Wallace remembered….

[davemclaren]

3 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

He should certainly be remembered. He created the greatest team in Hearts history. 

He also won the Scottish Cup, beating Kilmarnock,  when manager of East Fife in 1938. 

[SectionDJambo]

28 minutes ago, Lone Striker said:

Very few "saviours" of a football club retain their popularity with the fans who initially greeted him/her and enjoyed the ride.   The Glazers, Ashley, Fergus McCann etc.     Fickle football fans .......       Ann might be an exception.

Fergus McCann was greeted with howls of derision at Parkhead when he was unfurling a league championship flag. He had taken them from the “biscuit tin” mentality to overtaking a dominant Rangers. Didn’t matter to the hordes with short memories.

Wallace, unfortunately, did lose the plot a little towards the end of his time at Hearts. There were personal complications, if I remember correctly, including having to hold board meetings in Paris to restrict the time he spent in the UK for tax domicile reasons. Some fans started to mistrust him to the point that I knew a few guys who didn’t invest in the first 500 Club because they thought that he could pocket the money. This despite assurances from the 500 Club committee that the funds were ringfenced. 
As you say, few owners retain their popularity with the fans for the longer term.

[Jamhammer]

And his PR was top notch. Even the Evening Hobo didn’t publish negative Hearts stories in those days.

 

[SE16 3LN]

He was a forward thinker with loads of ideas and letting the unemployed in free etc. was no gimmick. When the first manifestations of "kick it out" appeared at a few English clubs in the 80's, Mercer put anti-racism on the table in Scotland. Nobody would back it and Celtic went as far as saying "no problem here". Within a few years Mr Walters got bananas abuse at Parkhead and the rest is history. 

 

I also has some experience of his ruthless business head outside football, which made me wince a bit, but on another occasion I did a bar at a party in his house in Cramond and he couldn't have been nicer. Many years later I bumped in to him in the hotel where we were having my Fathers wake and he was an absolute Gentleman. 

 

He saved Hearts in my opinion and dragged us kicking and screaming into a new era of football. A great Hearts team came together under his watch and for those reasons, we should always thank Mr Wallace Mercer.

[1971fozzy]

1 hour ago, Norm said:

With all the positive views of Mercer on JKB, I sometimes think I must be imagining most folk being delighted when the FTB finally left. Or the fans chanting "Mercer get tae ****". Or supporters gathering outside the main stand, hurling abuse at him and the rest of the board. 

If I remember correctly that was when Alex MacDonald was struggling and it wasn’t that many. A hundred or so.

When he did sell up it was because financially we were struggling to the point WM was talking about leasing Tynecastle back to the club as there was no money to continue with stadium redevelopment so no money for the playing squad which was in decline.

Most remember the great times , but there is almost always bad times as well for every owner

[Carl Fredrickson]

I will always be grateful to Wallace for saving the club and restoring it to one we could be proud of. This coincided with me being old enough to go to games on my own and it was a fabulous time to go home and away. 

 

I remember the programmes with the Miller Homes house and the Ford Alexanders car. The St Mirren game IIRC correct went to penalties and we were optimistic for the games v Rangers but losing the first leg at Ibrox took the wind out of our sales. 

 

There was a lot of noise near the end of his reign and Robinson & Deans were welcomed with open arms. I remember being in the new School End stand and Robinson would walk round shaking folks hands and signing autographs. That didnt last long and he soon stuck to the executive suits. 

 

Prior to Mercers takeover I remember an Evening News headline along the lines of justifying Tynecastle be turned into a car park. 

 

Mercer will be remembered fondly by most Hearts fans of that era as the good he brought to the table far outweighed the bad

 

 

[Francis Albert]

16 minutes ago, Carl Fredrickson said:

I will always be grateful to Wallace for saving the club and restoring it to one we could be proud of. This coincided with me being old enough to go to games on my own and it was a fabulous time to go home and away. 

 

I remember the programmes with the Miller Homes house and the Ford Alexanders car. The St Mirren game IIRC correct went to penalties and we were optimistic for the games v Rangers but losing the first leg at Ibrox took the wind out of our sales. 

 

There was a lot of noise near the end of his reign and Robinson & Deans were welcomed with open arms. I remember being in the new School End stand and Robinson would walk round shaking folks hands and signing autographs. That didnt last long and he soon stuck to the executive suits. 

 

Prior to Mercers takeover I remember an Evening News headline along the lines of justifying Tynecastle be turned into a car park. 

 

Mercer will be remembered fondly by most Hearts fans of that era as the good he brought to the table far outweighed the bad

 

 

Agree with all that. The turning Tynie into a car park thing  was based on the great journalist and Hearts fan John Fairgrieve's reaction to Forfar knocking us out of the Scottish Cup. I am not sure but that may have been after Wallace took over. Mercer also struggled with a moronic faction of the Hearts support who seemed determined to get the club shut down by mimicking the idiot fans of other clubs. 

[davemclaren]

7 minutes ago, Francis Albert said:

Agree with all that. The turning Tynie into a car park thing  was based on the great journalist and Hearts fan John Fairgrieve's reaction to Forfar knocking us out of the Scottish Cup. I am not sure but that may have been after Wallace took over. Mercer also struggled with a moronic faction of the Hearts support who seemed determined to get the club shut down by mimicking the idiot fans of other clubs. 

It a during Wallace’s reign. Alex MacDonald was confirmed as manager the same day. 

[jamboolood1874]

8 hours ago, been here before said:

Any of us around at the time will remember the bold Wallace for so much more than the Hibs 'merger'. Its always going to be there as part of the bigger picture of Edinburgh football but what he done for Hearts, and to an extent Scottish football as a whole should never be over shadowed by it.

 

From a yo-yo club with the debt collectors knocking at the door, from a club of journeymen and players not fit to wear the jersey to the most exciting team for decades, from fighting on the terraces to the Panini stickers family enclosure and discounted supporters buses, from a ramshackle crumbling old ground to layingbthe foundations of the redevelopment we see now, from first division mediocrity to that roller coaster of a season in 85-86. From league games at Alloa and QOS to qualifying and winning European ties and a hundred other things, From Back From The Brink and 'I'll see you on the highways and byeways',.

 

He put pride back into the club, made us believe again. By **** they were an adventure at times but those Mercer years were probably the best Ill ever experience as a Hearts fan.

Also the fact that we got to the quarter finals of the UEFA cup played Bayern Munich then nearly got to the semis.Just to point out that night against the German giants was a night to remember,God bless big Waldo.

[Ked]

24 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

It a during Wallace’s reign. Alex MacDonald was confirmed as manager the same day. 

I know it's just football but fate really dealt Hearts a kind hand with Mercer Macdonald and Jardine.

The season where we battled it out with Dundee Morton and the decent crowds that still went were soon sickened off the following season in what was truly dire times.

The failure to get promoted the next season was almost the end but the turnaround was almost worth the pain.

I think I'm right in saying Mercer almost walked away after that Motherwell game.

The Hearts support certainly had a violent streak .

 

Mercer buses fond memories

3-2 against hibs a beautiful day.

Paris 84 my first time abroad 

And all that followed.

I hope his son knows that for me and many like me he wont be remembered for that shower of shite across the city but for happy rollercoaster times and saving the club.

[Das Viertel Hearts]

5 hours ago, davemclaren said:

I find it very disconcerting that the 80s started over 40 years ago. Can’t beat a cheeky Beaujolais. 

 

Sobering thought...over 40 years ago!!! But ages well !!! 😀

[luckydug]

I hope Wallace's son is reading this thread or somebody draws his attention to it. 

[WorldChampions1902]

7 hours ago, davemclaren said:

Still wish I had won that house by buying a programme. 

I remember that! Win a new Miller home with brand new car on the drive! I even remember the winning slogan, “Worth a Pound”.
 

Heady days!

[WorldChampions1902]

A wee treat for the interlopers.

 

 

[1971fozzy]

31 minutes ago, WorldChampions1902 said:

A wee treat for the interlopers.

 

 

🇱🇻🇱🇻  Should be in the new museum that letter 🇱🇻🇱🇻

[The Gorgie]

32 minutes ago, 1971fozzy said:

🇱🇻🇱🇻  Should be in the new museum that letter 🇱🇻🇱🇻

I Disagree. I wasn't even born the time of that letter but surely there was no fans from either side wanted a merge?

[1971fozzy]

9 minutes ago, Section N Rules said:

I Disagree. I wasn't even born the time of that letter but surely there was no fans from either side wanted a merge?

My comment was tongue in cheek .  Well, a bit 🤣

[Morgan]

My father and I were taken to lunch by Wallace when I was quite wee.

 

Wallace, at that time, was my dad’s ‘office boy’ as it was called back then.

 

He was a really nice bloke, if I remember correctly.

 

The fact that the Hibs hate him make him even better in my books.  👍

[Tom Hardy’s Dug]

Wallace Mercer set the foundations of where we are now.

 

A combination of Robinson and Romanov ensured we have the stadium we now have (they were both shysters but Tynecastle would not have remained with out them notwithstanding Robinson eventually giving up the ghost)

 

Our future has been set by Budge and it is an exciting one built on solid foundations.

 

But in my view, as a 47 year old, Wallace started it.

Edited October 10, 2021 by Tom Hardy’s Dug

[davemclaren]

32 minutes ago, Tom Hardy’s Dug said:

Wallace Mercer set the foundations of where we are now.

 

A combination of Robinson and Romanov ensured we have the stadium we now have (they were both shysters but Tynecastle would not have remained with out them notwithstanding Robinson eventually giving up the ghost)

 

Our future has been set by Budge and it is an exciting one built on solid foundations.

 

But in my view, as a 47 year old, Wallace started it.

He certainly turned us round from nearly 20 years of increasing failure. 

[poultry]

WM in my mind is a legend,  and he should be thought of as a legend by every hibs fan that remembers him. He saved hibs.

[Rudy T]

16 hours ago, Section N Rules said:

I Disagree. I wasn't even born the time of that letter but surely there was no fans from either side wanted a merge?

No we didn’t but I think at the start most of us thought it was just big Wallace trolling the Hibs (which he did regularly) As it started to become a reality we opposed it. But by **** did we rub it in the first game at ER, a game in which Hibs couldn’t even muster a challenge.

[dannymack]

image.webp

[1971fozzy]

6 hours ago, Rudy T said:

No we didn’t but I think at the start most of us thought it was just big Wallace trolling the Hibs (which he did regularly) As it started to become a reality we opposed it. But by **** did we rub it in the first game at ER, a game in which Hibs couldn’t even muster a challenge.

without a shadow of a doubt one of the best games I have ever been at. Only 98 final and the 5-1 beat it. And only just. It was a 10/10 day in every way. Watching them when the 3rd went in was just beautiful. A proper atmosphere back in the day. Gives me goosebumps just thinking about the memories

[BIG ECK]

I was born late sixties into a predominantly Hibbee supporting family, though thankfully my Jambo Granda along with a good neighbour helped ensure I joined the Jambo hordes. Difficult, very difficult times became the norm at first with Hibs the top team in Edinburgh and by a mile at that.

 

Then came WALLACE MERCER and everything changed football wise in the capital to the point.

 

I friggin love Wallace Mercer 🤎

 

We at Hearts owe him and his family almost everything 

 

Wallace was and always will be a Hearts legend.

[Morgan]

Wallace Mercer changed (to a certain degree) Edinburgh football.

 

  RIP wee man.

[Guest ToqueJambo]

Didn't like Wallace at the time - thought he was too much about football being a business, calling fans customers, the Hibs "merger" - but with hindsight he was simply one of the first of that type to come into the game here. It's a shame about the Hibs takeover thing souring what is otherwise a fantastic legacy - my best times watching Hearts. Shudder to think where we'd be without Wallace, same with Budge.

 

Although the Hibs takeover thing with hindsight is also very, very funny and only got as far as it did because Hibs people allowed it to. 

[dannymack]

Caption Competition 😃 

 

Hearts v Motherwell May 82 

 

 

[Ked]

On 10/10/2021 at 16:51, Jamhammer said:

And his PR was top notch. Even the Evening Hobo didn’t publish negative Hearts stories in those days.

 

The evening hobo wasnt infested with roasters who described a football fight on the Royal Mile of Scotlands capital city with descriptions of military manoeuvres and explanations of such manoeuvres in those days.

Roasters who also indulged in other misguided so called journalism that was a detriment to the capital city.

Rotten the smell that came from a once decent Edinburgh paper.

 

And I wont mention the links that we all know regarding their shitty fans forum.

[Clerry Jambo]

6 hours ago, dannymack said:

Caption Competition 😃 

 

Hearts v Motherwell May 82 

 

 

When scarves 🧣 were tied in a knot around your neck proudly……

[Unknown user]

On 10/10/2021 at 19:06, WorldChampions1902 said:

A wee treat for the interlopers.

 

 

 

On 10/10/2021 at 19:38, 1971fozzy said:

🇱🇻🇱🇻  Should be in the new museum that letter 🇱🇻🇱🇻

 

I have a copy of this letter along with the offer documents somewhere

[Carl Fredrickson]

7 hours ago, dannymack said:

Caption Competition 😃 

 

Hearts v Motherwell May 82 

 

 

 

Copper "Now Blackie, I am sick of telling you to behave, can you no' go and get yirself a trade like painting"

[Maroon Sailor]

He was one of the best things to happen to Hearts.

 

Nobody who went to Tynecastle in the yo-yo years could envisage Hearts playing UEFA cup matches against Paris St Germain in 1984. 

 

Even thinking Hearts would be top of the league would probably get you having a visit from a care worker arranged for you.

[luckydug]

8 hours ago, dannymack said:

Caption Competition 😃 

 

Hearts v Motherwell May 82 

 

 

Ma Maw will kill me 😂

Wonder where the wee scamp is now ? 

Anyone on here brave enough to come clean ? 🤔 

[Maroon Sailor]

8 hours ago, dannymack said:

 

 

Bad day on and off the pitch though it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

[Mister Dee]

Wallace saved us from extinction in the early eighties, and I’ll be forever grateful for that. 
He took us on a tremendous adventure, but ultimately the crippling debts we had were too much for him. 

Like many owners of football clubs, he went from hero to zero pretty quickly -I clearly remember the chants of ‘You’re just a fat Tory B*******’, after a dismal run of results. 
Selling Scott Crabbe & lying to Joe Jordan about the funds available for players hurt his standing with supporters.

 

The support was glad when he sold to Robinson & Deans, but they too went from hero’s to zeros pretty quickly! 
 

History has been kind to Wallace, & he should be remembered for his passion for the club -& his long term ideas (not the hibs debacle) . 

Without him, we would have gone the way of Third Lanark, & I’m always going to remember him fondly for that. 
 

[Jamhammer]

13 hours ago, Clerry Jambo said:

When scarves 🧣 were tied in a knot around your neck proudly……

And round your wrists

[Jamhammer]

11 hours ago, Maroon Sailor said:

He was one of the best things to happen to Hearts.

 

Nobody who went to Tynecastle in the yo-yo years could envisage Hearts playing UEFA cup matches against Paris St Germain in 1984. 

 

Even thinking Hearts would be top of the league would probably get you having a visit from a care worker arranged for you.

That PSG away has been my only Euro trip with Hesrts. I was 21, unemployed and was pissed for 3 days 😀

[WT Laurie]

On 10/10/2021 at 11:00, davemclaren said:

I always think Archie Martin deserves more credit for opening up the club to allow Mercer to come in. That eventually ended nearly 20 years of decline that I had grown up with. Not even sure if Archie is still around as he’s been long forgotten. 

Archie still plays golf at Pumpherston 

[davemclaren]

7 minutes ago, WT Laurie said:

Archie still plays golf at Pumpherston 

👍

[Longbaws]

Oops

Edited October 12, 2021 by Longbaws

[Tommy Brown]

On 10/10/2021 at 11:00, davemclaren said:

I always think Archie Martin deserves more credit for opening up the club to allow Mercer to come in. That eventually ended nearly 20 years of decline that I had grown up with. Not even sure if Archie is still around as he’s been long forgotten. 

Still plays golf, member at Pumpherston.

Never met him but would like to.