Former Hearts manager in hospital after amputation

Bobby Seith, the former Hearts manager who won top-flight titles as a player in both Scotland and England, is recovering in hospital in Dundee after having his leg amputated.

Seith, 88, was suffering from a vascular blockage according to a report in the Courier.

After suffering pain, doctors discovered a blocked artery and were forced to amputate above the knee.

He managed Hearts from 1970 to 1974 with fluctuating fortunes. The Tynecastle club topped the league for a spell in their centenary season in 1973-74 but a bad run during the following campaign saw him dismissed.

He stepped away from football and worked as a chiropodist.

If his time in management was mixed – he also had a spell in charge of Preston North End – Seith enjoyed a stellar playing career and belongs to that elite band of footballers who won the league on both sides of the border.

He began his career with Burnley and helped them win the old English First Division in 195960, playing 27 games in their title-winning campaign. It was their first championship success in 39 years.

He left Turf Moor that summer and signed for Dundee for £7,500 and was part of the outstanding Dens Park side that won the Scottish league for the only time in their history in season 1961-62.

Having missed Burnley’s one tilt at the European Cup, he made the most of his opportunity with Dundee and helped them reach the semi-finals of the elite competition in 1963 where they lost to eventual winners AC Milan, with Seith captaining the side in the San Siro. They had earlier eliminated Cologne, Sporting Lisbon and Anderlecht.

Seith’s son Bob said his dad was in good spirits in Ninewells Hospital.

“He is so upbeat and determined to get out of hospital and overcome this and I have no doubt that he will,” he told the Courier.

“My dad is a very intelligent man and he recognises this is something that will be difficult but he is still strong enough – physically and emotionally – to get through this.”