The Real Mackay
When you mention the name Mackay and Heart of Midlothian, older supporters immediately think of one of the giants of the Scottish game, a player who graced Tynecastle in the glorious decade for Hearts that was the 1950s. Dave Mackay left Gorgie in 1959 for further glory with Tottenham Hotspur and Derby County but he is still remembered in Edinburgh as one of the greatest players ever to don the famous maroon jersey. A quarter of a century later, however, another Mackay would serve this great football club with distinction – and this midfield maestro would serve the majority of his long career with the club he supported as a boy.
Gary Mackay made his Hearts debut as a gangly sixteen year old during Hearts dark days – as a substitute on 24 September 1980 in a League Cup tie against Ayr United. Hearts had just gained promotion to the Premier Division for the second time in three years but it was clear from an early stage of season 1980-81 that Bobby Moncur’s side were hopelessly out of their depth. Hearts had already lost the first leg of that League Cup tie 3-2 to their First Division opponents at Tynecastle and the trip to Somerset Park proved a traumatic affair as Hearts were crushed 4-0 to go out 7-2 on aggregate. But under Moncur’s tutelage there emerged a group of young players who would go on to restore pride at Scotland’s biggest club outside the Old Firm. Davie Bowman, Ian Westwater and John Robertson were shining bright new stars – and as bright as any was Edinburgh born Gary Mackay.
Ironically, the young Mackay may never have stepped on to the Tynecastle turf he graced with such distinction for seventeen years. For the schoolboy Gary Mackay was offered a trial with no lesser club than Manchester United and the bright lights of Old Trafford beckoned. But an illness to a close family member saw Mackay reluctantly turn down the offer and instead he joined the team he had supported all his young life – Heart of Midlothian.
Sixteen year old Mackay made his debut for Hearts in that game against Ayr United in 1980 and given the turmoil the club was in at the time, few watching that night would have believed the youngster would spend the next seventeen years at Tynecastle and make more appearances for Hearts than anyone else in this club’s long, proud history. If the name Mackay is synonymous with a Hearts legend from the 1950s, Gary Mackay found himself in the same team as another player whose name would forever be associated with that glorious decade – Alfie Conn. Except this was Alfie Conn Junior, son of the Hearts great, who had played for Rangers and Celtic as well as Tottenham Hotspur. However the team Conn Junior and Gary Mackay found themselves in was light years removed from the all-conquering Tynecastle team of the 1950s and Hearts were relegated for the third time in four years at the end of season 1980-81.
Mackay made twelve appearances for the first team but this was a miserable season and one feared for the development of youngsters such as Mackay and Bowman, thrust in to a struggling team at such an early age and having to handle so much responsibility. Gary Mackay, however, seemed to thrive on such an environment. With Hearts back in the First Division, Mackay’s talent shone through and he became an established first team player although season 1981-82 was again a disappointment as Hearts failed to gain promotion at the first time of asking. But this proved to be a blessing in disguise. With Alex MacDonald now in charge, Hearts promising youngsters such as Mackay, Bowman and the rapidly emerging goal machine that was John Robertson were given another year to develop away from the intensity of the Premier Division. With Mackay and Robertson prevalent, Hearts secured promotion back to the top flight of Scottish football in 1983 – and it was onwards and upwards thereafter for Mackay and co.
Hearts secured the services of experienced players to ensure there would be no repeat of the yo-yo syndrome the club had suffered in the previous five years and the likes of Jimmy Bone, Sandy Jardine and Willie Johnston as well as Alex Macdonald himself who was player-manager were crucial to the development of Gary Mackay as a player of no little skill and his presence in midfield was vitally important to Hearts transformation from First Division also-rans to UEFA Cup participants within two years. Hearts return to the Premier Division was a spectacular success and they ended season 1983-84 in fifth place in the league – enough to secure a place in the following season’s UEFA Cup. Hearts may have lost that subsequent tie to Paris St. Germain but the experience of playing against one of the best teams in Europe – France were newly crowned European champions – was invaluable.
Mackay was a vital component of a Hearts team that continued to progress, even after the sale of colleague Davie Bowman to Coventry City. Season 1985-86 was the pinnacle of such progress – Hearts, inspired by Mackay, embarked on an astonishing unbeaten run of 31 games to not only reach the Scottish Cup final but head to Dens Park, Dundee for the final league game of the season needing just a single point to clinch their first League Championship for more than a quarter of a century. But fate decreed that Hearts would suffer their first defeat in more than six months and Dundee’s 2-0 win cruelly denied Hearts glory. Like his devastated team mates, Mackay struggled to come to terms with the events of that day in May 1986. Mackay felt the grief of the fifteen thousand Hearts fans who made the journey to Dundee that day, as he was a Jambo through and through. A week later, Hearts not surprisingly lost the Scottish Cup final to Aberdeen. I shall never forget a tearful Mackay heading to the forty thousand Hearts fans amassed at Hampden Park that day to show his and his team mates’ appreciation. Mackay shared the supporters pain but they remained proud of a player who given his all to the team we all loved.
It was no surprise that Gary Mackay’s sublime performances for Hearts earned him international recognition although the fact he won only four caps says more about the men in charge of the national team at the time than any failings of the midfield maestro. Mackay is best remembered for his only goal in the dark blue of Scotland – against Bulgaria in 1987. It helped Scotland to an unlikely win in their European Championship qualifying tie – unlikely because Scotland were already out of the competition at this stage. But by denying Bulgaria the win, Mackay’s goal ensured the Republic of Ireland reached the Championship finals in West Germany the following year. Mackay became an adopted son of Ireland as a result and it’s believed he’s never had to buy a pint of Guinness in Dublin since!
For the next decade, Mackay continued to serve Hearts with distinction. Managers - Alex MacDonald, Joe Jordan, Sandy Clark, Tommy McLean – came and went. As did countless players some of whom – John Robertson and John Colquhoun – left and came back again! Hearts even had a change of chief executive during Mackay’s time – Wallace Mercer handed the reigns of the club to Chris Robinson- but still Gary Mackay remained loyal to the club he loved.
When Jim Jefferies -a former team mate of Mackay – arrived as manager of Hearts in 1995 it signalled sweeping changes at the club. Jefferies recognised what a fantastic servant Gary Mackay had been to Hearts but also recognised that surgery was required to get Hearts back challenging again. In September 1995, Hearts lost a League Cup tie at Dundee, of all places. It struck Jefferies that no less than seven of that team were part of the squad that had lost that infamous final league game at the same venue nearly a decade earlier. Changes had to be made.
But Mackay still had much to give Hearts and Jefferies wanted to keep his huge influence for a little while longer. The manager gradually reshaped Hearts and brought in players such as Colin Cameron, Neil McCann, David Weir and Stefano Salvatori. Mackay knew he was nearing the end of his Hearts career although there was still one last chance to win the medal his service to Hearts deserved. Hearts reached the Scottish Cup Final in 1996 only to be put to the sword by Brian Laudrup who inspired Rangers to a 5-1 win. Six months later, there was another opportunity as Hearts reached the Coca-Cola League Cup Final against the same opponents. A much-improved Hearts had learnt their lesson but still lost one of the most epic cup finals in living memory 4-3 to a Paul Gascoigne inspired Rangers.
Less than six months later in March 1997, Gary Mackay made his final appearance for Hearts in a 2-0 defeat at Celtic Park. At 33 years of age, he knew it was time for new blood and an emotional Mackay left Tynecastle for the final time as a player.
Mackay moved to Airdrieonians to be reunited with his old gaffer Alex MacDonald. When MacDonald left Broomfield, Mackay had a brief spell as manager but things didn’t work out as expected. Mackay is now a respected football players agent and broadcaster with Edinburgh radio station Talk107.
It was at Talk107 that I met the great man in 2006 when he helped promote my book, Hearts – The Diary of an Incredible Season, which was out at the time. I was somewhat in awe of the player I had worshipped from the Tynecastle terracings, but he immediately put me at ease and we shared a joke or two, most notably at presenter Gordon Dallas’ expense. A few months later, I met Gary outside Pittodrie Stadium in Aberdeen and he shook my hand and asked how book sales were going.
That was the measure of the man. A man who I was privileged to see play for Hearts. A man who devoted the majority of his playing career to the club he loved and a man who made an astonishing 640 appearances for Hearts. Given the nature of today’s here today, gone tomorrow footballers, that’s a Hearts record that will surely never be broken. The term legend is all too easily applied to nondescript players these days. But if you want a definition of a real legend, you need look no further than the real Mackay. Gary Mackay, a true Hearts great.
Mike Smith, January 2008
Henry, Henry
When you think of the Hearts teams of the 1980s, names such as John Robertson, Gary Mackay, Walter Kidd and Alex MacDonald are synonymous with the transformation of a club from First Division strugglers to a team regularly playing in European competition and competing for domestic honours. You can add to that list a charismatic player still remembered with fondness in Gorgie today – Hearts number one goalkeeper for a decade and a half, Henry Smith.
In 1980, an era when the coalmining industry had yet to face the scandalous cull from a Thatcher government intent on destroying a traditional British industry, young Yorkshire coal miner Henry Smith received a telephone call which would change his life. New Leeds United manager Jimmy Armfield - now a respected commentator of BBC’s Radio Five Live – asked Smith he if would sign for the Elland Road club. Armfield had seen the young Henry perform admirably with amateur side Winterton and was ready to sign him for Sunderland before he was fired by the Mackems and appointed at Leeds. A difficult choice for Henry – give up his job down the pit or sign for one of the leading football clubs in the land?!
Smith signed but found himself in the United reserve team with the likes of Scotland international David Harvey the number one choice. When young keepers such as John Lukic and the teenage David Seaman arrived, Smith knew his chance of the big time had gone, particularly when Adamson was given the bullet by United before he had the chance to build his own team. It was then that fate smiled on Henry Smith…
If the man who was Hearts manager for a brief spell in 1980/81 – Tony Ford – did nothing else of note then he at least signed a goalkeeper who would go on to attain legendary status in Gorgie. Hearts were on a pre-season tour of the north of England in 1981 and Henry made his Hearts debut under the pseudonym of ‘trialist’. Smith obviously impressed the Hearts boss as he signed for the club after the game.
Hearts were in dire straits at the time and the first of two consecutive seasons in the First Division beckoned for a club that was on its knees. Henry Smith made his league debut for Hearts in a 1-1 draw at Dunfermline and kept clean sheets in the immediate games after that. But Hearts were directionless under Tony Ford and defeats by Queens Park, Dumbarton and East Stirlingshire meant Ford was soon shown the door by Hearts new major shareholder – Wallace Mercer. Alex MacDonald took over and revitalised the team but the recovery was too late to gain Hearts promotion. Smith, however missed only a handful of games that season and was an ever present when Hearts did gain promotion twelve months later.
When Hearts won their opening five league matches on their return to the Premier League in 1983, Henry Smith was instrumental in many of these victories. He produced an awesome display at Celtic Park – including saving a penalty – as Hearts drew 1-1 and served notice that they were back in the top flight to stay. Smith produced countless heroic displays throughout the 1980s as Hearts fought to compete with the dominant clubs of that era – Aberdeen and Dundee United – as well as the Old Firm. He was helpless, however, at Dens Park on that day in 1986 when Hearts saw the league championship snatched from their grasp in the last eight minutes of the season.
Smith’s personal nadir came two years later when he fumbled two cross balls during a Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic which turned a potential 1-0 victory for Hearts into a devastating 2-1 defeat in the last three minutes of the game. But Henry recovered to continue to produce some fabulous displays in the Hearts goal and was rewarded with three Scotland caps – against Saudi Arabia in 1988, Northern Ireland in 1991 and Canada in 1992.
Some of his saves for his club were breathtaking – in particular, a wonder save against Dundee United at Tannadice in April 1986 - which then United manager Jim McLean compared to Gordon Banks save against Pele and Brazil in the 1970 World Cup - and a miraculous stop from Celtic’s Tommy Coyne at Tynecastle in November 1991. Hearts won both these games underlying Smith’s crucial importance to the team.
Other keepers came and went at Tynecastle during Smith’s years in Gorgie but although the likes of Nicky Walker and Craig Nelson threatened briefly, Henry remained the number one choice until the arrival of Jim Jefferies as Hearts manager in 1995. The signing of Gilles Rousset signalled the end of the road for Smith as Jefferies built a team that would win the trophy that came so tantalisingly close for Henry and his team mates.
Smith carried on playing until he was well into his 40s, turning out for the now defunct Clydebank shortly before they folded. He became manager of Whitehill Welfare for a brief spell but things didn’t work out for ‘the goalie’ and he was replaced by former Dundee United centre half John Clark.
But the affection in which Henry Smith was held - and continues to be held - by the Hearts support was demonstrated by the chant of ‘Henry, Henry’ whenever the keeper played for a club that was a major part of his life. The man who missed just one competitive league game between 1982 and 1990 left Tynecastle with his reputation as one of the best goalkeepers ever to play for Hearts intact.
Mike Smith, 11 October 2007
John Colquhoun - Wing Wizard
In the summer of 1985, Hearts manager Alex Macdonald looked to revamp a Hearts team that had established itself in the Premier League since its promotion two years earlier. Some of the older players brought in to ensure Hearts survival in the cutthroat top division such as Jimmy Bone, Willie Johnston and Stewart McLaren were allowed to move on as Macdonald and his assistant Sandy Jardine turned to youth to further the progress of this great club.
An enquiry was made to Celtic about the possibility of taking winger Davie Provan to Tynecastle. The enquiry was quickly dismissed but Hearts were offered Provan’s understudy at Parkhead – John Colquhoun. Macdonald had little hesitation in signing the Stirling born winger – and it proved to be one of Hearts best ever signings. For Colquhoun would blossom into a Hearts legend and Scottish internationalist.
John Colquhoun first caught the eye as a teenage striker for his hometown club of Stirling Albion. Under the tutelage of manager Alex Smith, Colquhoun soon had the top clubs flocking to Albion’s old ground at Annfield. In November 1983, Celtic paid Albion £60,000 for his services and the young Colquhoun certainly made an impression on Hearts when he played against them less than a year later at Celtic Park. Hearts defender Brian Whittaker was sent off for two quick fouls on the winger as Hearts lost 1-0! But Colquhoun struggled to make a real impact in Glasgow’s east end as the form of Davie Provan meant the former Killie winger was always going be first choice. Colquhoun jumped at the opportunity of getting first team football at Tynecastle.
Fate decreed that JC, as he would affectionately become to known to the Hearts legions, would make his league debut in a maroon jersey against the club that sold him – Celtic. Nearly 22,000 fans packed into Tynecastle on a warm August afternoon for the first game of season 1985/86. Few expected anything other than a Celtic win but Hearts took the game to their more illustrious opponents and they took a first half lead – through a delighted John Colquhoun! Paul McStay’s equaliser in the last minute robbed Hearts of the win they deserved but it was an early sign that season 1985/86 was to be a memorable one for the maroons.
Colquhoun was to score again in the following league game but this was scant consolation in a 6-2 defeat at St. Mirren. However, JC’s contribution to a season where Hearts came within eight minutes of lifting the league championship was immense. He was the perfect foil for fellow strikers Sandy Clark and John Robertson although, like most of his team-mates on that fateful last day at Dens Park on 3 May 1986, when Hearts needed just a draw to become champions, Colquhoun was feeling the effects of an ill-timed virus. Collectively, Hearts were at their worst for the most important game of the season and lost 2-0. Colquhoun was also part of the Hearts team that, unsurprisingly, lost the Scottish Cup final to Aberdeen at Hampden Park a week later.
JC was an integral part of the Hearts team for the remainder of the 1980s. Arguably his best season came in 1987/88 when he scored fifteen goals as Hearts again finished runners up in the league to Celtic, a personal highlight being his hat trick in a 6-0 thrashing of St. Mirren at Love Street in February 1988. This was also the year that Colquhoun won what was to prove to be his only Scotland cap, against Saudi Arabia.
In 1990, Hearts shook Scottish football by sacking Alex Macdonald and he was replaced by former Scotland legend Joe Jordan. Colquhoun remained an important player to Hearts but in the summer of 1991 the club accepted an offer of £400k from Millwall and the former Stirling Albion player was on his way south. It didn’t quite work out for John at The Den and he moved to Sunderland soon after. When Sandy Clark replaced Joe Jordan as Hearts manager in 1993, he quickly made a move to take his former striking partner back to Tynecastle and John Colquhoun was back as a Hearts player in time for the start of the 1993/94 season.
His first goal following his return to Gorgie was a memorable one – the opening goal in a 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid in a U.E.F.A. Cup tie at Tynecastle. He also scored both Hearts goals in a 2-0 win over Hibernian at Easter Road soon after. But, JC’s fortunes were to change as Hearts dispensed with Sandy Clark’s services and replaced with him with Tommy McLean. Hearts struggled under McLean’s sometimes negative leadership and it was not until the summer of 1995 and the former Rangers man’s departure that John Colquhoun flourished once more.
Jim Jefferies took over as Hearts manager and an early indication that Colquhoun was enjoying a new lease of life came in a pre-season friendly at Tynecastle when JC scored twice as Hearts thrashed a Manchester City team that included future Jambo Fitzroy Simpson 5-1. Hearts struggled initially as Jefferies sought to rebuild the team and they sank to the bottom of the Premier League when they lost 2-0 at Falkirk in October 1995. But Jefferies recruited the likes of Gilles Rousset, Pasquale Bruno and Hans Eskilsson and Hearts soon produced some stirring results - which included a memorable 3-0 win at Ibrox in January 1996 – to race up the league table. Colquhoun played his part in Hearts revival, his late winner in a 2-1 win at Pittodrie, as Hearts came from behind to win, particularly lingering in the memory.
Remarkably, Hearts momentum took them to the Scottish Cup final in May 1996. Sadly, the team suffered from stage fright that day as a Brian Laudrup inspired Rangers romped to a 5-1 win; for John Colquhoun, however, there was the small consolation of scoring Hearts only goal, giving the maroons brief hope at 3-1. It was to prove the former Celtic winger’s last competitive goal for Hearts – as Jim Jefferies continued to rebuild the side by bringing in Neil McCann, it was clear JC’s days at Tynecastle were numbered. His last game for Hearts came on 21 December 1996 when a 4-1 win for Rangers brought a rather inglorious end to JC’s career in Gorgie.
After a brief spell at St. Johnstone, John Colquhoun moved into journalism and now brings his unique style and forthright opinions to viewers of STV’s Scotsport on a Monday night.
And his spats with Andy Walker often entertain us every bit as much as his forages down the wing for Hearts. The legend that is John Colquhoun lives on!
Mike Smith, 13 February 2007
Steven Pressley
So it’s farewell then Steven Pressley. One of the finest captains Hearts have ever had – certainly he’s the best Hearts skipper I’ve seen in nearly forty years. The centre half was signed from Dundee United in the summer of 1998 and, given his status in the game now, it’s astonishing to reflect that ‘Big Elvis’ was not wholly popular with the Hearts support in his first season following a somewhat shaky start to his Tynecastle career. With Paul Ritchie and David Weir the main defensive mainstays of the cup winning side, Pressley had to be content with a place on the substitute’s bench at the beginning of season 1998/99 and when he did come on his initial displays were less than assured. But his organisational skills went some way to silencing the critics and, eight years later, ‘Elvis’ has become a Tynecastle legend.
It was difficult to believe this would have been the case when the young Pressley started out as a Rangers player in the early 1990s. Present Scotland manager Walter Smith gave the teenage Pressley his chance but the opportunities for young Scots players making the breakthrough consistently at Ibrox are minimal. Such was the pressure of playing for Rangers where you’re seemingly never more than one game away from a crisis that rather than let his play develop, Rangers fans were soon on the back of Pressley for any mistake the young defender would make. When Coventry City offered £600,000 in 1994 to take the young centre half to Highfield Road, Rangers accepted the offer. Pressley thought long and hard about it but when knew his first team chances would be limited in Govan. And English football, with the new look FA Premiership, offered a new and exciting challenge.
Pressley made an initial impression for the midlands side. Coventry had made a name for themselves for becoming experts at avoiding relegation (having been regulars in England’s top flight since 1967) but Pressley, although enjoying his time in England, believed there was more to football than the annual battle to beat the drop. When Dundee United offered him the chance to return north in 1995, Pressley accepted and he became an integral part of the Dundee United team. Yearning the chance to play for one of Scotland’s top clubs, however, ‘Elvis’ was all too keen to join Scottish Cup holders Hearts in 1998. It turned out to be the best decision of his life.
Pressley isn’t just a very accomplished defender. He is a born leader. Some of his displays for Hearts have earned him the moniker ‘Captain Marvel’ and it’s not difficult to see why. In my three decades and more of following Hearts, I can’t think of a better organiser on the field of play. Craig Levein was an excellent player and his reading of the game was second to none. But Pressley bosses and commands his defence like no one else I can think of. He has played a huge part in the development of the likes of Andy Webster, Robbie Neilson and Christophe Berra as defenders of some stature.
Pressley signed a new contract to keep him at Tynecastle in the summer of 2005 and his decision was greeted by an adoring Hearts support with the same euphoria had the club signed a world class defender. For that’s exactly what Hearts did. There may be a strong foreign influence at Tynecastle these days but it’s the Scottish spine of the team that has been the key to Hearts success. Steven Pressley’s leadership qualities are such that I reckon he may well be a future Hearts manager - and few, if any, Hearts fans would argue against that.
Certainly someone who has the credibility and commands respect the way Pressley does is exactly what our club needs right now. Every week there's some controversy or other. Do the players enjoy playing for Hearts? Do we enjoy watching them? The rest of Scottish football look at Hearts now and just laugh. Christ even the Hibbies are now taking the Mickey. It was typical of Pressley that he felt the need to speak about against such turmoil. He dared to criticise Romanov’s running of the club and like others before he has now paid the price. I don't doubt the best skipper Hearts have ever had will never play for the team again. And given what Steven Pressley has done for this club in the last eight years that's shameful. Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon will also go, of that I'm sure. We may well have a team of second rate Lithuanians next season - we're already halfway there in my view. Vladimir Romanov may have saved the club but he wants to be the star of the show. No one can be more important at the club than him so Burley, Anderton, Webster, Skacel and Pressley have had to be sacrificed.
But it’s the sacrifice of Captain Marvel that hurts me and I suspect thousands of others the most. There’s a story doing the rounds – one of dozens – that Pressley was seen talking to Craig Levein about returning to Tannadice. That’s why Romanov has dropped him like a stone. Even if that is true who could blame the skipper? The club he has grown to love has treated him despicably. Typically, Hearts announced the news after the 4-1 win over Motherwell in the hope fans wouldn't revolt after the side's best performance in weeks.
I wish Steven Pressley all the very best. Hearts fans will always remember him as the man who kept Hearts together last season, the man who guided the club to Scottish Cup glory through a never-ending storm of controversy.
A man who is more of a Hearts legend that Vlad the Impaler will ever be…
Mike Smith, 9 December 2006
Wallace Mercer - The Man Who Would be King
Along with money raised from a consortium of businessmen, £350,000 was raised and was enough to see off a similar bid from another Edinburgh businessman, Kenny Waugh. Mercer assumed control of the club and Hearts were about to embark on an incredible roller coaster ride, the effects of which are still being felt today.
Wallace Mercer’s first season as Hearts major shareholder would see the 35 year old sample the delights of watching his team at the likes of Dumbarton, Queens Park and Clydebank. When East Stirlingshire won 1-0 at Tynecastle on Halloween 1981, Mercer must have felt he had walked into a real horror show. It was clear Hearts were going to struggle to gain promotion but Mercer secured a deal with Dundee United to bring former Scotland international striker Willie Pettigrew to Tynecastle (the £120,000 transfer fee would be paid by instalments) as Hearts tried to salvage the wreckage of another woeful season. Mercer dispensed with the services of manager Tony Ford and appointed former Rangers player Alex MacDonald as player-coach. It would prove to be a masterstroke. Hearts failed to get promotion that season and endured an embarrassing Scottish Cup defeat from Second Division Forfar Athletic at Tynecastle. My abiding memory of that season was in the final game against already promoted Motherwell at Tynecastle. Hearts had to win to go up alongside the Steelmen but lost 1-0. An angry Hearts support began to cause trouble on the crumbling Tynecastle terracings but Wallace Mercer was having none of it. He marched from the Tynecastle stand to confront the troublemakers head on. Hearts faced the very real prospect of part-time football and Mercer wanted the fans to know he and them were all in it together. The gamble was taken to keep Hearts full-time. Alex Macdonald rebuilt the team, secured the services of another Rangers great Sandy Jardine as player and assistant manager - and Hearts didn’t look back.
Promotion was duly gained at the end of season 1982/83 and Mercer wasted no time in reminding people that Hearts were back. Hearts had played Rangers in a two-legged League Cup semi-final towards the end of 1982. For the second leg at Tynecastle, Mercer produced a special souvenir match programme which doubled as a prize draw for a £35,000 house! The publicity this created was unsurpassed and over 19,000 fans turned up on a night you wouldn’t send the dog out in to witness the start of the rebirth of the Hearts.
Mercer continued to court publicity in the years that followed as, under MacDonald and Jardine’s leadership, Hearts began to make steady progress. The club had stabilised and were signing players of the calibre of John Colquhoun and Sandy Clark to complement talented youngsters such as Gary Mackay and John Robertson. Hearts were at last playing good football again. In 1986 the fruits of five years hard work almost paid off spectacularly when Hearts came within eight minutes of winning the Premier League title, losing two late goals to Dundee on the final game of the season. A week later, Hearts lost the Scottish Cup final to Aberdeen but forty thousand Hearts supporters refused to leave Hampden Park until the Hearts players, management and Mercer himself took their acclaim. In just five years, Mercer, MacDonald and Jardine had transformed Hearts from First Division mediocrity to the brink of an incredible league and cup double.
Hearts continued to flourish under Mercer’s leadership. Memorable European campaigns soon followed and in 1989 Hearts took on and defeated Bayern Munich at Tynecastle 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the U.E.F.A. Cup. Although Hearts lost the second leg 2-0 it had been astonishing to think that less than seven years earlier, Hearts were losing 5-2 to Dumbarton at Tynecastle. Mercer was never afraid to put his head above the parapet and when he announced that ticket prices for the Tynecastle leg against Bayern were to be £10 there was an outcry! His reasoning was that tickets for the three other quarter final ties would be just as, if not more expensive. In the event, more than 26,000 fans packed into Tynecastle to see a memorable goal from Iain Ferguson win the game on a memorable night.
Mercer touted further controversy when he sacked Sandy Jardine in 1988 and then, Alex Macdonald, two years later. There was a lot of criticism about the way the two dismissals were handled but Mercer was determined that Hearts would maintain the remarkable progress they had made under his direction. However, the decision to appoint Joe Jordan as MacDonald’s replacement backfired after an initial impressive start. In an attempt to keep up with big spenders Rangers and Celtic, Hearts had bought Derek Ferguson for £750k, Dave McPherson for £300k and sold and re-bought John Robertson for £750k. Wallace Mercer had made Hearts big players in Scottish football once more but the club slowly began to slip back into significant debt. Mercer’s biggest faux pas, however, was his ill-judged and sensational attempt to buy Hibernian in the summer of 1990 - and merge Hibs and Hearts to become Edinburgh’s ‘super club’ in a vain attempt to compete with the Old Firm. Mercer learned the harsh lesson that economics and football don’t mix and he sensibly withdrew the idea just weeks later. Fans of both clubs vehemently opposed the plan and there’s little doubt that, far from creating a super club, it would have spelt the end of professional football in Edinburgh. Such a misjudgement was rare for a man of Mercer’s calibre but, sadly, it is for this single act that he will be most remembered by many.
Wallace Mercer perhaps realised this when he sold his controlling interest in Hearts to Chris Robinson in 1994. It was the end of an era. Thirteen astonishing years during which Mercer transformed Hearts from an ailing, debt ridden, poorly run First Division club to one of the top teams in Scotland, regularly challenging for major honours and regular competitors in Europe. The news of his tragically early death has cast a dark cloud over Tynecastle in a season in which Hearts have lit up the Scottish game. Remembering the sheer magnitude of the man they nicknamed The Great Waldo, I can envisage a huge press conference at the gates of St. Peter as the great man makes his entrance.
Without Wallace Mercer the chances are you wouldn’t be at Tynecastle Park today. For it’s certain there would be no Heart of Midlothian Football Club. It’s a thought none of us should ever forget.
Mike Smith, 18 January 2006
John Robertson - Hammer of the Hibs
An enduring image of Hearts Scottish Cup triumph of 1998 was that of John Robertson lifting the famous old trophy with one hand and clutching his chest with the other. Arguably the finest striker ever to don the maroon jersey had suffered seventeen years of hurt at Tynecastle - so many jokes, so many tears and all those oh so nears. But the little man finally got his hands on the winners’ medal he so richly deserved and his emotions that day mirrored what we all felt.
It’s well documented that the man who would go on to break the goalscoring record for Hearts had leanings towards Hibernian in his youth. Indeed, John Robertson may well have signed for Edinburgh’s second team had Tom Hart, the Easter Road chairman in 1980, not demanded that the fifteen-year-old Robbo sign there and then after a trial match in Leith. Robertson wanted to discuss this prospect with his Hearts supporting father first but the story goes that the Hibs chairman did a fair impression of Elvis Pressley, telling the young striker ‘it’s now or never’. Never it is then….
Bobby Moncur was Hearts manager at this time and with the maroons yo-yoing between the Premier and First Divisions, the former Newcastle United centre half knew that a half decent youth policy was required if Hearts were to arrest the alarmingly rapid rot that had set in. Moncur signed kids Gary Mackay, Davie Bowman, Ian Westwater and John Robertson on the premise that, if they’re good enough, they’re old enough. It wasn’t long before the first three players mentioned were given their first team chance while John Robertson made his debut in 1982 against Queen of the South – lining up alongside his older brother Chris. It was the beginning of a career that would see young Robbo become a Tynecastle legend.
As Hearts faced a second successive season in the First Division in 1982, player-manager Alex Macdonald knew they had to get promotion – or face dire financial consequences and the very real possibility of part-time football. Hearts were vying with St. Johnstone, Clydebank and Partick Thistle for two promotion places and as the season entered its final stage, manager Macdonald took the gamble of pitching in a youngster who had been scoring a hatful of goals for the reserves. John Robertson became a first team regular in the final three months of season 1982/83 and 21 goals in 22 games saw him make an immediate impact – and help Hearts to promotion. The Jambos made an astonishing return to the Premier Division in 1983, winning their five games in succession. This included a memorable 3-2 win over Hibernian at Tynecastle in which Robertson scored one of the best goals this writer has ever seen. It was to prove to be the first of 27 Edinburgh derby goals for the man who would become known as The Hammer of the Hibees.
Over the next fifteen years, Robbo would be Hearts top goalscorer almost every campaign. Hearts fans were devastated in 1988 when Hearts sold their prize asset to Newcastle United for a club record fee of £750,000. But Robbo didn’t settle on Tyneside – partly as a result of Newcastle manager Willie McFaul’s bizarre idea of occasionally playing the wee man in midfield – and he jumped at the chance to return home when he re-signed for Hearts six months later.
Robertson would go on to score a record 214 league goals for Hearts – a record that, given some of today’s players distinct lack of loyalty to one club, is almost certain never to be broken. Never a season would go by without the wee man scoring against the team that turned him down. He may have been an unused substitute during Hearts Scottish Cup triumph over Rangers in 1998 but the emotion he showed when he collected his winners’ medal – proud that he finally got his hands on the silverware he richly deserved – summed up precisely what all of us felt. Soon afterwards, Robbo moved to Livingston first as a player then as player-coach and helped the West Lothian club gain promotion to the First Division and then the Premier League. He became a manager in his own right when he took over at Inverness Caledonian Thistle and led the Highlanders to the Premier League for the first time in their history as well as leading them to a shock Scottish Cup win over Celtic at the Caledonian Stadium. When Craig Levein gave up his position as Hearts Head Coach in the autumn of 2004, it was obvious who was going to replace him. Robbo left Inverness to take over at the club he loved and played for years with such great distinction.
Sadly, John Robertson’s spell as Hearts boss was all too brief. When Levein left for Leicester, three Hearts players went with him. Hearts were in the process of changing their majority shareholder from Chris Robinson to Vladimir Romanov but the ‘takeover’ didn’t take place until after the January transfer window had closed, thereby denying the new manager the opportunity to bring in his own long-term players. Robbo signed the likes of Lee Miller and Mark Burchill on loan and the arrival of three Lithuanians – Mikoliunas, Cesnauskis and Kizys -also on loan from FC Kaunas, helped to boost the squad numbers. But with such upheaval at the club throughout season 2004/2005 it was inevitable that finishing third in the league for the third season running was to prove unlikely. Sadly, this was not good enough for the men now running Hearts and John Robertson left Tynecastle in May 2005. After a brief spell in charge of Ross County, Robbo is now back as manager of Livingston – and few would bet against the little fella steering The Lions back to the top flight of Scottish football.
Robbo’s place in Tynecastle folklore is assured and those of the maroon persuasion will always revere him. A man who may have been small in stature but was a giant of a player to those Jambos who had the privilege of seeing him play. Who put the ball in the Hibees net? Johnny Robertson!
Mike Smith, 1 October 2006
Bobby Prentice on the Wing
The recent passing of George Best brought the inevitable tributes from those who saw the former Manchester United icon play and the assertion that he was the greatest player this country has ever produced. Such accolades were attributed to Best when he was alive and ‘squandering his fortune on women, booze and fast cars’ (Ó all newspapers!) I never had the pleasure of seeing Best play, even when he was at Hibernian as, at that time, Hearts were flitting between the Premier and First Divisions and the Edinburgh derby passed Best by. But his passing did set me thinking about some of his contemporaries, including one who graced the Hearts jersey with distinction.
Having followed the (mis)fortunes of this team of ours since the late 1960s, I’ve seen many fine players pull on the maroon jersey. Jim Cruickshank, Donald Ford, Drew Busby, Gary Mackay, John Robertson, Craig Levein, Allan Johnston, Steven Pressley….these are the names which immediately spring to mind but there are others who, on reflection, have impressed me over the years. One of which was an icon of the Hearts teams that struggled throughout the 1970s - step forward Bobby Prentice Esquire!
When Celtic released Prentice in 1972, Hearts manager Bobby Seith gave the 19 year old winger the chance to come to Tynecastle. Hearts had struggled at the beginning of the decade and Rab was seen as a player who could provide something different up front. Over the next seven years he certainly did that!
On his day, Rab Prentice could be among the best players in Scotland. ‘Bobby Prentice on the Wing’ became an anthem among the Hearts support thirty years go. Although his debut came in a league cup defeat at Dens Park, Rab’s first competitive goal for Hearts came in one of the club’s most memorable occasions of a mediocre decade. In September 1973, Hearts travelled to Ibrox having made an impressive start to what was the club’s centenary season. Hearts continued to defy the critics that afternoon and stunned Rangers by winning 3-0 with Prentice gleefully scoring his first goal while another fans hero, Drew Busby, scored two. Sadly, Hearts impressive start to season 1973/74 didn’t last and they ended the season in sixth place in the First Division. Prentice, though, had made his mark and his mercurial wing play was, at times, a joy to watch.
The following season was a difficult one for Rab and his teammates as Hearts made an awful start to the season, plunging to the bottom of the league after a few games. To make matters worse, this was the final season of the old two division format in Scottish football with the new ten club Premier League coming into force at the beginning of the following season. This meant no fewer than eight clubs faced relegation as Scottish football restructured. Hearts nightmare start meant manager Bobby Seith left the club to be replaced by John Hagart but the silky skills of Rab Prentice had to be sacrificed as Hearts adopted a more pragmatic approach to ensure they made the top ten. They did but Prentice, who remained a first team regular nonetheless, scored just twice in the league that season.
Hearts struggled in the first season of the Premier Division but Prentice was back at his best, mesmerising defenders with his play. Hearts got the luck of the draw when it came to the Scottish Cup that season with ties against lower division opposition, although they required numerous replays (three games against Montrose for example) before booking their place in the final against Rangers in May 1976. Prentice was one of the heroes of the semi-final replay win over Dumbarton, scoring one of Hearts three goals that night. Rab lined up for Hearts in the final but had little time to savour the occasion as Hearts found themselves a goal down in the opening sixty seconds. Rangers won 3-1 that day and another disappointing Hampden occasion ensued for the maroons.
Sadly, things got even worse for Hearts the following season when the club suffered relegation for the first time in its history. One of the few highlights of the campaign was Hearts thumping 5-1 win over Locomotive Leipzig in the European Cup Winners Cup. On a balmy September night at Tynecastle, Rab Prentice tore the East Germans apart with some sparkling play as Hearts reversed a 2-0 first leg deficit to go through 5-3 on aggregate after a night no Hearts fan would forget.
Prentice remained at Tynecastle as Hearts gained promotion at the first time of asking but when the club struggled again on its return to the Premier Division it was clear a major rebuilding job was required. Manager Willie Ormond sold Prentice to Toronto Blizzard in May 1979 for the quite ridiculous sum of £8,000 and one of the biggest characters at Tynecastle in the 1970s was off to Canada for a new life.
Rab now lives in Dalkeith and is a regular at Tynecastle. Indeed the great man received a thunderous reception when he helped make the half-time draw earlier this season. Certainly those of us who had the pleasure of watching Prentice in the dark days of the 1970s will never forget ‘Bobby Prentice on the Wing’
Mike Smith, 28 November 2005
Cruickshank is The Goalie
In a season of doubt and uncertainty in 2004/5, it was heartening to see at least one Hearts tradition being maintained. The emergence of Craig Gordon continued Hearts remarkable trend of having goalkeepers of real quality over the years. Willie Duff, Gordon Marshall senior, Henry Smith, Gilles Rousset and Antti Niemi have all graced the Tynecastle number one jersey. The longest serving goalkeeper of the modern era, however, is an icon from the 1970s – Jim Cruickshank.
Cruickie joined Hearts from Queens Park where he played as an amateur in 1960. Queens, themselves, had a tradition of producing great goalkeeping talent such as Jack Harkness – who also went on to play for Hearts - Bobby Clark and European Cup winner Ronnie Simpson. Cruickshank followed in the footsteps of Wembley Wizard Jack Harkness and, initially, was understudy to Gordon Marshall (father of Motherwell’s present day goalkeeper). Cruickie’s first big break came in astonishing circumstances – in the 1961 League Cup Final replay against Rangers at Hampden. Marshall had played in the first game – a 1-1 draw – and it was expected that Hearts would field the same eleven who came so close to lifting the trophy first time around. But Marshall sustained a late injury and 19 year old Cruickshank was drafted in for a cup final appearance. He couldn’t be blamed for any of the Rangers goals as Hearts lost 3-1 but a cup final appearance was to prove, sadly, an all too rare experience for the Glasgow keeper.
Cruickshank had the mentality of not being happy at being second best and while he knew Gordon Marshall would be back in the first team when fit it was not a state of affairs the young Cruickie was prepared to settle for. Hearts did win the League Cup in the following season with Marshall in goal but late that season came the first of many battles Jim Cruickshank was to have with the Hearts management. Marshall was injured again with Cruickie drafted in once more but with a Scottish Cup tie against Celtic coming up, manager Tommy Walker elected to reinstate Marshall in the team – much to Cruickie’s annoyance! He walked out of Tynecastle, threatening never to go back until assistant manager Johnny Harvey persuaded him otherwise. As it turned out, Marshall moved to Newcastle United at the season’s end and Jim Cruickshank was now the established number one at Tynecastle.
Cruickie went from strength to strength with Hearts and he won his first cap for Scotland in 1964 against West Germany. Inexplicably, given the great man’s talent, Cruickshank would be capped only five more times for Scotland. Inexplicably? Well, there’s no doubt in this writer’s mind that if Cruickie had played for either of the Old Firm he’d have had at least fifty caps. And he almost did – soon after Hearts had sold star striker Willie Wallace to Celtic, Jock Stein had his eye on Cruickshank as a replacement for the ageing Ronnie Simpson. When, after another row with the Hearts manager – Johnny Harvey had by now taken over from Tommy Walker – Cruickshank was dropped to the reserves to make way for Kenny Garland, it seemed the goalie was Parkhead bound. But, thankfully, Jock Stein didn’t pursue his interest and Cruickie remained at Tynecastle until the end of his career, although his petulant nature meant he wasn’t always first choice!
With Cruickshank in the team, Hearts lost the league championship in agonising fashion to Kilmarmock on the last day of the 1964/65 season. Killie had to win the last game – against Hearts at Tynecastle - by two clear goals to snatch the title from their rivals. A numbed Hearts support watched in disbelief as Killie duly won 2-0, amid stories that the Hearts players weren’t at all happy about their win bonuses. More disappointment followed for Cruickshank and Hearts when they lost the 1968 Scottish Cup final 3-1 to Dunfermline Athletic although this came the year after Cruickie’s heroics against Hibs at Tynecastle when he made an astonishing triple save from a penalty taken by Hibs Joe Davis. Those who witnessed that exceptional piece of goalkeeping still talk about it to this day.
As the 1970s beckoned, Hearts were on a downward spiral but Jim Cruickshank continued to excel in goal. Indeed, it’s fair to say that had it not been for the likes of Cruickie, Eddie Thomson, Alan Anderson and Donald Ford, Hearts may well have fallen from the top flight of Scottish football sooner than they did. 1976 was to prove a landmark year for the Hearts goalie. He made another Scottish Cup final appearance but Hearts were woefully outclassed by a treble chasing Rangers side and lost 3-1. The last of Cruickshank’s six Scotland caps also came that year when he faced Roumania and by now Jim’s place in the Hearts team was under threat from a young keeper called Brian Wilson. Cruickie did play in the European Cup Winners Cup tie in Leipzig which Hearts lost 2-0 and kept his place in the side for the return leg, which ended in a remarkable 5-1, win for the JTs. It’s unclear if Cruickie had had another of his ‘fall-outs’ with manager John Hagart but Brian Wilson was back in goal for the second round tie with SV Hamburg – which Hearts lost on an 8-3 aggregate. It was the writing on the wall for Cruickie’s Hearts career. John Hagart promised him a testimonial at the end of the season as a ‘thank you’ for seventeen years service to the club. Unfortunately, Hearts were relegated for the first time ever; Hagart was sacked and with the manager went Cruickie’s chance of the testimonial he so richly deserved.
No longer wanted at Tynecastle, Cruickshank moved to Dumbarton in 1977 but, to all intents and purposes, his career had ended.
No matter what those who ran Hearts thought at the time, Jim Cruickshank will always be remembered by those who matter most – the supporters – as a Tynecastle legend. Scarcely will such a gifted player be so ill rewarded for a lifetime with one club. But for those of us who had the privilege of seeing him play, Jim Cruickshank will always be a winner.
Mike Smith, June 2005
Dave Mackay - Captain Marvel
Befitting of the biggest club in Scotland outwith the Old Firm, Hearts can boast many legends who proudly wore the maroon jersey and the blue of Scotland with distinction. Piecing together Hearts greatest ever team is a favourite pastime among Jambos with older Hearts fans reminiscing about the 1950s Terrible Trio of Conn, Bauld and Wardhaugh while younger fans still have the likes of John Robertson and Gary Mackay fresh in their memories. However, it’s doubtful if the first name on any all time Hearts XI would be put before a man who became a national icon – Dave Mackay.
Mackay got his first taste of success at just fourteen years of age when he starred in the Scottish Schools Cup Final, fittingly at Tynecastle. Fate smiled on the young Mackay that night in 1948 because watching in the stand was another Hearts legend – Willie Bauld – and ‘The King’ it was who alerted Hearts manager David McLean to a midfield dynamo. Mackay soon signed schoolboy forms with Hearts and, as was the way in the immediate post war years, was farmed out to junior club Newtongrange Star where the Edinburgh youngster quickly learned how to fend for himself in the somewhat less than gracious world of junior football! In a coal mining community, Mackay developed a determined streak that was to become his trademark.
Mackay made his debut for Hearts second team in 1953 in a remarkable 6-6 draw against Montrose. He made his first team debut against Clyde soon afterwards and his impact on the team was such he soon became a first team regular. In Mackay’s first full season, he was instrumental in helping Hearts to their first honour in nearly fifty years when they defeated Motherwell 4-2 to lift the League Cup in 1954. The scenes in Gorgie as Hearts paraded much yearned for silverware were remarkable and for the next eight years the Tynecastle trophy room was regularly replenished. Dave Mackay found his career with Hearts somewhat threatened by National Service (as was the way of life in the 1950s) but the army agreed to Mackay getting home every weekend in order he could turn out for his beloved Hearts. A startling example of what was a different era fifty years ago was that Mackay had to get permission to fly up to Edinburgh to prepare for a game in April 1956. Not just a run-of-the-mill league game – it was the Scottish Cup Final against Celtic at Hampden! Mackay turned in a typically heroic performance in the final, particularly as Hearts captain John Cumming had to leave the field for some time with a nasty head wound. With Iron Man Cumming and Dave Mackay in the team, there was no way Hearts were going to be second best and they recorded a memorable 3-1 win against The Hoops to take the Scottish Cup back to Gorgie. Mackay certainly enjoyed the weekend – by Monday he was back marching the square in army uniform! Little over a year later, Mackay made the first of twenty two appearances for Scotland in a 4-1 defeat in Spain, playing alongside Tommy Docherty and Gordon Smith.
Mackay’s leadership qualities were obvious and he took over the captain’s armband for Hearts greatest ever season – 1957/58. Hearts stormed to the league championship, losing just one league game all season and scoring an astonishing 132 goals – a record unlikely to be broken. Tommy Walker’s men won the league by a remarkable thirteen points (in an age when it was just two points for a win). Although Captain Mackay missed the last few games of the season because of a broken foot, his influence on the team was immense. It said much for Mackay’s brave style of play that he was to break his foot twice more whilst a Hearts player!
Another League Cup triumph followed for Mackay and Hearts when they crushed Partick Thistle 5-1 in the 1958 final and with the midfield engine driving them on, Hearts were the force in Scottish football. Then the inevitable happened. Tottenham Hotspur offered the not inconsiderable sum – for 1959 – of £30,000 and Dave Mackay was on his way to White Hart Lane. The Hearts supporters were stunned as was Mackay himself who was more than happy with life in Gorgie. But when he discovered Hearts had accepted Spurs first offer, Mackay got the feeling the club were happy to see him go. An astonishingly negative move by the Hearts board of directors.
If Dave Mackay enjoyed success with Hearts he revelled in it at Spurs. Two years after he joined, Bill Nicholson’s men became only the second English club to lift the league and FA Cup double. Spurs won the FA Cup again in 1962 and 1967 and enjoyed some great occasions both at home and in Europe although injury meant Mackay missed the club’s 5-1 triumph over Atletico Madrid in the European Cup Winners Cup Final of 1963.
In 1968, Dave Mackay – at 33 – was approaching the twilight of his career. Nearly a decade after his departure, Hearts had slumped from champions of Scotland to mid table mediocrity and Tynecastle boss Johnny Harvey made an audacious attempt to bring Mackay back to Gorgie. Mackay felt he may be groomed to take the manager’s job but had his mind changed by a young English manager about to make a name for himself. Brian Clough persuaded Dave Mackay to sign for Second Division Derby County and the easier pace of the game in the lower league suited him perfectly. Inevitably, Mackay helped County to promotion and the Scot was back in the English First Division. Although Mackay left to manage Swindon Town in 1971, Brian Clough maintains to this day that Dave Mackay was the catalyst that took Derby County from the Second Division to the semi finals of the European Cup in just five years.
Ironically, Mackay, after a brief spell at Nottingham Forest, was to take over as Derby County manager from Clough in 1973. The old Mackay magic worked again – he led unfashionable County to the First Division championship in 1975 (their second championship in three years) Repeating such success proved difficult and, over the decade that followed, Mackay’s travels would take him to Walsall, Kuwait, Doncaster and Birmingham.
Older Hearts fans, however, remember Dave Mackay as one of the greatest players to have worn the maroon shirt. Mackay was recently a guest at half-time at Tynecastle and received a rousing reception, even from those supporters who never saw him play. But being a Hearts fan is to know the club’s history. And Dave Mackay will always be remembered as the captain of Hearts greatest team.
Willie Bauld - King of Hearts
Throughout the history of this great club, there remains one name synonymous with Heart of Midlothian Football Club. Willie Bauld, affectionately known as The King, was, perhaps, the greatest centre forward ever to wear the famous maroon jersey.
Bauld was born in Newcraighall in 1928. As a boy, he made his mark as a centre forward for the Boy's Brigade team and it was clear even at this age that he was a star in the making. He signed for Musselburgh Athletic but there then followed a bizarre twist of fate that would lead him to the team he supported - Hearts. Before he played a game for Musselburgh, English giants Sunderland offered the young Bauld the chance to sign for them. Bauld was eager to head south to one of the giants of the English game but peeved Musselburgh demanded compensation. The deal fell through, and before Sunderland could re-negotiate, Tynecastle manager David McLean signed Willie Bauld for Hearts in May 1946 – and history was made!
The young Bauld was farmed out to Midlothian junior side Newtongrange Star and then to Edinburgh City. In the summer of 1948, Bauld returned to Tynecastle but had to bide his time in the reserve team. Eventually he made first team debut in October 1948 in a League Cup tie against East Fife. Alongside him that day were fellow forwards Alfie Conn and Jimmy Wardhaugh. It was the birth of the ‘terrible trio’ – Bauld hit a hat-trick on his debut as Hearts thrashed East Fife 6-1 – no mean feat considering the Fifers were the cup holders! The 'Terrible Trio' would play together for a decade and, between them, they would score more than five hundred goals. If the sceptics thought Bauld’s debut was a flash in the pan they were soon eating their words as he scored another hat-trick in his next game against Queen of the South.
At the end of his first season, Bauld had scored seventeen league goals as Hearts finished eight in the First Division – but they scored more league goals than champions Rangers and it was clear something special was brewing. Hearts were joint top scorers in the league the following season as they finished third with Bauld with scoring forty goals in all competitions. In 1950 Bauld made his debut for Scotland against England at Hampden Park. The Scottish Football Association, in their infinite wisdom, decided that Scotland would go to the World Cup later that year if they won the Home International Championship. Needing a draw, the Scots were, inevitably, trailing to the Auld Enemy when Willie Bauld volleyed a shot that came off the crossbar. Scotland lost, the World Cup was put to bed and, it has been argued, Bauld’s international career suffered as a result. The greatest centre forward Hearts has ever seen would only play twice more for his country….
If he was less than appreciated by the grey suits of the S.F.A., Willie Bauld continued to command the respect of his peers at Tynecastle. Season 1953/54 saw Hearts at last mount a serious challenge for the league championship but Bauld suffered an injury that season as did Conn and Wardhaugh and Hearts slipped to second place, eventually finishing five points behind champions Celtic. But glory was not far away. Hearts stormed to the final of the League Cup in 1954/55 having beaten Celtic twice in the sectional stage, then St. Johnstone and Airdrieonians. Motherwell were the final opponents at Hampden and it was a day when Willie Bauld buried the ghosts of Hampden past! The King scored a hat-trick as Hearts won 4-2 to secure their first piece of silverware for forty-eight years – and Edinburgh celebrated!
The following season, Hearts again finished third in the league, falling just one short of a century of goals as the ‘trio’ reached their peak but it was in the Scottish Cup that Hearts found glory. Having brushed past Forfar Athletic and Stirling Albion, Hearts then destroyed Rangers in the quarter final at Tynecastle, Willie Bauld scoring twice in a pulsating 4-0 win. Hearts required a replay to overcome Raith Rovers in the semi-final before their first Scottish Cup final appearance in fifty years. Their opponents were Celtic and on a glorious April afternoon, Hearts won 3-1 to lift the famous old trophy for the first time since 1906. Willie Bauld didn’t score that day but he was instrumental in the triumph and jubilant Hearts fans mobbed him and his teammates when they returned to the capital city that night.
Hearts finished runners up in the league again the following season as the championship continued to elude this great side. Willie was again hit by injury this season, missing a quarter of the league campaign and there’s little doubt this was a major factor in Hearts finishing an agonising two points behind Rangers in the league.
The following season saw Bauld suffer further from injury and he only managed nine league appearances – but it was to turn out to be an historic season. If Willie Bauld was the King of Hearts, Alex Young was the young pretender to the throne. Young hit 24 goals as Hearts romped to the much yearned for league championship, the team scoring a record 132 goals, losing just one game and winning the championship by a massive 13 points - in the days when just two points were awarded for a win. Bauld did score twice against hapless East Fife in a 9-0 win – almost nine years to the day he made his memorable debut against the same opponents!
Willie managed twenty league appearances the following season but it was in the League Cup once more that The King made his mark. Hearts came through a section that included Rangers, Raith Rovers and Third Lanark before beating Ayr United and Kilmarnock en route to another final appearance at Hampden. Willie scored in both these rounds but he reserved his best, yet again, for the League Cup Final. Having knocked out Celtic in the semi-final, Partick Thistle fancied their chances but they met a Hearts team on fire that day. Bauld score twice and generally ran Thistle ragged as the maroons romped to a 5-1 win in front of 60,000 fans at Hampden to lift their fourth piece of silverware in four years. Hearts lost their league title by two points to Rangers but the golden age showed little sign of abating.
In season 1959/60 Bauld again suffered injuries and, at 31, some critics sniped that he was past his best. Willie disproved this theory in April 1960 by scoring Hearts one hundredth goal of the season in the last minute of 4-4 draw against St. Mirren at Paisley, - a result which clinched another league championship for Hearts!
As the swinging sixties began, Willie Bauld was closing in on the twilight of his career. Season 1960/61 saw him make just eleven league appearances and with Dave Mackay and Alex Young, vital parts of the Hearts success story, moving on to pastures new, Hearts slipped to seventh in the league championship that season – their lowest league placing for twelve years - a time when the young Willie Bauld was just beginning to make his mark.
Season 1961/62 was to be Willie’s swansong with the club he loved so much. Eleven league appearances saw him find the net six times. 7th February 1962 witnessed Bauld’s final league goal for Hearts, in a 2-1 win over Third Lanark, fittingly at Tynecastle Park.
Having served the club with distinction for fifteen years, Willie was given a testimonial by Hearts on 5th November 1962 with a game against Sheffield United. However, Hearts produced their own fireworks by deducting the cost of the match ball from Willie’s payday. Willie took great offence and refused to return to Tynecastle for nearly fourteen years. When he did in 1976, he was given a standing ovation from the home crowd who would never forget his fantastic contribution to the greatest ever Hearts team.
Willie Bauld died suddenly on 11th March 1977. He was just 49 years old and his death stunned Hearts and its supporters. As a demonstration of how highly he was regarded, a huge crowd thronged Gorgie Road to watch his funeral cortege pass by. The King of Hearts was dead. But his legacy as perhaps the finest centre forward ever to play for Hearts will never be forgotten.
Willie Bauld, King of Hearts, 1928-1977.
Mike Smith, June 2005
Donald Ford - 70s Hero
In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, Hearts didn’t exactly have a team to shout about. Jim Cruickshank, Alan Anderson, Eddie Thomson and Donald Ford were, perhaps, the only players of real quality at Tynecastle during this period as Hearts slumped from being one of the country’s leading clubs to First Division also-rans. For fortysomething Jambos like me, it’s remarkable to read that Donald Ford celebrates his 60th birthday on 25th October 2004.
Brought up in Linlithgow, Ford played in the same schools team as another player who would go on to have Hearts connections – Bobby Moncur. In 1964, legendary Hearts manager Tommy Walker, looking to return the club to its glory days of the 1950s, clearly saw the West Lothian youngster as someone who could help that process and Ford signed for Hearts, albeit as an amateur initially as he was undertaking studies to be a qualified accountant. But it wasn’t long before Ford made his competitive debut – against Celtic at Tynecastle in September 1964. It was a memorable game as Hearts won 4-2 – but the following week was even more memorable for the centre forward as he scored in a 3-1 win over Partick Thistle at Firhill. Ford, however, was spared the heartache of appearing in the infamous final league game of the 1964/65 season when Hearts lost 2-0 to Kilmarnock at Tynecastle – thereby handing the league title to the Ayrshire men on goal average. One wonders if it may have been a different outcome if Ford have been given a place in the team. As if to emphasise this point, he scored five goals in a trial game against Kilmarnock soon afterwards - the trial was that the game was played with no offside.
Ford was to spend more than a decade at Tynecastle but this period coincided with Hearts sliding into mediocrity. There was a Scottish Cup Final appearance in 1968, which, inevitably, ended in disappointment. Ford had written his name into Tynecastle folklore when he scored the winner against Rangers in a Tynecastle quarter final replay - a game that attracted a huge crowd of over 44,000 on a Wednesday night. Hearts were favourites to lift their first Scottish Cup in twelve years but lost to Dunfermline Athletic 3-1 at Hampden in an afternoon of crushing disappointment.
Ford’s goals over those years helped ease the pain of some of Hearts performances. In particular, his four goals against Airdrieonians in a Texaco Cup tie in 1970; his hat-trick at Pittodrie in November 1971 as Hearts came back from 2-1 down to win 3-2 and his hat-trick of penalties against Morton in 1973. Fordie was always a goal threat and his three international caps for Scotland in 1974 was something of a consolation given that the Hearts teams that he was part of for twelve years never won silverware. Indeed, Ford was part of the Scotland World Cup squad that went to the finals in West Germany in 1974 and it must have been a source of frustration that he didn’t get a game, as Willie Ormond preferred the ageing Denis Law up front.
Ford’s last season at Tynecastle was 1975-76 and it was a season where persistent knee problems would restrict his appearances in maroon. He left Gorgie in May 1976, moving for a brief spell to Falkirk but his knee injury was so severe he was forced to retire from the game.
However, Ford’s influence on Hearts didn’t disappear forever. In 1981 with Hearts in a perilous financial situation, Ford, with his financial connections, persuaded Wallace Mercer to part with £350,000 to save a football institution from closure. Mercer saved the club, disaster was averted (for a short time at least) and Hearts moved on.
I felt privileged to watch a player of Donald Ford’s class in a Hearts shirt. If he had played in a good Hearts team rather than one which toiled almost every season he was at Tynecastle, there’s no doubt Hearts would have won major honours – and Ford would have been an established internationalist. 188 goals in 435 games is a highly impressive statistic
Happy 60th Birthday Donald Ford – a gentleman and a Hearts legend!
His Name is Drew Busby
The 1970s was, for the most part, a depressing decade for Hearts fans. A Texaco Cup Final, a Scottish Cup Final and a memorable European Cup Winners Cup triumph over Locomotive Leipzig were scant consolation for two relegations, a 7-0 thrashing from Hibernian and spiralling debts. Yet, the fans still had their heroes in maroon. And none more than a player with one of hardest shots in Scottish football - Drew Busby.
As a young lad, Busby had played for Coventry City and Third Lanark in the 1960s before a spell with Vale of Leven Juniors alerted Airdrieonians to bring Busby back into the senior game. At Broomfield Park, Busby’s scoring prowess forged a profitable partnership with another Drew – Drew Jarvie. With Hearts looking to build a team capable of challenging for honours in the club’s centenary season, manager Bobby Seith tried to sign the Airdrie pair but succeeded in getting only one – Drew Busby (Jarvie headed north to sign for Aberdeen). The £35,000 Seith paid for the Glasgow born player was a bargain even for three decades ago. Busby, with his bustling style and penchant for scoring spectacular goals, was an instant hero to the fans. For he wasn’t long in making a name for himself – he scored in Hearts 4-1 trouncing of Hibernian in September 1973 and, just ten days later, scored Hearts goal in a 1-0 Texaco Cup victory over Everton at Goodison Park. To cap a memorable month, Busby scored twice as Hearts defeated Rangers 3-0 at Ibrox at the end of September and were sitting top of the league for an all too brief spell. Drew Busby had arrived!
Although Hearts faded after a bright start to season 1973/74, Busby still managed to score an impressive sixteen goals and his partnership with Donald Ford seemed to gel at an early stage. Another fifteen goals followed in the two seasons that followed and, even in Hearts relegation season, Busby still weighed in with thirteen strikes. The sight of Super Drew terrorising the Locomotive Leipzig defence as Hearts fired five goals past the East Germans in a European Cup Winners tie at Tynecastle in 1976 remains etched on the memory of those who saw it.
Busby’s affection for Hearts was demonstrated when he remained at Tynecastle even though First Division football beckoned in 1977 and Busby’s twenty goals helped Hearts scramble over the promotion finishing line. He scored a memorable hat-trick in a 7-0 thrashing of Arbroath at Gayfield at Christmas 1977 and won a crate of whisky from the league sponsors of the time (not that that had any influence!)
Busby’s considerable experience was required as Hearts returned to the Premier Division in 1978 but the rest of his Hearts team mates didn’t quite match Drew’s standards and Hearts faced relegation again at the end of the season. During a rather tedious match against Morton at Tynecastle, some of the rather restless home support began chanting ‘Busby for Manager’. Knowing how badly the club was run at that time, Drew looked at the fans and shook his head with a look that said ‘you’ve got to be joking!’ However, he certainly wasn’t joking when he scored against Celtic at Tynecastle that same season, his twenty-yard pile driver flying into the net to give Hearts a rare 2-0 win.
Forced to make major cutbacks for a return to the backwaters of Scottish football, manager Willie Ormond was forced to release Busby at the end of that fateful season, a decision that only served to increase the anguish Hearts fans felt at the time. His last goal in a Hearts jersey came in a 2-1 defeat by Dundee United at Tannadice in April 1979 but by that time Hearts were already doomed. As the 1970s disappeared so did a 1970s Tynecastle icon. Drew headed for Canada and a spell with Toronto Blizzard before returning to Scotland to play for Morton and then player-manager at Queen of the South.
Not many great players make great managers and so it proved for Busby’s short stint as boss at Palmerston Park. But as a player, Drew Busby was one of the best to wear the maroon shirt during the roller coaster that was the 1970s. The chant of Busby, Busby, Busby from the Tynecastle terracings was heard frequently throughout a difficult period. When Drew made a rare appearance back at Tynecastle at half time during a recent game, the ovation he received from battle worn Hearts supporters said it all. His name is Drew Busby……….an all time Hearts great.
And Foster Has Scored!
For Hearts, season 1993/94 had been a long, arduous slog in the league and the League Cup had proved short and not sweet, Falkirk defeating Hearts in the second round at Tynecastle. The Scottish Cup, though, brought a game that is still talked about today. After Maurice Johnston scored the only goal to knock out Partick Thistle in the third round tie at Firhill, our joy on the way back to Glasgow Queen Street station intensified when we discovered our opponents for the next round – Hibernian at Easter Road. Thank you very much, the S.F.A. The game was moved to a Sunday to allow the B.B.C. to show it live on television. That didn’t stop 21,000 fans heading for Easter Road on Sunday, February 20th 1994 and a game for the history books.
Hearts: Smith; McLaren; McKinlay; Levein; Berry; Millar; Colquhoun; Mackay; Robertson; M. Johnston; Leitch. Substitutes: Foster; Weir.
Hearts had last played a Scottish Cup tie there in 1979 when crowd trouble marred Hibs 2-1 quarter final win. Almost fifteen years later, Hibs were slight favourites again, given Hearts victory at Firhill in the last round followed their first win in the league in three months. With Sandy Clark in charge, Hearts had started the season with the ubiquitous Justin Fashanu up front but the man who Brian Clough once paid £1m for had lasted just two months at Tynecastle. Hearts were struggling in the league, despite having eight players in the team who had all played or would play, for Scotland at some stage in their careers.
Just under 21,000 fans braved a chill February wind as Hearts started the Easter Road cup-tie with a potentially potent strikeforce of John Robertson and Maurice Johnston but it’s fair to say the two strikers were too similar in style. Indeed, despite being both Scotland caps, Robbo and MoJo failed to manage the somewhat less than arduous task of scoring in the same game. The game was a typically tight, tense affair. Edinburgh derbies have so much at stake as a matter of course but, being a cup-tie, the stakes were even higher than usual. Throughout the 1980s and 90s if a Hearts player was going to score against their city rivals then it would be odds on it would be the Hammer of the Hibs – John Robertson. Robbo gave Hearts an early lead with a typical opportunist strike. Hibs then pressured Hearts for the remainder of the game, seeking the goal that would earn a Tynecastle replay at least. They got it when Keith Wright scored towards the end of the game and a replay looked on the cards. However, with just five minutes to go, bedlam! Gary Mackay played one of those through balls, which he did so well and a Hearts striker was through, one on one with goalkeeper Jim Leighton. But the striker wasn’t Maurice Johnston or John Robertson. It was substitute Wayne Foster who had replaced wee Robbo towards the end of the game. Now Fozzie had pace, commitment and courage. But he wasn’t the world’s greatest finisher. I’d lost count of the number of times Fozzy raced down the wing, outpacing the opposing defence only to scuff his cross into the crowd. Similarly, when presented with a chance in the penalty box, the odds on Fozzy ballooning the ball into the terracing were considerably shorter than those of John Robertson. Our joy at a genuine chance for Hearts to win the game was tempered when we realised it was Wayne Foster who was haring in on goal. As Hibs keeper Leighton raced to the edge of his penalty box to meet him, Fozzy struck the ball. The ball whizzed through Leighton’s spindly legs and you could hear the net whish as the ball nestled in the goal. For a split second, 10,000 Hearts fans stood open-mouthed. Then – delirium! By George, Fozzy had done it! Fozzy had scored!! Unbridled joy as the massive Hearts support danced on the steep, crumbling Easter Road terracings. I put the nanosecond pause in celebrations down to most of the 10,000 Jambos scouring the terracing to see where Fozzy had placed his shot. But, the former England youth cap – yes, Fozzy had played in the same England youth team as Gary Lineker – had scored the winner and Hearts were through to the quarter finals. Hibs were out. Fozzie leapt on to the perimeter fence to share his joy with the now delirious Hearts support. Even Derek Johnstone, the former Rangers striker now doing his television pundit routine for the BBC, gave the thumbs up from the perilously situated television gantry in the Hearts end. Inevitably, Hearts lost 2-0 to Rangers at Ibrox in the quarter final but that win at Easter Road would go down as a momentous triumph. Not since 1930 had Hearts defeated Hibernian in the Scottish Cup at Easter Road.
A decade on, you can still hear the Hearts fans chant at derby games ‘Wayne, Wayne, Super Wayne!’ Happy Anniversary, Fozzie!
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