32 WWW.HEARTSFC.CO.UK
KITTED
OUT On the morning of Saturday the 3rd of April 1999 Hearts sat bottom of the Bank of Scotland Premier League. They were 2 points adrift of Dunfermline who had amassed 27 points from 29 games. Hearts had taken 25 points from 28 games. That afternoon they would face a Kilmarnock team sitting pretty in 3rd place with 47 points. The management team and the fans knew that results had to improve quickly or there could be dire consequences. Jim Jeffries was pretty sure he had the answer to halt the slide down the league and it would be an unlikely source. He signed Darren Jackson from Celtic. Best remembered for his passionate playing style at city rivals Hibernian, the signing raised a few eyebrows. Jim was asked by the press why he had signed Darren he explained to the press ‘Darren is someone who gives 100% to every club he plays for and, while there is going to be pressure on him hopefully the fans will take to him. Jackson was a childhood Hearts supporter and even a mascot at an Alloa game during season 1977/78 the year Hearts gained promotion from the First Division. The Hearts captain that day was a certain Jim Jeffries. On joining Hearts Darren was quoted as saying ‘He intended winning
over the Hearts fans by playing exactly the same way he did when he was public enemy No.1 in Capital derbies as a Hibs player. He was as good as his word. On his debut against Killie, Hearts secured a point in a 2-2 draw. After the game Gary McSwegan was keen to pinpoint the debutant as the man at the centre of a revitalised side stating ‘He seemed to be everywhere. The boys got a bit of lift from him’. By the end of the season Hearts would make the move up the table and sit in 6th place with 42 points. Jackson turned Hearts season around with an invaluable contribution of passion, drive and skill. Darren started his career with Meadowbank Thistle who would eventually become Livingston. It could have been different as Hearts had the chance to sign Darren as a 16-year-old when he played a trial for them but the management team at the time Alex MacDonald and Sandy Jardine didn’t fancy him. By a quirk of fate, he would leave Hearts to return on a loan spell to our opponents today Livingston during the 2001 January window. He would eventually make the move permanent leaving Hearts for Livingston at the beginning of April 2001. He played a total of 64 competitive games for the club chipping in with 9 goals.
