Sandy Jardine

William "Sandy" Pullar Jardine (31 December 1948 – 24 April 2014) was a Scottish professional footballer who played for Rangers, Hearts and represented Scotland.

[5][6] His ability at football shone through at an early age as he earned local and national schoolboy honours with Balgreen Primary and Tynecastle Secondary.

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.

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.

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] 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.

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.

[10] 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.

[12] Jardine joined Heart of Midlothian in July 1982 as a player, but also took on the role of assistant manager under ex-Rangers teammate Alex MacDonald.

[5] 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.

[5] 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.

After Rangers entered administration in February 2012, Jardine was placed in joint control of a fans' "fighting fund" to aid the club.