Hamilton's forgotten genius lit up lives

WHEN Willie Hamilton played for Hearts and Hibs in the Sixties, the incomparable inside-forward would have been astonished to discover, so many seasons after his untimely death in 1976, how strong the remembered flame of genius burns in the soul of all those who saw him kick a ball.

If the special nature of Hamilton's talent has been clouded by 30 years of myth and hearsay, his short life offers perhaps the last echo of untold legend in Scottish football. Although Jock Stein, the patron saint of gifted working men, bequeathed on Willie's head the priceless endorsement of unstinting admiration, there are some who look blank when a case is made for Hamilton in the same exalted category as Jim Baxter, Jimmy Johnstone and all the other flawed wizards. "I can't speak for the fans," said Billy McNeill, the former Celtic captain, "but I can tell you that so many players remember Willie and hold him in the highest regard. He was different class."

This writer was first spellbound by Hamilton's skill from the vantage point of the school end terracing at Tynecastle. Small enough for my father to hurl over the adult turnstile, I clambered on to a silver Walls tin box designed to hold ice-cream wafers in order to peer past the adults and catch a glimpse of the fair hero.

It was years later as a journalist on a Scotland trip to Iceland when I heard Stein bless Willie with his seal of approval. Chatting into the early hours in the foyer of a Reykjavik hotel about the great Scottish players, Stein identified Hamilton as the best he'd seen. "People such as wee Jimmy and Baxter each had that special thing they did brilliantly," he ventured. "But Willie could do it all. He could match anyone in the game with his speed, stamina and shooting power."

Donald Ford, the former Hearts striker, remembers a visionary player. "Young people today really have no conception of what we're talking about," he volunteered. "Willie was indescribable. He had this uncanny knack of not looking at the ball. He instinctively knew where it was to the inch. When he was in space, he would collect the ball and hit a 30-yard pass without a glance. At other times he would be boxed in by three defenders. Yet within five seconds he'd have wriggled away from them all because he could mesmerise opponents. I've never come across anyone else quite like him."

Still living today at the family home in Airdrie where Willie was raised, his sister, Marion, spoke with enduring affection about her late brother and relished the opportunity to set the record straight and contest some of the half truths which taint the story of his remarkable life.

It's long been claimed, for example, that after scoring seven goals for Hibs in a single match in Ottawa, Willie carelessly bent in half the silver salver he was given to honour the feat. Marion still has the salver to this day. There's not a crease mark on it.

Willie, who died in Canada, age 38, on 22 October, 1976, was born on 16 February, 1938. The son of a colliery surface worker, Hamilton was known in the football world as Willie but as Billy to his family.

"Billy was a painfully shy person," remembers Marion, cradling a scrapbook of cuttings and monochrome photographs of her handsome younger brother. "The only time he looked or felt confident was on the football field. He was sick with nerves before every game he played. Billy was easily embarrassed and found it difficult when supporters approached him for an autograph or just to talk.

"As a footballer, Billy never thought he was good enough. After games, he always reproached himself and believed he could have done better. I don't think he ever accepted how great he was. For me, his best football was played at Sheffield United. That was the start of his career and as a young player he was absolutely wonderful. He told me he never knew what he was going to do next. He played by instinct."

The teenage prodigy's talent first came to light when he played in Coatbridge for Drumpellier Amateurs. Joe Mercer, who managed Sheffield United at that time, visited Hamilton at home in Airdrie and presented him with the gift of a new pair of boots. Willie never forgot the kindness. He signed for United as a 16-year-old, almost certainly out of a sense of obligation. The truth was he might have been better off learning his trade closer to home.

Sheffield blooded the youngster at the Cannes Youth Festival, then the pre-eminent youth competition on the Continent. Willie was voted player of the tournament. He made his first-team debut in England 50 years ago and over five seasons at Brammall Lane played in 79 league games for United, scoring 21 goals.

Middlesbrough bought him for £12,000 in 1961, but his spell in the North-east was hampered by the ulcer which plagued his career. "Billy was never the most robust person," Marion said. "When Jock Wallace [then coach at Hearts] took the training on the dunes at Gullane, Willie didn't hesitate to tell him he could pick him up when he came back. I wouldn't say his health was bad, but the ulcer did affect him."

Unable to settle on Teesside, where those stomach problems grew worse, Hamilton always sent money home to help the family. "Footballers didn't make big money in those days," added Marion. "Billy was only earning about £20 a week at Sheffield. Times were hard for us but he always tried to help."

Homesick for Scotland, Hamilton returned to Edinburgh in the June of 1962 and joined Hearts for a reputed fee of £7,000. In fact, an examination of the club's accounts shows the actual sum was £2,500. Little wonder Hearts felt they'd unearthed a diamond for the price of cubic zirconia when Willie scored an exceptional goal on his debut in 1962 against Dundee. Members of the Belgrade State Opera Company were sitting in the main stand at Tynecastle that day and the singers stood as one to applaud a fellow artist.

Perhaps the pinnacle of Hamilton's playing career would arrive later that year when he helped Hearts win the League Cup at Hampden by providing the cut-back for his friend Norrie Davidson's match-winning goal against Kilmarnock. Although he was only 13th man on that occasion, Alan Gordon, another fine footballer who played for both Hearts and Hibs, recalls his team-mate with undisguised admiration.

"Trying to find a word which sums up Willie as a footballer is difficult," reflected the Edinburgh accountant. "Dynamic is maybe the one I would use. Not only was he very skilful, but he also had a wicked streak, which is no bad thing in a footballer if it's controlled. He could look after himself physically without any problem.

"Willie could do things you never saw others attempt and that was because he had such quick feet. He also had that glint in his eye which let you know he had a great football brain. Put that together with real pace over short distances and you had a lot of wonderful plus factors. All these years later and I still recall a 6-0 win against Moscow Torpedo which inspired another show of brilliance from Willie. The Russians had already given Rangers and Kilmarnock tough games, but Hearts thrashed them."

Ford wasn't surprised when flattering comparisons were drawn between Hamilton and such charismatic figures as Baxter and Denis Law. "Willie did things with his body, on and around the ball, which I've never seen anyone else do," observed the forward. "He would send defenders veering off into the most incredible directions because he could manipulate his body. Apart from his passing ability and talent for going past opponents, Willie was also a prolific goalscorer. He could shoot with both feet and if you look at the number of appearances he made and count up the goals he scored, the ratio was pretty special.

"As a young footballer when I first came on the scene in Sixties, there were a number of wonderful players around at that time who made me question what I was doing in their company. When I went to the international side, there were people like Law and Billy Bremner. Willie had the same impact. His talent was so astounding you wondered why you were on the same pitch.

"I wasn't close to Willie as a man, but was aware of his problems. I found him hard to talk to and there was often a distance about him. That said, he could be very pleasant. He could also be quite difficult to play with because of his capacity to produce the unexpected. And he would look down his nose at others he didn't feel were up to it. The modern game is very predictable and nine times out of ten you know exactly what a player will do. With Willie, you never knew."

However sublime Willie's contributions were on the pitch, he lacked discipline off it. There was a long shut-down caused by bad weather that winter and Hamilton was suspended by Tommy Walker, the manager, before being placed on the transfer list. Sandy Jardine, the Rangers defender, recalls: "With a silky touch and a gliding action, Willie could sell you a dummy as well any player I ever came up against. But he was no athlete and I soon discovered there were flaws in his game as well as strengths. But the sky would have been the limit if his physical preparation had ever matched his skill level."

Well aware of her brother's 'bad boy' reputation, Marion accepts Willie liked a drink, but rejects any suggestion of addiction. She knew he drank a Bacardi or two, but always guessed the booze helped this shy man feel more at ease in social situations. "He had a low threshold for drink," she said. "But to suggest he was an alcoholic is ridiculous."

No stranger to handling complex characters, Stein, a more modern manager than Walker, sensed he might be better equipped to handle Hamilton. Jock duly signed the forward for Hibs and the player proved his worth all over again at Easter Road.

"When I arrived at Hibs I was lucky that people of the calibre of Willie were already on the books," said Pat Stanton, another of the Easter Road club's greatest players. "Everyone knows discipline wasn't Willie's strong point, but he did a lot to bring me on. It might surprise a few people to learn that Willie took the game seriously. He could be quite demanding to play with and let you know what was required. Because of his reputation, some thought he was easy-ozy. But he wasn't carefree about football.

"I thought Willie was a kind-hearted man. In many ways, he was like a big kid. When Tom McNiven took the training and we ran laps round the ground, Willie would lurk at the back and jump over the boundary fence before joining back in at the end. Tam knew what he was up to all right but there was no point in pulling him up. Willie got away with those things because everyone respected him as a player.

Years later, when I'd gone to Celtic Park, we were sitting in the dressing room talking about the best players and I mentioned Willie. No-one knew who I was talking about. Big Jock walked by and I asked him what he thought. 'You all know Kenny [Dalglish] is a great player,' replied the manager. 'Well, so was Willie Hamilton.'

Stanton added: "The game of his life was against Real Madrid and I always thought that was the level he should have played at. He intimidated a lot of the Spanish players that night. The moment which sticks in my mind was near the end of the match when Real had a corner. Willie was standing beside me - my job was to mark Puskas - and the crowd must have thought he was giving me some advice. In fact, Willie said: 'They tell me you get watches for this game.' And they did give us watches! Mine still works and I gave it to my son. Whenever I see that watch now, I think of Willie."

Willie's watch, along with other personal items, was stolen when he played as a guest for a fire brigade side on a public park. But the glow of a performance her brother produced in 1964 at Ibrox against Rangers in a 4-2 win three days after Hibs' 2-0 victory over Real is still vivid in Marion's eye.

That was the afternoon Hamilton nutmegged Baxter. "Willie had a confrontation with Jim before the game and both men made claims about what they would do in the course of the afternoon," recalled Peter Cormack, the former Hibs and Liverpool player. "Well, Willie beat 'Slim Jim' at his own game, standing on the ball and controlling the pace of the match. I think Willie was probably the only player who could have done that to Baxter."

Once Jock Stein left Hibs to manage Celtic, Aston Villa were keen to lure Hamilton back south. According to Marion, though, Stein had not forgotten the man whom he capped for Scotland in a 2-1 win against Finland. (Stein sent a telegram to Hamilton on the eve of his only full international appearance which read simply: "Show the world".)

Billy McNeill was sent incognito to wait at the gate of Hamilton's Airdrie home and find out if he would move to Celtic. Hamilton would have walked across hot coals to play for Stein again. Sir Robert Kelly, the chairman of Celtic, however, was thought to be suspicious of Hamilton's reputation and may have refused to authorise a deal which might have seen the player challenge for a place among the immortal Lisbon Lions.

McNeill remembers talking to Hamilton about a possible move, but is not so sure if Kelly spiked the deal. It may have been, once Stein was more familiar with the talents of Bertie Auld and Bobby Murdoch, that he decided acquiring Willie was a needless gamble. "Willie was the type of footballer who would have been appreciated wherever he played," recalled the former Celtic captain. "He was so fluent. Willie had all the ability in the world and could pass, dribble and shoot. Jock certainly thought about bringing him to Celtic, He was intrigued by his ability. But the other side of it, the lack of discipline, may have caused him to hesitate.

"Willie had the talent to play in any side. I remember going to Easter Road to watch Real Madrid and it was Willie who stood out as much as Puskas and Di Stefano. He reminded me a lot of Jimmy Baxter in the way they both dominated games with enormous skill."

When Celtic cooled on a bid for Hamilton, it was left to Villa pay Hibs £24,000 for his services. It was during his time in Birmingham that Willie, now 27, sustained serious chest and facial injuries in a car crash. In Marion's view, he was never the same person or footballer again. "It knocked the stuffing out of him," she said. Villa released Hamilton and he played for Hearts again in the summer of 1967. He sprinkled only a little of his old magic on Tynecastle for the next year or so, when he became friends with Raold Jensen, the exciting Norwegian winger, whose life was also cut tragically short by a heart-attack at 44.

Hamilton moved to Ross County and travelled even further to Australia and South Africa at the end of his football career before emigrating to Canada in 1975. Now married to Carol with a son, William, Hamilton had returned to the trade he'd learned in his teens and worked as a bricklayer.

He died of a heart attack just a year after leaving Scotland. "I can't help feeling there's a terrible irony attached to how a player of Willie's ability could end up with relatively little to show for his career," McNeill added. "Today, a player like him, even after seven or eight years, would never need to worry about money again."

Although Hamilton was so modest it never crossed his mind to tell the builder he worked for in Calgary that he'd once been a footballer, Willie was a giant of the Scottish game. Perhaps the only man to play for Hearts and Hibs held in equal esteem by both clubs, Hamilton may never find a niche in any hall of fame. Yet his legacy is eternal and lives on in the hearts of everyone whose pulse skipped a beat when they saw him play.

Taken from the Scotsman