearts dominance that day that they could have scored four goals (Sandy Clark hit the crossbar and missed another easy chance in the second half). So the visit of Rangers to Tynecastle on Scottish Cup duty at the end of January held no fears for anyone in Gorgie.

Hearts: Smith; Kidd; Black; Sandy Jardine; Levein; Berry; Colquhoun; Iain Jardine; Clark; Mackay and Robertson.

 Rangers: Walker; Burns; Miller; Dawson; Paterson; Durrant; McCoist; Derek Ferguson; Williamson; McPherson and Cooper.

 Referee: T. Muirhead.

Tynecastle was still mostly crumbling terracing in the mid 1980s but there was still the necessity to make the game all ticket and the 27,500 briefs were snapped up in no time. It was, without question, the tie of the round and while Hearts were top of the league and had championship aspirations, Rangers knew it was their last realistic chance of silverware that season, with Aberdeen having already won the League Cup and the Ibrox side cast adrift in the race for the league title.

The game kick off in a frenzied atmosphere and both teams struggled to find their feet on a tricky surface. However, there was clear intent from Rangers that they had come to Tynecastle to fight for the remnants of their season. Hearts Kenny Black, a former Rangers player, was the victim of an early crude challenge while Ibrox striker Bobby Williamson – now manager of Hibs – first needlessly pushed Craig Levein before lunging into keeper Henry Smith, much to the anger of the home support. With a passing game seemingly risky on the treacherous playing surface, Hearts were relying more on the long ball game than usual but there seemed no way past the Rangers defence in which Ally Dawson and Craig Paterson were dominant. With half an hour gone, Paterson jumped with Sandy Clark for a cross ball on the edge of the penalty box and the commitment of both players saw the pair of them collide head on. It was a nasty moment that saw Paterson stretchered off and Clark walking off with blood pouring from a head wound. Both men required stitches and it was the end of the game for two influential players. Hearts brought on another former Ranger in Colin McAdam while Rangers replaced Paterson with a gangly young lad called Dave McPherson.

The game continued in edgy fashion - being a cup-tie there was even less room for error than usual. With half time approaching and the game still goalless, Rangers struck with many of the crowd heading for the pie stalls. The enigmatic Davie Cooper showed great pace down the wing before delivering an inch perfect cross for striker Ally McCoist to place a glancing header beyond the reach of keeper Henry Smith. The travelling support on the Gorgie Road terracing roared their delight. Hearts boss Alex MacDonald knew his half-time talk would be crucial with his team a goal behind at the break.

Whatever wee Doddie said whilst his men were devouring their oranges certainly did the business. Just four minutes into the second half, Hearts swarmed around the Rangers goal as efforts by Neil Berry of all people, then John Robertson were blocked on the goal line by a desperate Rangers defence. But when the ball broke to Colin McAdam just a few yards out the former Ibrox striker-cum-centre half sent a rasping shot into the net past Nicky Walker. 1-1 and now it was anyone’s game!

McAdam almost scored again before, in the 55^th minute, Hearts forced another corner. John Colquhoun – taking stick from the Rangers support all afternoon because of his previous Celtic connections – swung in a corner kick from the right and there was Gary Mackay to prod the ball past Walker to put Hearts ahead. Minutes later Neil Berry was clean through on goal with only Walker to beat but the former Bolton centre half sclaffed his shot wide and a chance to book a place in the fourth round had gone – temporarily at least! It wasn’t entirely clear what Berry was doing there in the first place but how the Hearts fans would have preferred it if it had been Robertson or Colquhoun!

It looked like that miss would prove costly when, with twenty minutes left, Henry Smith and Craig Levein left a difficult bouncing ball to each other and Ian Durrant stepped in between them to head Rangers equaliser. There were groans of despair from the home support. Hearts had been well on top, particularly in the second half, but now it seemed a replay at Ibrox was likely. Then the game turned on a controversial ordering off. Gary Mackay clearly fouled Rangers youngster Derek Ferguson but the Ibrox player retaliated and appeared to aim a kick at the Hearts midfielder leaving referee Tommy Muirhead no option but to show Ferguson a red card. Rangers were down to ten men and what momentum they had after scoring a scarcely deserved equaliser disappeared up the tunnel along with young Ferguson.

Jock Wallace ordered his men to defend and try to hang on for a replay in Govan. They almost succeeded but with just five minutes left, Neil Berry - what an inspired  game he had – went for the ball with keeper Nicky Walker. In the ensuing scramble, the ball broke to the Crown Prince of Hearts, John Robertson who stroked the ball into the net. 3-2 for Hearts and there was no way back for Rangers!

As the final whistle sounded the Hearts players and fans alike leapt for joy. Craig Levein and Colin McAdam punched the air in delight. Manager Alex Macdonald clapped every Hearts player on the back. It was a famous victory and the Hearts players left the Tynecastle pitch to a huge ovation from the fans who were now dreaming of going all the way to the cup final at Hampden. They did, only to lose to Aberdeen 3-0 in the final, a match which came just seven days after that fateful day at Dens Park when Dundee’s Albert Kidd cruelly ended Hearts league championship dreams with two goals in the final eight minutes in the last league game of the season. Hearts convinced almost everyone that they could win a much yearned for trophy. Almost everyone – crucially, the players couldn’t convince themselves and they ended the season with the dust in trophy room undisturbed once more.

But there was much partying in the pubs in Gorgie Road that cold January Saturday in 1986. Rangers would lose to Hearts in the Scottish Cup again in the years that followed but the triumph of ’86 would remain special to those who witnessed a tenacious, spirited and skilful Hearts team take Rangers apart. It was truly the end of an era for the Light Blues. Weeks later, Rangers sacked manager Jock Wallace and replaced him with cheque wielding Graeme Souness – the Ibrox revolution was about to commence. Scottish football would never be the same again.

Mike Smith, June 2005