List of Heart of Midlothian F.C. players

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Below is a list of notable footballers who have played for Heart of Midlothian. It generally includes only players who made more than 100 first-class appearances for the club, although it also includes several players who made a significant contribution in under 100 appearances (eg. Gordon Smith or Skacel) and players who were a key part of the club's early history (eg. Purdie or Ross), a period for which appearance records are incomplete.

Players are listed according to the date of their first-team debut for the club. An asterisk (*) in the last appearance column indicates that the player currently still plays for the club. Those in bold have been elected to Hearts' Hall of Fame.

Name	Nat	Birthdate	Pos	First Appearance	Last Appearance	Notes
Tom Purdie		?	FB	1875-8-28	1881-2-12
Jake Reid		?	GK	1875-8-28	1887-10-29
Nick Ross		1863-1-2	FB/CF	1881-9-17	1884-4-19	Ross was one of the first players who could "read" the game. His scientific methods helpes lay the foundations of Preston NE's 'Invincibles' side. He died of consumption aged 31.
Tom Jenkinson		1865-4-21	RW	1884-2-25	1897-9-2	First player capped while with Hearts.
Thomas Breckenridge		1865-2-26	W/IF	1886-2-5	1888-9-15
Johnny Hill		?	HB	1888-8-11	1892-11-5
Isaac Begbie		1868-6-4	HB	1888-8-25	1900-3-10
John McPherson		1867	CB	1888-8-25	1892-9-24
Davie Baird		1872	LW	1888-11-10	1903-4-25	Only Hearts player to win 3 Scottish Cups.
Jock Fairbairn		?	GK	1890-2-1	1898-5-21
Mark Bell		1881	W	1890-4-12	1904-1-23
Davie Russell		1868-4-6	FW	1890-10-4	1896-5-6	Won the League and Cup with both Hearts and Celtic.
George Hogg		1869-12-2	HB	1892-8-13	1903-4-25
Johnny Walker		1874-5-31	FW	1893-3-4	1898-4-2
Barney Battles, Sr.		1875-1-13	JB	1894-9-8	1895-5-29
Bobby Walker		1879-1-10	IF	1896-4-18	1914-4-27	Along with Tommy Walker "the greatest" player to play for Hearts. Scotland record cap holder for 25 years.
George Livingstone		1876-5-5	FW	1896-9-19	1900-4-9
Albert Buick		1875-1-17	RW	1896-9-21	1903-4-18
Charlie Thomson		1878-6-12	Various	1898-4-16	1912-10-23	A very versatile player, who played every position except goalkeeper. Captain of Hearts and Scotland, later moved to Sunderland.
Harry Rennie		1873-6-1	GK	1898-8-15	1900-4-9
John "Darky" Walker		?	FW	1898-10-29	1898-11-12	The first black player to play for Hearts and Scotland's First Black Professional Footballer.
Bob Mercer		1889-9-21	CB	1909-8-21	1920-9-14	Gassed and discharged invalid during World War I. Later died on the pitch during a friendly at Selkirk.
Andy Wilson		1896-2-14	FW	1910-10-15	1923-2-17
Lawrence Abrams		1889-5-14	FB	1910-12-31	1914-4-28
Percy Dawson		1890-11-29	FW	1911-1-14	1914-2-21	Transferred to Blackburn Rovers for £2,500, reputedly a world record at the time.
Paddy Crossan		1893	RB	1912-2-17	1924-3-29	Twice wounded and gassed at least once during WWI, Pte. Patrick James Crossan was a robust and popular player who returned to play for several seasons after the conflict, earning two testimonials. He later opened a pub in Edinburgh's Rose Street but died suddenly aged 40 in 1933.
Tom Gracie		1889-6-12	FW	1912-2-17	1915-4-19	Enlisted with the Royal Scots during WWI, he died of leukemia before completing military training.
Jock Ramage		?	?	1919-10-11	1926-1-9
Freddie Forbes		1894-8-5	FW	1920-5-3	1922-3-4
Jock White		1897-8-27	FW	1921-12-17	1934-2-21	The only British forward to score 4 goals in 3 successive games.
Peter Kerr		1891-6-20	HB	1924-5-7	1929-10-12
Jack Harkness		1907-9-27	GK	19285-5	1936-8-15	A member of the"Wembley Wizards" team in 1928. Later a journalist with the "The Sunday Post".
Barney Battles, Jr.		1905-10-12	FW	1928-8-11	1936-4-29	Hearts record goalscorer in a single season with 44. He scored 11 goals versus Hibs in the space of a month in 3 local cup finals.
Alex Massie		1906-3-13	HB	1930-11-8	1941-5-10	Known as "The Ace of Hearts", he was transferred to Aston Villa.
Andy Anderson		1909-2-21	RB	1931-8-15	1944-4-8	Nicknamed "Tiger".
Tommy Walker		1915-5-26	IF	1932-9-3	1949-1-8	Along with Bobby Walker "the greatest" player to play for Hearts. He would have broken Scotland Cap record but for WWII. Later Hearts most successful manager.
Dave McCulloch		1911-10-5	FW	1934-8-11	1935-11-25
Andy Black		1917-9-23	FW	1935-8-31	1946-9-2
Bobby Baxter		1911-1-23	CB	1940-1-1	1947-3-29
Tam McKenzie		1922-11-5	LB	1942-1-10	1957-11-23
Jimmy Brown		1925-7-19	GK	1942-10-10	1952-4-14
Alfie Conn, Sr.		1926-10-2	IF	1944-10-14	1960-10-31	First of the "Terrible Trio" to make his debut.
Jimmy Wardhaugh		1929-3-21	IF	1946-8-21	1960-10-31	Hearts' record league scorer for almost 40 years.
Bobby Parker		1924-6-30	RB	1947-8-16	1957-11-23	A captain and later chairman of the club.
Willie Bauld		1928-1-24	FW	1948-10-9	1962-3-11	"The King", Hearts record competitive goalscorer.
John Cumming		1930-3-17	HB	1950-12-30	1966-11-12	Hearts most honoured player with 2 League Titles, 1 Scottish Cup and 4 League Cups.
Freddie Glidden		1928-7-9	CB	1951-11-10	1958-11-29
Jimmy Murray		1933-2-4	IF	1952-3-15	1961-4-20	Scotland's first ever scorer in a World Cup finals match.
Dave Mackay		1934-11-14	HB	1953-11-7	1959-3-7	The "greatest" post war player to play for Hearts. Bill Nicholson regarded him as the "key piece" in the Spurs Double-winning side. Achieved further success under Brian Clough at Derby.
Willie Duff		1935-2-6	GK	1954-8-14	1956-10-13
Ian Crawford		1934-7-14	LW	1954-9-15	1961-3-29	Scored twice in the 1956 Scottish Cup Final victory.
Alex Young		1937-2-3	FW	1955-8-27	1960-11-12	The only Hearts player to ever have a TV play named after him, "the Golden Vision", Young later beceame a talismanic figure for Everton.
Johnny Hamilton		1935-1-22	W	1955-10-1	1967-4-8
Gordon Marshall		1939-7-2	GK	1956-11-17	1963-5-11	An England under-23 internationalist whose son Gordon Jnr. played for Scotland.
Gordon Smith		1924-5-25	RW	1959-8-22	1961-4-8	The only player to win the Scottish League with 3 different clubs, Hibs , Hearts and Dundee.
David Holt		1936-1-3	LB	1960-9-24	1969-4-12	Represented Great Britain at the 1960 Summer Olympics while an amateur with Queens Park.
Jim Cruickshank		1941-4-13	GK	1960-10-15	1977-4-23
Norrie Davidson		1934-10-25	FW	1961-2-4	1963-10-26	Scored the winning goal in the 1962 League Cup final.
Willie Wallace		1940-6-23	FW	1961-4-29	1966-12-3	Later a "Lisbon Lion" with Celtic.
Roy Barry		1942-9-19	CB	1961-8-12	1966-9-24
Alan Gordon		1944-5-14	FW	1961-10-21	1969-3-15	Only player to have played for both senior sides in Edinburgh and Dundee.
Willie Hamilton		1938-2-16	MF/FW	1962-9-1	1969-2-22	Reckoned by many to be the most gifted player to play for either Hearts or Hibs.
Alan Anderson		1939-12-21	CB	1964-1-2	1976-4-26
Donald Ford		1944-10-25	FW	1964-9-26	1976-5-16
Roald Jensen		1943-1-11	W	1965-1-2	1976-5-19	Norwegian player of the Year 4 times, twice before joinging Hearts and twice after. The Norwegian Player of the Year award is now named after his "Knicksen" sobriquet.
George Miller		1939-5-20	CB	1965-11-20	1968-11-16
David Clunie		1948-3-16	RB	1966-10-1	1977-4-23
George Fleming		1948-9-22	MF	1966-12-10	1971-12-25
Eddie Thomson		1947-2-25	HB	1967-3-22	1973-3-12	Later manager of Australia.
Jim Brown		1950-8-11	RB/MF	1969-1-4	1979-5-14
Jim Jefferies		1950-11-22	FB/CB	1972-3-4	1981-5-2
Donald Park		1953-7-19	RW/MF	1972-10-28	1985-5-11
Willie Gibson		1953-4-3	FW	1973-5-5	1981-5-2
Drew Busby		1947-12-8	MF/FW	1973-8-11	1979-4-25
Bobby Prentice		1953-9-27	LW	1973-8-18	1979-4-28
Eamonn Bannon		1958-4-18	MF	1976-10-9	1993-5-1	Bannon returned to Hearts in the late 1980s after playing with Chelsea and Dundee United.
Walter Kidd		1958-3-10	RB	1977-10-15	1994-11-26	Knicknamed the "Bald Eagle".
Frank Liddell		1953-7-10	CB	1978-8-12	1981-8-29
Alex MacDonald		1948-3-17	MF	1980-8-9	1988-4-24	Veteran player who became Hearts first player-manager.
Gary Mackay		1964-1-23	MF	1980-9-24	1997-3-1	Hearts record appearance holder.
Henry Smith		1956-3-10	GK	1981-8-8	1996-1-31
John Robertson		1964-10-2	FW	1982-2-17	1998-5-16	Hearts record league goalscorer.
Sandy Jardine		1948-12-31	RB/CB	1982-8-9	1987-10-3
Craig Levein		1964-10-22	CB	1983-12-3	1995-8-30
Kenny Black		1963-11-29	FW	1984-7-30	1989-5-13
Sandy Clark		1956-10-28	FW	1984-10-20	1988-8-24
Neil Berry		1963-4-6	MF/CB	1984-12-12	1996-5-4
John Colquhoun		1963-7-14	RW/FW	1985-8-10	1996-12-21
Wayne Foster		1963-9-11	CB	1986-8-23	1994-8-31
Dave McPherson		1964-1-28	CB	1987-7-18	1999-5-23
Alan McLaren		1971-1-4	CB	1988-5-7	1994-10-22
Tosh McKinlay		1964-12-3	LB	1988-12-10	1994-10-29
Gary Locke		1975-6-16	RB/MF	1993-5-8	2001-1-2	Hearts youngest captain, aged 20, in the modern era.
Steve Fulton		1970-8-10	MF	1995-10-14	2002-5-12	Captained the 1998 Scottish Cup winning team.
Gilles Rousset		1963-8-22	GK	1995-10-28	2000-9-28
Colin Cameron		1972-10-23	MF	1996-4-10	2001-8-18	Scorer of the opening goal in the 1998 Scottish Cup win, Hearts first trophy in 36 years.
Gary Naysmith		1978-11-16	LB	1996-5-4	2000-10-1
Neil McCann		1974-8-11	LW	1996-8-14	*
Thomas Flögel		1971-6-7	FB/MF	1997-7-18	2002-5-12
Stéphane Adam		1969-5-14	FW	1997-7-18	2002-5-12
Steven Pressley		1973-10-11	CB	1998-7-12	2006-11-25
Scott Severin		1979-2-15	MF	1998-9-12	2004-5-16
Antti Niemi		1972-5-31	GK	1999-12-19	2002-8-18	The most capped player to win a cap whilst playing for Hearts.
Robbie Neilson		1980-6-19	RB	2000-7-22	*
Craig Gordon		1982-12-31	GK	2001-3-3	2007-5-20
Mark de Vries		1975-8-24	FW	2002-8-3	2005-1-2	Scored 4 times against Hibs on his home debut.
Paul Hartley		1976-10-19	MF	2003-7-16	2007-1-20
Rudi Skácel		1979-7-17	MF	2005-7-20	2006-5-13	Scored Hearts goal in the 2006 Scottish Cup Final.

[edit] Key to positions

• GK — Goalkeeper
• FB — Full back
• RB — Right back
• LB — Left back
• CB — Centre back
• HB — Half back
• MF — Midfielder
• W — Winger
• RW — Right Winger
• LW — Left Winger
• IF — Inside Forward
• FW — Forward

[edit] References

• Londonhearts.com Hearts Heroes. Retrieved on April 7, 2007.
• Hoggan, Andrew (1995). Hearts in Art. Mainstream. ISBN 1-85158-736-5. 
• Price, Norrie (1997). Gritty, Gallant, Glorius: A History and Complete Record of the Hearts, 1946-1997. Price. ISBN 0-9521426-3-5. 
• Vasili,Phil (2000). Colouring Over The White Line. Mainstream. ISBN: 1-84018-296-2.