A late goal from Donald Ford earned Hearts a 1-0 win over Rangers in this Scottish Cup quarter final replay at Tynecastle in March 1968. The maroons reached the final - only to lose to Dunfermline Athletic...
Showing posts with label Jim Cruickshank. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jim Cruickshank. Show all posts
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Friday, 10 December 2010
Always in Our Hearts
Someone once said that middle age is the time when we reflect on our lives the most. We think back to what we have achieved - or not - and wonder what we still have to offer. As a Hearts supporter in his late forties, I have been reflecting recently on the passing of some of my heroes of years gone by. Heroes who I watched play for my team when I was growing up. Jim Cruickshank, whose passing we all mourned last month, was one of those heroes.
Cruickie, like Donald Ford, Alan Anderson and Drew Busby, was synonymous with Hearts in my formative years that were the 1970s. I saw my first Hearts game when I was six years old, towards the end of 1968 at Falkirk’s Brockville Park. Cruickie was playing that day as were Donald Ford and Alan Anderson and it was on that afternoon that I was bitten by the Jambo bug. All things maroon influenced my childhood, my teenage years and even as a young man. I agree with Jim Jefferies when he said people referred to Jim Cruickshank simply as ‘The Goalie’. Years later this would be the moniker given to Andy Goram but to me and thousands of my generation there was only one ‘goalie’ - the man who was number one at Tynecastle in more ways than one.
Cruickie was Hearts through and through. Sure, he fell out with the club on more than one occasion but he was a man who stood up for what he believed in. Kenny Garland challenged him for the number one spot at Tynecastle for many years but, with the greatest respect, Cruickie was the fans favourite.
2010 has been a year when we also lost Bobby Kirk, Malcolm Robertson and former manager John Hagart. Kirk was a mainstay of the glorious Hearts team that swept all before them in the 1950s. His final game for Hearts came just three months after I was born but I know some older Hearts fans who still remember Kirk with a lot of affection. He was part of Hearts greatest ever team.
Malky Robertson came to Hearts at the time when the club were struggling both on and off the field. The man from Ayr United would delight us with his runs down the wing and his tormenting of defences. Sadly, Malcolm Robertson’s time in Gorgie coincided with Hearts fall from grace in Scottish football and a yo-yo period between the Premier and First Divisions. However, I remember his displays with affection and news of his death a few months ago at just 59 made me ask why some people have to be taken away from us so early.
Robertson was signed by John Hagart early in 1977. John passed away in June this year and there was no one more passionate about Hearts than he. He was the manager when Hearts finally succumbed to the pressures of the new ten team Premier Division and were relegated for the first time in their history in 1977. Those of us who frequented Tynecastle at that time were devastated by this turn of events but no one felt the anguish more than Hagart. He resigned in the immediacy of Hearts demotion. The story goes that Hearts wanted him to carry on as his experience and infectious enthusiasm for the game would be just what Hearts required for immediate promotion. Nevertheless, John Hagart was a man of integrity and he left Tynecastle.
Hearts as a club is very much a family affair. The passing of men who have served the club with distinction is keenly felt by those who support the club. We mourned the tragically early deaths of Eddie Thomson, Bobby Robinson and going back a few years Brian Whittaker, Arthur Mann, Roald Jensen and Willie Bauld among others. This is the time of the year when we tend to look back on the twelve months that have gone by. 2010 will be remembered as a year when Hearts were resurgent under the superb leadership of Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown. Sadly, 2010 will also be remembered as the year when a Hearts legend of the 1950s, Bobby Kirk and three Hearts icons of the 1970s - John Hagart, Malcolm Robertson and now Jim Cruickshank - passed away. Those of us who grew up with them will not forget their contribution to a footballing institution.
Cruickie, like Donald Ford, Alan Anderson and Drew Busby, was synonymous with Hearts in my formative years that were the 1970s. I saw my first Hearts game when I was six years old, towards the end of 1968 at Falkirk’s Brockville Park. Cruickie was playing that day as were Donald Ford and Alan Anderson and it was on that afternoon that I was bitten by the Jambo bug. All things maroon influenced my childhood, my teenage years and even as a young man. I agree with Jim Jefferies when he said people referred to Jim Cruickshank simply as ‘The Goalie’. Years later this would be the moniker given to Andy Goram but to me and thousands of my generation there was only one ‘goalie’ - the man who was number one at Tynecastle in more ways than one.
Cruickie was Hearts through and through. Sure, he fell out with the club on more than one occasion but he was a man who stood up for what he believed in. Kenny Garland challenged him for the number one spot at Tynecastle for many years but, with the greatest respect, Cruickie was the fans favourite.
2010 has been a year when we also lost Bobby Kirk, Malcolm Robertson and former manager John Hagart. Kirk was a mainstay of the glorious Hearts team that swept all before them in the 1950s. His final game for Hearts came just three months after I was born but I know some older Hearts fans who still remember Kirk with a lot of affection. He was part of Hearts greatest ever team.
Malky Robertson came to Hearts at the time when the club were struggling both on and off the field. The man from Ayr United would delight us with his runs down the wing and his tormenting of defences. Sadly, Malcolm Robertson’s time in Gorgie coincided with Hearts fall from grace in Scottish football and a yo-yo period between the Premier and First Divisions. However, I remember his displays with affection and news of his death a few months ago at just 59 made me ask why some people have to be taken away from us so early.
Robertson was signed by John Hagart early in 1977. John passed away in June this year and there was no one more passionate about Hearts than he. He was the manager when Hearts finally succumbed to the pressures of the new ten team Premier Division and were relegated for the first time in their history in 1977. Those of us who frequented Tynecastle at that time were devastated by this turn of events but no one felt the anguish more than Hagart. He resigned in the immediacy of Hearts demotion. The story goes that Hearts wanted him to carry on as his experience and infectious enthusiasm for the game would be just what Hearts required for immediate promotion. Nevertheless, John Hagart was a man of integrity and he left Tynecastle.
Hearts as a club is very much a family affair. The passing of men who have served the club with distinction is keenly felt by those who support the club. We mourned the tragically early deaths of Eddie Thomson, Bobby Robinson and going back a few years Brian Whittaker, Arthur Mann, Roald Jensen and Willie Bauld among others. This is the time of the year when we tend to look back on the twelve months that have gone by. 2010 will be remembered as a year when Hearts were resurgent under the superb leadership of Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown. Sadly, 2010 will also be remembered as the year when a Hearts legend of the 1950s, Bobby Kirk and three Hearts icons of the 1970s - John Hagart, Malcolm Robertson and now Jim Cruickshank - passed away. Those of us who grew up with them will not forget their contribution to a footballing institution.
Friday, 19 November 2010
Cruickshank is the Goalie
Sad news today of the passing of one of the true legends of Heart of Midlothian FC – goalkeeper 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. 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.
The world is a poorer place for the passing of Jim Cruickshank.
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