34 WWW.HEARTSFC.CO.UK
HE PLAYED FOR THE
HEARTS Mike Buckle
SCOTT
COLIN
From the moment I was taken to my first game at Tynecastle, I hoped one day to pull on the famous maroon shirt and I guess I’m not alone with that particular ambition. On the other hand it’s fair to say that not everyone that was lucky enough to actually put pen to paper for the club harboured that ambition quite like I did. The dream stayed with me for many years, on reflection probably about 10 - 15 too many, but I put it down to being unlucky that my obvious exceptional ability just hadn’t been “spotted”. And how many of us have sat (or stood for older readers) at a game and said “he’s rubbish I could do better”. Well, the truth is that it was me that was rubbish and those guys fortunate enough to play for the club have talent and skill that only exist in our heads and sadly not our feet. Reading Grant Young’s excellent “Kitted Out” articles I wondered just exactly what it must be like to get the opportunity to actually play for the club. We all know what it meant to the likes of Gary Locke, Jimmy Sandison and Scott Crabbe guys that bleed maroon but not everyone that used the Players
Entrance are like these legends. Over the past few weeks I’ve managed to catch up with a few ex-players who can proudly say “I played for the jersey” to find out their thoughts about their time at Tynecastle. First up is Colin Scott who was only 15 and playing for Salvesen Boys Club when in 1981 Alex MacDonald told him “See you when you turn 16 for your first contract”. As he says being a Hibs fan it was a very strange feeling thinking about signing for their arch rivals. However, after meetings with Alex MacDonald and Sandy Jardine their passion to push the club forward and for him to be part of it sold the idea to him. Colin duly signed schoolboy forms on his 16th birthday and admits walking into the changing room for the first time was overwhelming to say the least. But he says “the whole playing staff bought into the manager’s philosophy of passion, winning and team spirit”. It was a transitional period for the club, but young players like Robertson, Mackay and Bowman were all first team regulars. Exactly one year later on his 17th birthday,
