Hearts legend Alfie Conn dies aged 82

Jan 8 2009 By Neil Cameron

THE Hearts family yesterday said goodbye to the last of their wonderful "Terrible Trio" when Alfie Conn died at the age of 82.

It didn't seem to matter whether the Jambos who paid tribute to arguably the club's greatest player had ever seen this goalscorer of incredible bravery.

Or even if their own fathers had been too young to see Conn along with Jimmy Wardhaugh and Willie Bauld terrorise defences in the late 1940s and 1950s, they still knew everything about the great man and what he meant to their club.

Conn - whose namesake and son played for both halfs of the Old Firm - was the first of that trio to join Hearts as a skinny 17-year-old from Inveresk Athletic and in 383 matches he scored 212 goals and won the League Cup in 1954 then the Scottish Cup the following season, defeating Celtic 3-1 with him scoring the third.

Surprisingly, he won just one cap, against Austria in 1955, although Conn did score in a 1-1 draw. Freddie Glidden, a team-mate of Conn's when Hearts won those two cups, said: "Alfie was one of the famous three but it was difficult to separate one from the other two. As a trio they were absolutely fantastic.

"There was a spell when, without being big-headed, we wondered just how many goals we would score in the next game. Alfie was a special talent, very strong with a great shot."

Dave MacKay broke into the side when Conn was one of the undoubted stars.

He said: "Alfie could score goals for fun. He was member of the Terrible Trio and you couldn't ask for a better threesome."

Another tribute came from Jimmy Murray, who said: "Alfie's record speaks for itself and the names of Conn, Bauld and Wardhaugh will forever be ingrained in Hearts' history. His passing is yet more sad news after the recent deaths of John Cumming and George Miller."

Hearts record goalscorer, John Robertson, said: "Alfie was one of the standard bearers for those who followed into the Hearts team. He helped produce such a great and glorious past for the club and without his contributions Hearts wouldn't have the rich history the club enjoys today.

"Throughout my time at the club it was always rammed home to me about the exploits of the Terrible Trio. My sympathies go to his family."

A bad ankle injury in 1955 meant Conn only played less than 30 games in three seasons which was the the reason why he managed only a a bit-part role in the famous title success of 1957-58 before spending two years at Raith Rovers.

We'll leave the last word to this King of Tynecastle. He said: "When you have been a Hearts player, the feeling never leaves you."

Hearts will hold a minute's silence at their next home league game, against Inverness, on January 24. The Conn family would like to request the funeral is for family only.

Taken from the Daily Record