Sandy Jardine

William "Sandy" Pullar Jardine (31 December 1948 – 24 April 2014) was a Scottish professional footballer who played for Rangers, Hearts and represented Scotland. He played over 1000 professional games and twice won the Scottish Football Writers Association Player of the Year award. He won several honours with Rangers, including two domestic trebles in 1976 and 1978, and was part of the Rangers team that won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1972. He won 38 caps for Scotland and played in the 1974 and 1978 World Cups. Jardine was also co-manager of Hearts with Alex MacDonald and later worked for Rangers.

Jardine died in April 2014, 18 months after being diagnosed with liver cancer.

Early life Jardine grew up in Edinburgh in close proximity to Tynecastle Park, the home ground of Hearts who he supported as a youngster. His ability at football shone through at an early age as he earned local and national schoolboy honours with Balgreen Primary and Tynecastle Secondary. As a youth he played for North Merchiston Boys Club, United Crossroads Boys Club and Edinburgh Athletic. He also trained at Hearts' ground. He scored his first Rangers goal a few weeks later on 18 March 1967 in a league match against Ayr United. That same season Jardine played in the 1967 European Cup Winners' Cup Final against Bayern Munich, losing 1–0 after extra time. Jardine went on to help Rangers win the final, defeating Moscow Dynamo 3–2 at the Nou Camp in Barcelona. The pair were close friends, having both grown up and lived in Edinburgh, and commuted together to train and play for Rangers in their younger days. Greig allowed Jardine to leave due to his long service and his stated wish to end his playing career at the club he supported as a boy. His performances that season saw him win the Scottish Football Writers Association Player of the Year award again, aged 37. His next appearance, and first start, came almost a year later in October 1971 in another European Championship qualifying tie, a 2–1 win over Portugal. Jardine was upset by the imposition of sanctions on Rangers by a Scottish Football Association (SFA) judicial panel in April 2012. He then led a march of Rangers fans to the SFA offices at Hampden Park to deliver a letter protesting against the sanctions. Jardine died on 24 April 2014, aged 65.

Legacy On 16 July 2014, Rangers announced that the club would pay a lasting tribute to Jardine by changing the name of the Govan Stand to the Sandy Jardine Stand.

Career statistics Club