Hearts on Tour

Hearts OnTour

The 1950’s Tours

Throughout the most successful decade in the Club’s history, manager Tommy Walker forged close bonds between his talented players by taking them on six post-season tours to destinations as far apart as the USA,

South Africa and Australia. I’m going to take a look at the memorabilia associated with Hearts’ tours of the 1950’s.

Hearts and Manchester United hopped back across the border to the USA to fulfil their third consecutive fixture, this time amongst the bright lights and glamour of Los Angeles. The team’s hotel, the Roosevelt on Hollywood Boulevard, was certainly glamorous; just two minutes’ walk from Mann’s Chinese Theatre with its Hollywood stars and handprints. Famed as the venue for the first Oscar ceremony in 1929, the hotel’s residents over the years had included Marilyn Monroe who lived in the hotel for two years, Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. It is also famous for being haunted!

Hearts were the guests of the Los Angeles Soccer League whose President, John Smith, was a Fifer from Dysart. As ever the team were lavishly entertained. On their first day in Los Angeles, the LASL treated both clubs to a lavish lunch at which they exchanged gifts. Hearts presented the British Consul with a plaque bearing the coat of arms of the City of Edinburgh and the club’s name. That same evening, the Los Angeles Scots Club hosted Hearts at a glittering dinner at which the Hearts players and officials were presented with statuettes commemorating their visit by singers Frankie Vaughan who was in LA to make a film with Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy Squires who was then married to Roger Moore. Others attending included Alan Young who voiced Scrooge McDuck for Disney and the actor Herbert Marshall. The following day, the team spent a couple of hours at the relatively new “Disneyland” theme park which had only been opened five years earlier and being treated to a night at the “ball game”, watching the LA Dodgers take on the St Louis Cardinals, the home side winning 8-3.

On 1 June, the teams lined up against each other once again in foggy weather at Wrigley Field, a baseball stadium holding around 20,000 spectators. The ground was about half full to watch the teams line up with Hearts making two changes, both at full back. Danny Ferguson came in for his first game of the tour having recovered from injury and John Lough came in with the defence shuffled around and Johnny Hamilton dropping out.

The first half was a slightly dour struggle with both defences dominating. But finally, just before half time, Hearts broke the deadlock from the penalty spot with George Thomson as reliable as ever. Taking the lead just before the break instilled the team with confidence that they could gain a measure of revenge over their English opponents who had won the previous two meetings. So when Willie Bauld headed home a Gordon Smith cross with seven minutes of the second half played, Hearts had the momentum and just five minutes later, Hearts stretched their lead further when an Ian Crawford shot bounded off the chest of Harry Gregg in the United goal and Crawford followed up to poke home. Finally, with five minutes left to play, Willie Bauld rounded off a thumping 4-0 win when he broke through the United defence and blasted home.

I’ve three nice items of memorabilia from this game in my collection. Many years ago, I acquired the statuette presented to Assistant Trainer Donald McLeod at the LA Scots Club dinner on the evening of 30 May 1960. Featuring a small footballer at the top, the trophy also has two American eagles flanking the plinth which has McLeod’s name and the date of the event engraved on it. It’s a great and historic item.

Second, we have an advertising

21/22 HOME KIT ON SALE NOW

flyer for matches taking place in Los Angeles during the Spring of 1960. Many of the games listed are Los Angeles Soccer League matches in April and May. Teams involved included the LA Scots. Towards the bottom of the flyer, there’s advertising for the match at Wrigley Field. Tickets were available from Switzerland Restaurant and Ebert’s Liquor Store.

Finally, there’s the programme for the game. A large sized 12-page programme, it sold for 35 cents at the match. The cover has striking red stripes containing the names of the competing sides, match details and a photograph showing Manchester United in action. Inside, there are the usual welcomes to the two teams with Hearts assured that “the mere presence here tonight of the thousands of fans of Scottish extraction will make this club feel at home”. The fifth page has a programme of events for the evening which included the Caledonia Pipe Band and Dancers, introductions to the British Consul General and a ceremonial kick off by Frankie Vaughan.

Page seven has the teams in 2-3-5 formation and page nine has pen pictures of the United side as well as a team group. There’s a similar page for Hearts on page ten although reading the pen pictures, you get the impression that they have been cut for reasons of space. For instance, Gordon Marshall’s biography says that he has been “Four years a Heart” and “has unique distinction of playing in Scottish football”. We’re not told what that unique distinction might be, however. Gordon Smith is lauded as “one of Scotland’s greatest-ever right wingers” whilst Willie Bauld is “a world-wide football favourite”.

That’s all the reading matter in the programme but there are a multitude of small adverts from businesses keen to support soccer in California. The Switzerland Restaurant not only sold tickets but took a full page advert to “wish Manchester United and Hearts FC and their accompanying officials good luck in our sunny California”. If you were feeling especially homesick, you could try the Tam o’ Shanter Inn where “we grind and eat our own hamburger” and you could order “a Loch Ness Monster or a Mr McTavish”. I dread to think !

More from Canada and the USA next time.

Gary Cowen is a member of Hearts heritage group and is currently writing a book about the Hearts post-season tours