Vote fallout ‘silly’, says former Hearts-breaker

Ex-Dundee star Albert Kidd says it’s ‘silly’ that the Dark Blues have inadvertently dealt another crushing blow to Hearts, writes Marc Deanie.

Yesterday marked the 34th anniversary of the day Kidd’s two goals as a substitute against the Jambos – who only needed a draw to win the 1985-86 title – handed the league to Celtic, 5-0 winners over St Mirren at Love Street.

More than three decades on, a crucial ‘yes’ vote from Dens Park chief John Nelms in the controversial SPFL ballot has left the Tynecastle side facing relegation from the Scottish Premiership.

Australia-based Kidd, 58, said: “It looks like it was Dundee who made the call to close the league season.

“Hearts maybe would survive if they could get to play their final eight games in the Premiership.

“It seems silly that clubs in all the divisions have voting rights which can affect the top flight.

“But John Nelms has voted to say ‘let’s end the league’ and this is the situation everyone is now in.

“I know people everywhere are suffering because of this virus but maybe they should try to play on.

“I know a couple of the Australian lads in the Hearts squad — Oliver Bozanic and Ben Garuccio. They were a couple of young kids from Adelaide, where I live now, and decent players in their own right.”

Kidd – who also starred for Brechin, Arbroath, Motherwell and Falkirk – was left on the bench by then-Dens boss Archie Knox for the famous fixture against the Jambos.

But he changed the course of Scottish football history after coming on in the 61st minute.

The Dundonian, a boyhood Hoops fan, added: “I didn’t realise how big those goals were when I scored them. But in the players’ lounge afterwards, you could see the dour faces on the likes of Gary Mackay and John Robertson. They were numb.

“You could never have scripted it. Celtic needed to win by five goals — which they did at St Mirren — and Hearts had to lose.

“It was bizarre. The response from Hearts people was never going to be favourable.

“Just last year, Sandy Clark went on radio to say he should have kicked my head in and I had my say back. But I regularly holiday in Turkey with my wife, Maureen, and we have met Hearts fans over there and gone back and met them again and had drinks with them.

“I remember going to see Archie on the eve of the game and reminding him that I had a good scoring record against Hearts.

“We were at the pre-match meal when he told me I’d be on the bench. He sent me on and I managed to score the goals.

“Dundee could actually have qualified for Europe with a win that day but Rangers won against Motherwell and finished above us.

“We had a good team in those days. I think the only team we didn’t beat and I didn’t score against was Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen.”