David Hagen
Member of the 1989 Scotland Under-16 team which reached Junior World Cup final
David Hagen, footballer. Born: 05 May, 1973 in Edinburgh. Died: 24 July, 2020, in Alloa aged 47
ALTHOUGH he didn’ t make the cut for the squad in the final, David Hagen, who has died after a two-year battle with an aggressive form of Motor Neuron Disease, will be best remembered as one of the legendary “Lost Boys”, the Scotland Under-16 team which reached the 1989 FIFA Junior World Cup tournament.
Several of that squad failed to make an impression in the senior game, but Hagen went on to have a better than reasonable career with Rangers, Hearts, Falkirk, Livingston, Clyde and Peterhead in senior football, making around 400 appearances before running down his career with junior side Bo’ness United.
Although born in Edinburgh, he was brought-up in Falkirk, where he played with Grahamston Boys Club. After the success of the 1989 FIFA tournament, where Scotland memorably lost in the final to a Saudi Arabian team which allegedly contained more than a few over-age players, Hagen joined Rangers, where he learned his trade in the reserve side.
He made his breakthrough during season 1992-93. In September, he came off the bench in a home win over Hearts, going on to make nine appearances, six in the starting lineup, and scoring two goals in domestic games that season. He also came off the bench in the club’s Champions League group game against Club Brugge.
It cannot be denied, he was one of a number of young Rangers players to benefit from the “three foreigners” rule which was in place then; with so-many non-scot sin their squad, to comply with the rule, Rangers were forced to field young players such as Hagen, Neil Murray and Steven Pressley in European games over the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons. However, once that rule was abolished, the Ibrox management went back to their policy of buying-in experienced, mainly non-scots.
While with Rangers, he did add seven Scotland Under-21 caps to his other age group honours, but, in 1994, after a mere 20 first-team games, he was transferred to Hearts.
Hagen spent one season at Tynecastle, playing 27 games, before moving onto hometown team Falkirk. Here, he became a key player, playing some 150 games over five years at the club and becoming popular with the supporters, particularly after sc oring the only goal of the 1997 Challenge Cup Final, against Queen of the South. He then had a short spell at Livingston, during which he helped them win promotion; three seasons, and around 100 games at Clyde, before two years at Peterhead completed his senior experience.
He then dropped into the junior ranks, joining Bo’ness United, his final port of call in his playing career.
Like many a youngster who went straight into football from school, he didn’t have an alternative career to fall back on once he switched from full-time to part-time football. Hagen tried several jobs – there was a short spell as a school janitor, before he tried selling cars. Eventually, however, he settled into driving a taxi, a job which suited him.
He got rid of his excess energy by, encouraged by his father-in-law, taking-up cycling, a pastime he greatly enjoyed. However, when, two years ago, he was diagnosed with MND, his life changed completely.
He battled this terrible illness with everything he had, but, he had to give in to the inevitable last month, passing away in the care of a specialist care home in Alloa.
David Hagen, who enjoyed reading and writing poetry, bore his illness with spirit and fortitude. He is survived by wife Michelle and daughter Rhia, and fondly remembered by the fans of the clubs he played for.
MATT VALLANCE