Tributes pour in for striker Alan Gordon, who brought city together

TRIBUTES were pouring in today for former Hearts and Hibs star Alan Gordon who has died at the age of 65.

The tall, fair-haired striker, who is thought to be the only player not only to have turned out for both Capital clubs but also Dundee United and Dundee, passed away in an Edinburgh hospice after a long battle against cancer.

Although he spent just two years and 11 months with Hibs, Gordon's name became synonymous with "Turnbull's Tornadoes", the side which beat Celtic to lift the League Cup in 1972 and, of course, the 7-0 hammering of Hearts on New Year's Day a few months later, a game in which he scored two of the goals.

But it was at Tynecastle where Gordon, Edinburgh-born and educated at George Heriot's School, began his career, playing in the League Cup final against Rangers in October 1961, in only his second game for Hearts. The match ended in a 1-1 draw but Rangers won the replay.

Gordon went on to play 111 matches for the Jambos, scoring 49 goals, and was part of the Gorgie side which lost out on the League title by goal average in 1964-65.

He left Hearts for South Africa where he played for Durban United while continuing to work as an accountant, returning to Hearts, only to be sold to Dundee United for 8,000 in March 1969.

Gordon stayed three years at Tannadice but the insistence of United manager Jim McLean that his players live in the Dundee area hastened the striker's departure as his business interests in Edinburgh meant it was more practical for him to stay in the Capital.

Hibs boss Eddie Turnbull splashed out 12,000, a sum which proved to be a bargain as Gordon formed a formidable partnership with Jimmy O'Rourke at Easter Road, the pair complementing each other perfectly, one tall and elegant, superb in the air and the other a small, dark buzz-bomb as former team-mate George Stewart recalled.

Ex-Hibs skipper Stewart, who played alongside Gordon at Dundee, said: "I travelled up and down to Dens Park with Alan, he was a really terrific guy and a good, good player.

"Jimmy and Alan were outstanding together, they were a fantastic combination."

Ninety-nine goals scored by Gordon, O'Rourke and Arthur Duncan, with Gordon claiming 43 of them in season 1972-73, underline Stewart's assertion although disappointment was to follow as injury denied him his chance to play for Scotland.

In Simon Pia's book Sunshine on Leith, Gordon recorded his disappointment, saying: "I had been selected to play England but I missed out on my chance to win a cap for my country and it is something I will always regret.

"Pulling on that navy blue jersey would have added the final touch to a marvellous season."

There was some consolation, however, as Gordon was chosen to play for a Rest of the World select against Hamburg for the great German centre-half and World Cup player Willie Shulz's testimonial match, a game which saw him line-up alongside the likes of Bobby Moore, Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Alberto, Uwe Seeler, Denis Law and Gerd Muller.

Gordon was involved in two more Scotland squads but never got the chance to play, convinced that would have changed had he been playing for either side of the Old Firm.

Although Gordon rated Turnbull second to none – ahead even of the legendary Jock Stein – as a coach, he and the Hibs manager enjoyed a sometimes testy relationship, the player himself admitting he always had something to say, one run-in leading to a bit of Easter Road folklore.

"The trouble with you, Gordon, is that aw yer brains are in yer heid," was Turnbull's retort to one intervention too far, an incident witnessed by, among others, captain Pat Stanton, who today recalled: "I can remember the moment clearly but I think one or two of our team-mates were a bit confused as to what it meant."

Like many others, Stanton today admitted to being stunned by Gordon's death, although he was aware the man he first met as they played in a trial for the Edinburgh Primary Schools team had been ill for some time.

He said: "When we went for that trial Alan was in the "probables" and I was among the "possibles" and he quite rightly got his place.

"We eventually ended up playing together, of course. I liked Alan very much as a person, he tended not to take life too seriously. He enjoyed his football, but there was always a look about him as if he was always aware it was only a game.

"Don't get me wrong, he was serious about his football, he worked hard in training and the end of the day he'd say it was nice to win but it wasn't everything.

"Alan was, of course, a big, clever guy with his accountancy business. He was also an intelligent player, easy going at a time when people liked to see their centre-forwards chasing lost causes, whereas Alan couldn't see the point in that, he'd rather save his energy for the ones he could catch."

In all, Gordon scored 51 goals in just 84 matches for Hibs, moving on to Dundee as Turnbull broke up the "Tornadoes", too quickly in the player's estimation.

He summed up his Easter Road career by saying: "Taking into consideration my great spell with Hibs, it amazes me to think I actually spent only two years and 11 months at the club.

"So much seemed to happen in such a short spell."