John Robertson

An enduring image of Hearts Scottish Cup triumph of 1998 was that of John Robertson lifting the famous old trophy with one hand and clutching his chest with the other. Arguably the finest striker ever to don the maroon jersey had suffered seventeen years of hurt at Tynecastle – so many jokes, so many tears and all those oh so nears. But the little man finally got his hands on the winners’ medal he so richly deserved and his emotions that day mirrored what we all felt.

It’s well documented that the man who would go on to break the goalscoring record for Hearts had leanings towards Hibernian in his youth. Indeed, John Robertson may well have signed for Edinburgh’s second team had Tom Hart, the Easter Road chairman in 1980, not demanded that the fifteen-year-old Robbo sign there and then after a trial match in Leith. Robertson wanted to discuss this prospect with his Hearts supporting father first but the story goes that the Hibs chairman did a fair impression of Elvis Pressley, telling the young striker ‘it’s now or never’. Never it is then….

Bobby Moncur was Hearts manager at this time and with the maroons yo-yoing between the Premier and First Divisions, the former Newcastle United centre half knew that a half decent youth policy was required if Hearts were to arrest the alarmingly rapid rot that had set in. Moncur signed kids Gary Mackay, Davie Bowman, Ian Westwater and John Robertson on the premise that, if they’re good enough, they’re old enough. It wasn’t long before the first three players mentioned were given their first team chance while John Robertson made his debut in 1982 against Queen of the South – lining up alongside his older brother Chris. It was the beginning of a career that would see young Robbo become a Tynecastle legend.

As Hearts faced a second successive season in the First Division in 1982, player-manager Alex Macdonald knew they had to get promotion – or face dire financial consequences and the very real possibility of part-time football. Hearts were vying with St. Johnstone, Clydebank and Partick Thistle for two promotion places and as the season entered its final stage, manager Macdonald took the gamble of pitching in a youngster who had been scoring a hatful of goals for the reserves. John Robertson became a first team regular in the final three months of season 1982/83 and 21 goals in 22 games saw him make an immediate impact – and help Hearts to promotion. The Jambos made an astonishing return to the Premier Division in 1983, winning their five games in succession. This included a memorable 3-2 win over Hibernian at Tynecastle in which Robertson scored one of the best goals this writer has ever seen. It was to prove to be the first of 27 Edinburgh derby goals for the man who would become known as The Hammer of the Hibees.

Over the next fifteen years, Robbo would be Hearts top goalscorer almost every campaign. Hearts fans were devastated in 1988 when Hearts sold their prize asset to Newcastle United for a club record fee of £750,000. But Robbo didn’t settle on Tyneside – partly as a result of Newcastle manager Willie McFaul’s bizarre idea of occasionally playing the wee man in midfield – and he jumped at the chance to return home when he re-signed for Hearts six months later.

Robertson would go on to score a record 214 league goals for Hearts – a record that, given some of today’s players distinct lack of loyalty to one club, is almost certain never to be broken. Never a season would go by without the wee man scoring against the team that turned him down. He may have been an unused substitute during Hearts Scottish Cup triumph over Rangers in 1998 but the emotion he showed when he collected his winners’ medal – proud that he finally got his hands on the silverware he richly deserved – summed up precisely what all of us felt. Soon afterwards, Robbo moved to Livingston first as a player then as player-coach and helped the West Lothian club gain promotion to the First Division and then the Premier League. He became a manager in his own right when he took over at Inverness Caledonian Thistle and led the Highlanders to the Premier League for the first time in their history as well as leading them to a shock Scottish Cup win over Celtic at the Caledonian Stadium. When Craig Levein gave up his position as Hearts Head Coach in the autumn of 2004, it was obvious who was going to replace him. Robbo left Inverness to take over at the club he loved and played for years with such great distinction.

Sadly, John Robertson’s spell as Hearts boss was all too brief. When Levein left for Leicester, three Hearts players went with him. Hearts were in the process of changing their majority shareholder from Chris Robinson to Vladimir Romanov but the ‘takeover’ didn’t take place until after the January transfer window had closed, thereby denying the new manager the opportunity to bring in his own long-term players. Robbo signed the likes of Lee Miller and Mark Burchill on loan and the arrival of three Lithuanians – Mikoliunas, Cesnauskis and Kizys -also on loan from FC Kaunas, helped to boost the squad numbers. But with such upheaval at the club throughout season 2004/2005 it was inevitable that finishing third in the league for the third season running was to prove unlikely. Sadly, this was not good enough for the men now running Hearts and John Robertson left Tynecastle in May 2005. After a brief spell in charge of Ross County, Robbo replaced Stephen Kenny as manager of Irish side Derry City. Things didn’t work out for the wee fella across the Irish Sea but it’s surely only a matter of time before he’s back in the game he loves.

Robbo’s place in Tynecastle folklore is assured and those of the maroon persuasion will always revere him. A man who may have been small in stature but was a giant of a player to those Jambos who had the privilege of seeing him play. Who put the ball in the Hibees net? Johnny Robertson!

Factfile

Hearts appearances: 631
Goals: 271
Scotland caps: 16
Scotland goals: 3

Written by Mike Smith