Bobby took on Hearts with the Orkney isles
Hearts’ players have three games to play before they head off for a summer break.
They already know pre-season training for next term will involve a trip to Germany.
It was a different end to the season for the Jambos in 1973.
Their league season ended with a 2-2 draw against Dundee on April 28.
But there was still some football to be played.
The Edinburgh side then set off for two games in Orkney.
Tynecastle boss Bobby Seith took all his top players – men such as Jim Jefferies, Alan Anderson, Kenny Aird, Donald Ford and Eric Carruthers.
It seemed an unusual trip for Hearts to make, but the secret behind their decision to head north lay in the man coaching the Orkney team.
Bobby Wishart, who had won the League Championship as a player with Aberdeen in 1955 and Dundee in 1962, had been retired from football for eight years and was managing a building society in Edinburgh.
He was as surprised as anyone when asked to manage Orkney.
“I was sitting in the house one night when I got a phone call from a friend who was on the board at Hearts,” recalled Bobby.
“He had the president of the Orkney Football Association, Jimmy Donaldson, with him. “Jimmy had been at a game between Aberdeen and Dundee a couple of days before.
“There was a picture of me in the match programme with a caption pointing out I had won the Scottish League championship with both clubs.
“He said that was the sort of man he would like to coach Orkney.
“It was a coincidence that he made the remark to my friend, but I agreed to help out.
“I was able to help get Hearts because Bobby Seith was a former team-mate at Dundee, and I knew Bill Lindsay, the Tynecastle chairman.
“My work as a building society manager meant I would fly up to Orkney for short spells.
“I have very happy memories of that time. The Orcadian people were very generous.”
Hearts played Orkney on Friday, May 4 and Saturday, May 5.
Bobby went on: “I asked the team to play a defensive game in the first match.
“We lost 2-0, but missed a couple of chances and could possibly have got a draw. In the second match I told them to be more attacking for the benefit of the crowd.
“We lost 8-2, but it was asking a lot for amateurs to play two matches just 24 hours apart.”
It was a memorable weekend for everyone involved. The ship transporting Hearts ran aground on an island on the way home. Morgan Harcus was Orkney’s goalkeeper and will never forget lining up against Hearts.
He has another favourite moment of Bobby Wishart’s time.
He said: “We beat the Faroe Islands 2-1 to win the North Atlantic Cup. I was the captain and Bobby presented me with the trophy.
“We really appreciated his help. Most of the players were farmers, fishermen or builders. Work kept us fit, but there was little in the way of coaching.
“Only the Faroes, Shetland and Orkney were in the tournament, but it was played over five years! “One or two of our players had trials with senior teams. But it was geographically problematic for them to make the step up.
“I played for the same team for 31 years and was selected by Orkney for 18 years on the trot.
“Playing Shetland in the Milne Cup could attract crowds of 4000. We’re about to celebrate 100 years of that competition.”
Bobby left more than warm memories on Orkney.
He said: “I bought a ball from the former Celtic goalie Ronnie Simpson’s shop, and got it signed by players from Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Tottenham.
“I presented it to the Orkney FA and it was to be put in Tankerness Museum and then raffled to help develop football on the island.” Who knows where that football is now?