BLEEDING BY EXAMPLE

SCOTTISH football legend Dave Mackay saw more blood as a footballer than he did as a soldier.

And tomorrow night he plans to toast a former team-mate who spilled plenty of it to help Hearts capture the Scottish Cup half a century ago.

John Cumming ignored the pain and blood flowing from a badly-gashed head to guide the Tynecastle club to a 3-1 victory over Celtic in front of a 132,000 crowd at Hampden on April 21, 1956.

It was their first success in the tournament for exactly 50 years and the triumph will be remembered at a 50th anniversary celebration in Edinburgh where Mackay wants to pay tribute to Cumming.

At the time, Mackay was a Jambo being trained as a Rambo during his stint of National Service and had to get special permission to travel from his barracks to Glasgow for the Final and be back by Monday.

He was building his reputation as a football iron man but was in awe of Cumming, a player almost as hard as himself.

Former Hib s forward Ian Crawford sent the Maroon troops into the lead with two smartly-taken goals which were followed by a clincher from Alfie Conn 10 minutes from time.

But midfielder Mackay has no doubts who the real Jambos hero was in that epic battle.

He said: "John was my fellow halfback in the game and he inspired us by playing for almost the whole of the second half with a badly-gashed head.

"His eyebrow was horribly cut after an accidental clash of heads with Celtic inside right Willie Fernie. It was a dreadful wound but it was in the days before substitutes were allowed and John had to go off the pitch near the touchline to have stitches put in the cut.

"He insisted on coming back on to the pitch after Celtic had been fired up by a goal from Mike Haughney.

"John had a huge plaster over his stitches but what did he do almost as soon

as he came back on? He met a punt up the park from Celtic keeper Dick Beattie with areally powerful header.

"It must have been agony but that was just typical of John.

"He knew how badly Hearts fans wanted to win the Scottish Cup after a 50-year wait.

"But blood began to drip from his head again and our trainer Donald McLeod walked along the touchline pleading with John to come off. Donald was worried about the amount of blood coming from the cut and of him possibly suffering from concussion.

"But John refused to go off and stuck it out. That really fired us up to beat Celtic.

"So sure, Ian Crawford and Alfie Conn were our goal aces but the biggest hero of all was John, who went through hell to ensure we lifted the Cup."

Mackay, who went on to become an immense figure in the game with Scotland and English giants Spurs and Derby, will never forget that glorious moment in Hearts' golden era.

He said: "I'm going to the 50th celebration bash and I'm hoping John - my favourite Hearts player of all time - will have a special toast to honour the memory of his incredible bravery that day."

If not, you can be sure old soldier Mackay will pay tribute with a personal salute of his own.

Taken from the Daily Record