Sandy Jardine

Sandy Jardine
Personal information
Full nameWilliam Pullar Jardine
Date of birth31 December 1948
Place of birthEdinburgh, Scotland
Date of death24 April 2014 (aged 65)
Place of deathEdinburgh, Scotland
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing positionRight-back
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1965–1982Rangers451(42)
1982–1988Heart of Midlothian187(3)
Total638(45)
National team
1970–1979Scotland38(1)
1972–1973Scottish League XI[1]2(0)
Teams managed
1986–1988Heart of Midlothian
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

William "Sandy" Pullar Jardine (31 December 1948 – 24 April 2014) was a Scottish professional footballer, who played for Rangers, Hearts and represented Scotland. He twice won the Scottish Football Writers Association Player of the Year award and was part of the Rangers team that won the 1971–72 European Cup Winners' Cup. Jardine was also co-manager of Hearts with Alex MacDonald and later worked for Rangers. He died in April 2014, 18 months after being diagnosed with liver cancer.

Early life

Jardine grew up in Edinburgh in close proximity to Tynecastle Park, the home ground of Hearts who he supported as a youngster.[2][3] His ability at football shone through at an early age as he earned local and national schoolboy honours with Balgreen Primary and Tynecastle Secondary. As a youth he played for North Merchiston Boys Club, United Crossroads Boys Club and Edinburgh Athletic. He also trained at Hearts' ground.[3]

Although his full name was William Pullar Jardine, he became known as 'Sandy' due to his hair colour.[2]

Playing career

Club career

Rangers

Jardine signed for Rangers in 1964. Signed as a midfielder, he spent a couple of years in the reserves before making his debut aged 18 in a 5–1 league win at home to Hearts on 4 February 1967, playing at right-half. This match took place a week after Rangers had been knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Berwick Rangers.[4] He scored his first Rangers goal a few weeks later on 18 March 1967 in a league match against Ayr United. That same season Jardine played in the 1967 European Cup Winners' Cup Final against Bayern Munich, losing 1–0 after extra time.[2]

Jardine played in various defensive positions as he became a regular under manager Davie White, even as a centre-forward, before finally settling as a right full-back at the start of the 1970–71 season under new manager Willie Waddell. He proved a revelation at right-back; a strong player who enjoyed marauding forward, he had an excellent turn of pace which ensured he was rarely caught out of position. The position was where he went on to make the bulk of his 674 appearances for the club.[2]

He won his first major trophy in 1970, Rangers beating Celtic 1–0 in the Scottish League Cup Final. The following season he was an ever-present in the Rangers side which reached the 1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, playing in all eight matches en-route to the final and scoring the first goal of a 2–0 win over Bayern Munich in the semi-final. Jardine went on to help Rangers win the final, defeating Moscow Dynamo 3–2 at the Nou Camp in Barcelona. Further success in the 1970s followed. In 1974–75 he helped Rangers win their first Scottish league title in 11 years and his performances were acknowledged by the Scottish Football Writers' Association, who voted him their Player of the Year.[5] Jardine was a key part of the Rangers sides that won the domestic treble in 1975-76 and 1977-78.[2]

By the early 1980s Rangers were in decline, and 33 year old Jardine was reluctantly given a free transfer to Hearts in the summer of 1982 by manager John Greig.[2][4][6] The pair were close friends, having both grown up and lived in Edinburgh, and commuted together to train and play for Rangers in their younger days. Greig allowed Jardine to leave due to his long service and his stated wish to end his playing career at the club he supported as a boy.[6]

Hearts

Jardine signed for Hearts, the club he had supported as a child, in 1982.[6] He joined Hearts at a time when their fortunes were at a low ebb,[6] as they had failed to win promotion from the First Division in the 1981–82 season. Jardine linked up with former Rangers team-mate Alex MacDonald, who was now player-manager at the Edinburgh club. Jardine was now also assistant manager, and according to team-mate John Robertson he helped to instil higher standards of professionalism at the club.[6] Hearts gained promotion in 1982–83 and became a competitive force in the Premier Division, finishing fifth in their first season back in the top division and qualifying for the UEFA Cup.[3]

Still playing regularly, Jardine was an integral part of the side that almost won the Scottish league championship in 1985–86, finishing second behind Celtic on goal difference.[6][2] Robertson said that Jardine's contribution to the team was his ability to read the game and to pass the ball out of the defensive area.[6] During the season, he made his 1000th professional appearance1 on 16 November 1985 in a league match at home against Rangers.[7] His performances that season saw him win the Scottish Football Writers Association Player of the Year award again, aged 37.[6][5] Jardine was the second player to win the award more than once (John Greig had been the first) and the first player to win the award with two different clubs.[5]

In November 1986, Jardine was appointed joint-manager alongside MacDonald.[2] He continued to feature in the team but by season 1987-88 had begun to phase himself out of the side to concentrate on his management duties.[2]

1Includes appearances in friendlies and minor cup competitions such as the Glasgow Cup, Drybrough Cup and the Anglo-Scottish Cup.

International career

Jardine made his debut appearance for Scotland as a substitute for David Hay on 11 November 1970 in a European Championship qualifying win against Denmark.[8] His next appearance, and first start, came almost a year later in October 1971 in another European Championship qualifying tie, a 2–1 win over Portugal.[8]

By 1974 Jardine had become a regular at right-back in the international side and played in all three matches of the victorious 1974 British Home Championship campaign,[8] during which he scored his only international goal in a 2–0 win over Wales.[8] He had also helped Scotland qualify for the 1974 World Cup finals in West Germany. Jardine played in all three group matches of the tournament,[8] where he and Celtic's Danny McGrain were voted the best pair of fullbacks in the competition.[6]

He continued to play regularly for Scotland throughout the 1970s and made one further appearance in the finals of a major tournament, against Iran during the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina.[8] Jardine made his final Scotland appearance on 19 December 1979, against Belgium in a European Championship qualifier.[8]

Jardine was capped 38 times in total and captained the team on nine occasions.[8]

International goals

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 14 May 1974 Glasgow, Scotland  Wales 2–0 2–0 British Home Championship

Managerial career

Jardine joined Heart of Midlothian in July 1982 as a player, but also took on the role of assistant manager under ex-Rangers team-mate Alex MacDonald.[2] The club achieved promotion to the Scottish Premier Division in 1983 and three years later came close to winning the title, eventually finishing in second place on goal difference behind Celtic.[2] In November 1986 he was promoted to joint-manager alongside MacDonald.[2]

Hearts could only finish fifth in the league the following season but regained form in 1987-88 and again finished a credible second, ahead of Aberdeen and high-spending Rangers.[2] Poor form at the start of season 1988-89, however, saw Hearts owner Wallace Mercer sack Jardine in November 1988, stating that the experiment of having joint-managers had not delivered the expected results.[2]

Career statistics

Club
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Scotland League Scottish Cup League Cup Europe Total
1966–67RangersDivision One 14 2 – – – – 5 – 19 2
1967–68 9 – 1 – 6 1 1 – 17 1
1968–69 18 4 – – 2 3 4 1 24 8
1969–70 14 – 1 1 4 1 3 – 22 2
1970–71 32 1 5 – 10 1 2 – 49 2
1971–72 31 5 7 – 6 – 9 1 53 6
1972–73 34 2 6 – 11 – 2 – 53 2
1973–74 34 3 2 – 11 – 4 – 51 3
1974–75 34 9 2 – 5 5 – – 41 14
1975–76 Premier Division 25 2 3 – 7 5 2 – 37 7
1976–77 36 2 5 2 11 6 2 – 56 10
1977–78 32 5 5 – 7 1 4 – 48 6
1978–79 35 – 9 1 10 1 6 – 60 2
1979–80 35 3 6 2 4 – 6 – 51 5
1980–81 32 3 6 – 4 – – – 42 3
1981–82 36 1 6 2 8 1 2 – 52 4
Total Rangers 451 42 64 8106 25 52 2674 77
1982-83HeartsFirst Division 39 2 4 0 10 0 - – 53 2
1983-84Premier Division 36 0 2 0 7 0 - – 45 0
1984-85 34 0 5 0 5 0 1 0 45 0
1985-86 35 1 5 0 3 0 - – 43 1
1986-87 34 0 3 0 1 0 2 0 40 0
1987-88 9 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 12 0
Total Hearts 187 3 19 029 0 3 0238 3
Career total 638 45 83 8135 25 55 2912 80
International
Scotland national team
YearAppsGoals
197010
197130
197200
197360
1974111
197560
197600
197750
197820
197940
Total381

Post football career

Jardine later worked for Rangers in a public relations capacity and then in the retail department as the club's sales and marketing manager. After Rangers entered administration in February 2012, Jardine was placed in joint control of a fans' "fighting fund" to aid the club.[9][10] Jardine was upset by the imposition of sanctions on Rangers by a Scottish Football Association (SFA) judicial panel in April 2012.[11] He then led a march of Rangers fans to the SFA offices at Hampden Park to deliver a letter protesting against the sanctions.[11] Jardine also said that the Rangers fans would consider taking action against other clubs or governing bodies that they felt had acted against Rangers' interests.[11]

Personal life

On 17 November 2012, Rangers announced that Jardine was being treated for cancer.[12][13] Jardine died on 24 April 2014, aged 65.[14][15][16][17]

Legacy

On 16 July 2014 Rangers announced that the club will pay a lasting tribute to Jardine by changing the name of the Govan Stand to the Sandy Jardine Stand.[18]

Honours

Rangers
Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Sandy Jardine". Londonhearts.com (London Hearts Supporters' Club). Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 Aird, Alistair. "Sandy JARDINE - Rangers FC - Biography of his football career at Rangers". Sporting Heroes. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Sandy Jardine - a Scottish football legend". Hearts FC. 25 April 2004. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Halliday, Stephen (25 April 2014). "Ex-Rangers and Hearts defender Sandy Jardine dies". The Scotsman (Johnston Publishing). Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Brown, Alan (12 December 2013). "Scotland - Player of the Year". www.rsssf.com. RSSSF. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 "Sandy Jardine was like a brother - Rangers team-mate John Greig". BBC Sport. BBC. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  7. ↑ Hepburn, Ray (14 November 1985). "Jardine reflects on 1000 game record". The Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 "Profile - Sandy Jardine". Scottish FA. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  9. ↑ "Rangers launch fans fund to help keep the club going". Daily Mirror (Trinity Mirror). 13 March 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  10. ↑ Little, Ivan (16 March 2012). "Rangers to play Belfast fundraiser against Linfield". Belfast Telegraph (INM). Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Rangers administration: Sandy Jardine vows revenge against clubs who defy Ibrox side". The Scotsman (Johnston Publishing). 29 April 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  12. ↑ "Sandy Jardine Statement". Rangers.co.uk. 17 November 2012.
  13. ↑ "Former Rangers player Sandy Jardine battles cancer". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 November 2012.
  14. ↑ "Sandy Jardine: Rangers and Scotland great dies aged 65". BBC Sport. BBC. 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
  15. ↑ "Rangers and Scotland legend Sandy Jardine dies at the age of 65 after cancer battle". Daily Mail. 24 April 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  16. ↑ "Sandy Jardine, former Rangers defender, dies after long cancer battle aged 65". Daily Telegraph. 24 April 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  17. ↑ "Sandy Jardine dead: Former Rangers, Hearts and Scotland footballer dies aged 65". The Independent. 24 April 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
  18. ↑ "Rangers To Honour Sandy Jardine". Rangers F.C. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  19. ↑ "Scottish FA pays tribute to Sandy Jardine". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Scottish Football Association. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.

External links