Iron Rod displays a softer side It’s never been about me... it’s always been about what’s best for the club

Petrie cries tears of sorrow as he looks back on 28 years of service at Hibernian

IT was a show of emotion that many imagined impossible. A glimpse of the human being behind the toughest facade in football.

Rod Petrie actually welling up? This famously steely character, a man with a reputation for being about as sensitive as concrete, choking back tears and struggling to speak?

It happened. There were witnesses.

Petrie, so stony of countenance and stern of bearing that even SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell admitted he would have to ‘humanise’ the new president, cracked when discussing his long-running role as Sir Tom Farmer’s right-hand man at Hibs.

‘It’s never been about me, always been about the club,’ said the departing chairman, pausing to compose himself as tears sprang his eyes. ‘I’m a team player and I try… ‘Am I misunderstood? I’ve heard that said but why?

‘My role at Hibernian Football Club was to make the club the best it could be. It was to give the players, the manager and the coaching staff the best opportunity to be successful.

‘It was about performing at the highest level and progressing as far in every competition. It was never about me.

‘It was never about whether I’m a good guy or a bad guy, whether I’m human or dehuman, or whatever it might be.’

Petrie, who stands down from the Hibs board after selling his shares to new owner Ronald Gordon, is portrayed by his allies as the most misunderstood figure in Scottish football.

It’s never been the most convincing argument. Because, even if you believed Hibs fans were being harsh on him, there are plenty within the game who paint an unflattering portrait of Petrie (below).

There are misconceptions that have been allowed to fester, though. Probably because he so rarely deigns to speak in public, eschewing opportunities to put things right.

‘A rugby man? Where are you getting that?’ he asked, when confronted with one of the persistent myths about his sporting interests.

‘My brother got Lego and I got a Dinky toy — and we had a leather football.

‘We spent all our time growing up, him playing with his Lego and me playing with my Dinky toy — and us playing together in our back garden with our football.

‘Listen, it’s not about me. But I played football at school and I played amateur football before concentrating on my studies.

‘But, when I was kicking the ball in primary school, I never thought I’d end up involved with a professional football club and have a fantastic time at Hibernian.

‘Back then, I played football rather than watching it. I was brought up in a rural environment so I wasn’t taken to football every weekend.

‘But when I got the opportunity to come in a business sense, to do the due diligence in ’91 for Sir Tom, I came and did the job of work.’

Petrie laughed — another shock — as he recalled those early days picking up the pieces at a club on the brink of extinction. In his mind, this was to be a strictly short-term gig. After all, how long could it take to sort out one set of accounts? ‘The remit was: “You just pop in there for six months and sort it out”. And it turned into 28 years. ‘That was literally the comment at the time, from Tom or someone in his team. ‘I thought: “I’ll give it six months and that’ll be fine”. But it didn’t work out that way. ‘I arrived on my first day and got handed a cardboard box which had a sheet of paper, a rubber, a pencil and ruler — and a whole lot of bank passbooks. ‘I started on the left-hand column and worked across and, if I made a mistake, I rubbed it out. ‘I then asked what the passbooks were for and got told they were for the players. ‘They got their wages every week and I handed them half of them — with the other half going into the passbook. ‘At the end of their time at the football club, we’d say: “Thanks very much, there’s your passbook with your savings”. What a great system! ‘But the football has been a huge part of my life. It’s been under my skin, part of my being. ‘Just because I’ve signed a piece of paper... you can’t take that away from me.

‘Over 28 years, I could count on these hands the number of games I missed.

‘Sir Tom goes to bed thinking about tyres and wakes up thinking about tyres. I go to bed thinking about football and I wake up thinking about football.’

Farmer singled out Petrie for praise on a number of occasions, most recently portraying his hands-on operator at Hibs as a kind of flak jacket, throwing himself in front of supporters when they were gunning — verbally — for the owner.

‘Supporters are passionate about their football club,’ said Petrie.

‘They want to tell you the things they think you can do to make the football club better.

‘But if you take the time to stop and speak to supporters — to hear their grievance — then you might not end up agreeing. But actually you’ll end up shaking hands because you’ve at least taken on board what they’ve said.

‘It might lead to change, it might not lead to change.

‘Have there been tough times? Yeah. It’s a high-profile job,’ he said. ‘With people’s passion and love of the football club, it adds to the intensity when there’s interaction.

‘Things have happened over the piece. But I believe the supporters are the lifeblood of the club.

‘Sir Tom has been the bedrock and the stability for the football club over 28 years, which has enabled it to do some fantastic things.

‘We won three cups, had ten sojourns in Europe and did a variety of different things on the pitch.

‘We have had some great days and, throughout the 28 years, we’ve just about broke even.

‘So, by playing fair and running the club fair, and being respectful of everyone else in the same position in football, we have always wanted the supporters to be proud of the club and how it conducts itself.

‘So I’m very proud of what’s been achieved here.’

Petrie’s focus now switches to a post at the head of not just one club, but all of Scottish football.

His was not, it must be said, the most popular presidential appointment in the eyes of supporters.

‘Hopefully, I’ll be a good one,’ he said, when asked about what kind of SFA president he might be.

‘The way I see it is that if Hibernian meant so much to Hibs fans, then Scottish football means so much to everybody in every household.

‘So it’s a big responsibility but one I’m looking forward to very much.’

It may all end in tears, of course. Or maybe we will just see a new Rod Petrie emerging at Hampden; a touchy-feely soul eager to glad-hand punters and even hug the odd tree.

Hmmm. In his own interests, Mr President should perhaps return to stoic stereotype.

Because, if running things at Easter Road can mess with a man’s emotions, heading up the SFA could make the stone heads on Easter Island weep and wail in frustration.