Late eighties in Edinburgh - Despair at Dens but great times on the terracing

As a football fanatic and a Hearts fan I always think of the years between 1986 and 1991 as the halcyon days. Such great times, such great friendships forged through following Hearts and such exciting times on the pitch.

After a slow start to season 1985-86 Hearts started a long unbeaten run on the 5^th October with an inauspicious 1-1 draw at Tynecastle against Dundee. The run was to last over 30 games and ultimately end in heartbreak and despair missing out on the league title and the Scottish Cup on successive Saturdays in May. In the autumn months I was going to the Hearts games with a variety of people: relatives, workmates, friends and neighbours and by now I was in the habit of never missing a match at Tynecastle. One of the neighbours was Davie Greig, who we had just bought our house from, and after Hearts had beaten Rangers in the Scottish Cup in a 3-2 thriller in January he suggested that I should go to the next round with him and his mates. The 4^th round tie against Hamilton away was postponed due to bad weather and went ahead on a midweek night on the 3^rd March. Davie and I met with his brother Richard, Mike Mellis and Graeme Ogilvie at a pub in the Chesser area of Edinburgh at 5.00 pm. The first time I met these guys – all became good friends and the late Graeme Ogilvie was to become a great pal and is sadly missed by all who knew him. Given my habits while at Uni (see earlier posts) and his job as a policeman we were a strange combination but Graeme was no ordinary policeman. He had the ability to know intuitively what was right and wrong immediately, a great sympathy / empathy for his fellow man and a great sense of fair play – fantastic personality traits for a copper. I think it is fair to say that as well as being a mate I was also in awe of this colossus of a man.

On the night of the 3^rd March 1986 we had 5 pints between 5.00pm and 6.30pm and I was not used to this rate of consumption and was a bit worse for wear even before we got in the car to go to Hamilton. I remember a couple of things about the conversations in the pub. Early on in the dialogue Davie announced that he only hated three types of people; the English, Hibs supporters and Catholics. I told him that I was brought up a catholic, was English and briefly favoured Hibs following the family move up from England. Raucous laughter at the banality of Davie’s pronouncement ensued. The first of many times that laughter rang through the air when the boys were bevvying. The other snippet I remember is that Richard said I would get to know them all a lot better when the kissing and cuddling starts following a Hearts goal. I thought he was joking but as I found out a couple of hours later he was not. I was to enjoy many many man hugs with these guys over the years that followed. Hearts won the match 2-1 with Gary McKay and (inevitably) John Robertson on target. Lots of drink on an empty stomach had resulted in me getting double vision. To bring the game into focus I watched the first half with my left hand over my left eye. This gesture was to be mimicked by my new pals every time the fifth round of drinks was ordered prior to the games that followed. 

That was it. The bond was set. We never missed a game for the rest of that season – home and away. Hearts unbeaten run continued until Hearts lost 2-0 at Dundee on the final day of the league season. Needing only a draw to win the title Hearts were broken by Dundee journeyman Albert Kidd who came on as a second half substitute to score twice in the last 7 minutes. I was distraught but the thing that upset me most is that having scored Kidd celebrated as if he had just scored the winning goal in the cup final. No team outwith the Old Firm has come as near as that to winning the title since. We were distraught. As we left the ground and passed the grassy hill outside the stadium we passed by hundreds of maroon clad fans some weeping, some comforting each other and others just looking blankly into the middle distance with vacant looks on their faces. Had I been transported to this scene without prior notice I would have assumed that there had been some sort of nuclear bomb explosion in the Dens Park area of Dundee. In the car going back to Edinburgh no-one spoke until we reached the Forth Road Bridge. 

Albert Kidd celebrates in sickening fashion

Too much too take

Dens Park 1986 - being awake during a nightmare

Too much to bear

The following Saturday Hearts lost 3-0 to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup Final and we all went out and got absolutely immortal afterwards. By 11.00 pm the gloom had turned to glee as we started to reflect on the most amazing season in Hearts recent history. It was a great night. ‘Hearts Hearts Glorious Hearts’ rang out in the night air in Gorgie.

During the summer of 1986 Rangers appointed Graeme Souness as player manager of Rangers, Celtic strengthened in response and the face of Scottish football was changed back to the old routine. No provincial team has got as close to the league title since. However we had wonderful times watching Hearts in the five seasons that followed the tumultuous 1985-86 season. Other than a second place finish in season 1987-88 Hearts were placed in mid table but this return to mediocrity did not dampen our enthusiasm as we followed Hearts avidly and the pre match drink flowed like torrents tumbling down Niagra Falls. Great times.

In the summer of 1991 I applied for a job in Boston Lincolnshire and I was successful. My love affair with the FA Cup was about to be re-ignited.