Edinburgh
businessman Wallace Mercer saved Hearts from oblivion in 1981 when he wrote a
cheque for £350,000 to purchase shares in the club and became the majority
shareholder. He was a successful property developer, and while he would often
cut a controversial figure during his decade and a half as Hearts supremo, it’s
frightening to think even now what might have happened to Hearts without his
financial intervention and business expertise. Hearts will always owe a huge
debt to Wallace Mercer.
In the summer of 1983, Hearts fans were
optimistic once more as their team challenged in the top tier of Scottish
football for the first time in two years. After a desperate 1981/82 season,
when they failed to get promotion and were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by
Second Division Forfar Athletic, Hearts stumbled over the promotion finishing
line by securing second place in the First Division at the end of season
1982/83 - and were at last back in the top flight.
Scottish football in general was in good shape in 1983. Aberdeen had emerged, under Alex Ferguson,
as one of the leading sides in the country and, indeed, was one of the top sides in Europe after
winning the European Cup
Winners Cup in Gothenburg in the summer. So the task of making an impact on the Premier Division was all
the harder for Hearts
for, as well as the Old Firm and Aberdeen, there was Dundee United who had won their first ever League championship at the end of the
1982-83 season. However, there
was a vibrant air in the west end of Edinburgh and a genuine optimism that Hearts had finally laid
their woes to rest.
Alex
MacDonald, appointed Hearts player-manager in 1982, may have been relatively
inexperienced in managerial terms - although as a player, he had enjoyed more
than a decade of success at Rangers - but he knew he needed more experienced
players if Hearts were to avoid yet another relegation. It wasn’t fanciful to
suggest that, despite chairman Wallace Mercer’s financial backing, the club’s
future would be in doubt if they were to be demoted again. Hearts did have
talented youngsters such as Gary Mackay, Davie Bowman and John Robertson but
MacDonald knew he needed players who had experience of the Premier Division -
but he also knew he had little money to acquire them. However, MacDonald was an
astute manager. He persuaded veteran striker Jimmy Bone, a hero of Partick
Thistle’s victorious League Cup winning team of 1971, to return from a spell in
Hong Kong to sign up for the Tynecastle cause. Although now 34 years of age,
Bone was the ideal man to nurture the talents of young strike partner John
Robertson. MacDonald also secured the return to Tynecastle of the hugely
popular Donald Park, who Hearts fans believed should never have been allowed to
leave Gorgie in the first place. With former Scotland youth captain George
Cowie recruited from West Ham United to fill in the full back position and
players already at Tynecastle who had experience in the Premier Division,
Hearts at least looked better prepared for the challenges that lay ahead.
MacDonald was as honest as ever when he stated that Hearts aim was to avoid
relegation - anything else would be considered a bonus. What would transpire as
the season progressed would be a spectacular bonus.
Having ditched the sectional stage as a
format for the League Cup in
the past few seasons, Scottish League officials
adopted a curious logic for the 1983-84 competition. They began with two knockout rounds played over two legs - but then, inexplicably, drew the
remaining 16 teams into four groups of four - in other words, a return to the
sections that had proved less than popular throughout the years. Hearts
required penalty kicks to see off Second Division Cowdenbeath (although, after the tie they signed the Fife club's promising young centre-half Craig
Levein) and finished second to Rangers
in a section that also had Clydebank and
St Mirren. However, only the group winners went through and so it was another despairing year in the League Cup for the Jambos.
The league season though, was to get off to a spectacular start for
Alex MacDonald's men. An awkward trip to Perth on the opening day of the season
to face promotion bedfellows St Johnstone was rewarded with a 1-0 win thanks to a
goal from veteran forward Jimmy Bone. As the Saints were to face Aberdeen,
Dundee United and Rangers immediately after the Maroons, it seemed likely the
Muirton Park team would be left at the stalls in the race for survival. Hearts next game
attracted their biggest home crowd for nearly seven years when just over 20,000 fans swarmed to
Tynecastle - for the meeting with Hibs.
Inspired by a noisy support, Hearts began in
positive fashion and youngsters
Robertson and Bowman both forced Hibs and
Scotland goalie Alan Rough into action. However, Hibs then took over. The ever-dangerous Irvine was unsettling the Maroons defence and it was no real
surprise when Hibs opened the scoring
after just 11 minutes. After a Murray shot had cannoned off Hearts keeper Henry Smith, Ralph Callachan rubbed salt
into the wounds of those in maroon who used to idolise him, by lashing home the
rebound to put Pat Stanton's side
one goal ahead.
Hibs then dictated the game for the remainder of the first half, with
young midfielder Rice controlling the centre of the park. But for some inept, finishing Hibs could - and should - have added to their lead. However,
for all their dominance, half time arrived with the Hibees just the one
goal in front and their fans on the Gorgie Road terracing must have wondered if one goal would be enough.
They were to get their answer in dramatic fashion in the second half.
Alex MacDonald tried to pep up his Hearts players during the break but,
as the second half got underway, it was clear that Hibs still had a stranglehold in
midfield. Ten minutes into the second period, MacDonald brought himself on in place
of youngster Gary Mackay and the transformation was almost immediate. Two
minutes later, Hearts equalised with one of the best goals ever scored in an Edinburgh derby -
and it proved to be the first of a derby record for another Tynecastle youngster
by the name of John Robertson. Home goalkeeper Henry Smith launched the ball
forward and with wind assistance, it landed at the feet of the 18-year-old
striker. With a breathtaking piece of skill rarely seen by Hearts fans since the golden age of the
1950s, 'Robbo' controlled the ball with his right foot. With his back to goal,
and a deftness of touch reminiscent of Scotland legend Kenny Dalglish, Robertson turned Hibs veteran Arthur
Duncan, spotted goalkeeper Rough off his
line and curled a magnificent left-foot
shot past the startled Hibs custodian to level the scores at 1-1. It was one of those goals that
remained etched on the memory, and the fans in Gorgie who saw it still talk about it to this day.
It set an already intriguing derby alight
and the Hearts fans celebrated wildly.
However, their celebrations didn't last long. Eight minutes later Hibs, stung by the turn of events, regained the lead. Home defender Roddy MacDonald failed to clear a Thomson header and Irvine
was on hand to steer the ball past Henry Smith. 2-1 to Hibs and it looked as if the points were heading for Easter
Road. Pat Stanton's men had seemingly weathered the storm after losing the equaliser but the never-say-die attitude which Tynecastle boss Alex MacDonald had installed in his troops came to the fore in
dramatic fashion.
With 20 minutes left, Hibs full back Brazil, attempting to take
the sting out of the game, was short with a
pass-back to keeper Rough. John
Robertson was on hand again to pounce and sweep the ball home to level the
scores at 2-2. Tynecastle was now in
frenzy as the Hearts support acclaimed
the birth of a star who had been banging in goals in the First Division the season before, but was
now proving himself in a big way in
the top league. Play now swung from
end-to-end and the match was turning into one of the best derbies seen in years. With just 13 minutes to
go, Robertson showed that he could
turn goal maker as well as goal taker when he delivered a glorious 25 yard cross field pass, which carved open the Hibs
defence and reached Donald Park. The
wee man, who revelled in derby games, quickly despatched the ball into the penalty box where veteran striker Jimmy Bone headed past Rough to put Hearts
in the lead for the first time at 3-2.
The home support erupted and while Hibs threw everything into
attempting to get the equaliser, Hearts held on for a famous victory. The
joyous scenes at the end of the game told their own story as the
maroon-shirted players hugged each other and punched the air with delight. It was
Hearts'
first victory over their rivals for almost six years, their first derby win
at Tynecastle for almost a decade and, remarkably, only their third league win
at Tynecastle over Hibs in two decades. It had been one of the best games between the two sides
since the halcyon days of the 1950s and was the clearest signal yet that Hearts were heading in
the right direction.
It was two wins out of two for Hearts and,
buoyed by this success, the
Maroons, to the astonishment of the country
who weren't used to such performances from a promoted side, went on to win their next three league games - one of which was a highly impressive win over Rangers at Tynecastle. Incredibly, after five games, Hearts shared
top spot in
the Premier Division with champions Dundee United and Celtic, with a 100% record and Tynecastle fans pinched themselves
to make sure it wasn’t a dream. Their
run ended when Aberdeen won 2-0 in
Gorgie, but Alex MacDonald’s men kept
on producing highly creditable results that included wins over St Johnstone, St Mirren and a hard
fought 1-1 draw at Celtic Park where
Henry Smith saved a penalty kick. Hearts,
unusually for a side that had gained promotion, were proving hard to beat and as 1984 began, delighted Jambos
were beginning to think more about the prospect of a UEFA Cup place rather than the expected fight against relegation. The Maroons did stutter heavily at Dens
Park in January and in the return fixture at Celtic Park a few weeks later, but with youngsters Bowman, Mackay and Robertson maintaining form, Hearts clinched fifth place
in the Premier Division at the end of a
hugely satisfying season - and did indeed clinch a place in the
following season's UEFA Cup much to the
delight of Jambos everywhere.
In the Scottish Cup, there was the potential for Hearts to slip up in
their tie against First Division Partick Thistle but the Maroons won 2-0 at a barely
playable Tynecastle. The luck of the draw deserted Alex MacDonald's men in the next round, however,
when they were faced with the perilous trip to Tannadice to face league champions Dundee
United. Hearts
famous battling spirit was to come to the fore once more with a pulsating
performance, but the sending off of Jimmy Bone turned the game in United's favour and the Taysiders
squeezed through 2-1.
Hearts supporters
eagerly awaited the following season with the added anticipation of a plum draw in the UEFA Cup - French
cracks Paris St Germain. Season 1983-84 had been an unqualified success and had
seen the birth of a new star at Tynecastle. A star who, at just 18 years, had
already taken the first steps to acquire the name 'John Robertson, Hammer of the
Hibees!'
Hearts Greatest Games still available in all good bookshops and at amazon.co.uk
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