Leslie Deans: Hearts 'deeply saddened' by death of former chairman

Former Hearts chairman Leslie Deans has died at the age of 71 after a short illness.

Former Hearts chairman Leslie Deans, pictured at Tynecastle in 1997, has died at the age of 71.

The solicitor, who ran his own estate agency, passed away on Wednesday evening at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

Hearts said in a club statement they were “deeply saddened” to learn of the news. Deans was a Hearts supporter as a boy and would later go on to take control of the club alongside Chris Robinson after the pair spent £2million to buy out former chairman Wallace Mercer. Robinson himself passed away earlier this year.

The duo were at the helm when Hearts ended a 36-year wait with a Scottish Cup final victory over Rangers in 1998 under the stewardship of manager Jim Jefferies.

Deans remained a passionate supporter of the club even after leaving the board in 1999 and vehemently opposed the plan to sell Tynecastle Park to Cala Holmes in the mid-00s before Vladimir Romanov took charge. Deans sold his shares to the Lithuanian-based Russian to help him block the sale and keep Hearts in Gorgie.

Calling him the “epitome of a true Jambo” and “a five-foot giant of a man”, Hearts also included a tribute from Deans’ brother Leslie in their statement announcing the tragic news.

He wrote: “It is with sadness and immense pride that I can say that Leslie left us in some style, full of funny stories, thinking of and thanking all of the huge number of people who had touched his life and made it so wonderful: his mother and father of course who pushed him to use all of his abilities in the place they thought best for him, George Watsons College, but also all the people he met in business, clients, strangers on a train or a cafe in Spain, and of course the friendships forged over sixty years on the terraces and board room of Tynecastle.

“His partner Carole, the family and the solicitors firm he founded are glad to have had him in our lives and thank the staff in Royal infirmary High Dependency Unit for their outstanding care and humanity. They helped Leslie to find celebration and dignity in his last moments.”