Gary Locke: ‘I don’t know where my loser’s medal is’

Published on Sunday 13 May 2012 01:25

Hearts legend Gary Locke desperate to extend Hibs’ 110-year Scottish Cup hoodoo

AS FAR as appetisers go, it was unpalatable. In 2007 he was at another club and it was a different piece of silverware, which is why although the hurt that day was immense and the scars have still not healed, he knows that anguish would only be a fraction of the misery he would feel at the weekend if the same team emerged victorious.

While derby defeat is something Gary Locke has been unfamiliar with as a Hearts player, captain and, latterly, as part of the management crew, the Gorgie first team coach has tasted cup final defeat to Hibs. And it was sour. That was when he was at Kilmarnock and it was in the League Cup. It was also more than five years ago. But Hibs won it 5-1 and as a lifelong Hearts fan, Locke has not found that easy to live with.

“I don’t even like speaking about it. It was a shocking day, not just for me personally but for Kilmarnock as a club. We never turned up on the day and ended up with a terrible defeat. I don’t even know where the medal is, it was so disappointing.”

That is why he can’t even countenance losing on Saturday. He will be back at Hampden, where he will square up to Hibs once again, but this time it’s the big one and Locke will be doing everything he can to ensure his rivals’ first Scottish Cup triumph in 110 years is not at Hearts’ expense.

Manager Paulo Sergio has demanded there be no distractions as the league campaign draws to a conclusion with a guaranteed European slot still theirs to secure. Talk of the final has been banned, the excitement a constant but furtive companion. The biggest relief come full time in this afternoon’s final SPL game, against Celtic, will be that players can now talk freely about the game which will define their careers in the minds of many. Win and they become legends, lose and even the fans’ favourites amongst them will have tarnished reputations.

But if the recollections of Killie’s League Cup defeat still gnaw away at Locke, he has other heavyweight memories capable of flooring such negativity. He may have hobbled on to the Celtic Park turf in 1998 to hoist the Scottish Cup aloft with Stevie Fulton, but that only epitomised the player and his love of the club. After all, it had long been acknowledged that he would have played on crutches if he thought it would help his beloved team.

That was the club’s first Scottish Cup triumph in 42 years and the joy at being part of it is written all over his face in those enduring images. Forget the fact he was in a suit and had sat in a stand, in his mind he had covered every blade of grass and kicked every ball. “It was fantastic. I was unlucky – I’d played most of the season but did my knee two or three weeks before the final.

“I was the club captain and he [Fulton] said to me just before we went to get the cup that he wanted me to lift it – it was a nice touch. We’d never really spoken about it happening, though.”

Then there was 2006. Another Scottish Cup final for Hearts, this time against Gretna, and another triumph to savour. “I was there as a fan. I went with all my friends and family on the buses from Bonnyrigg. It was a nerve-racking day. We were strong favourites and when we went one up we were thinking ‘here we go...’ But then they equalised. We should have had a penalty in extra time but then when it went to the shoot-out it became a lottery.

“They were [taken] at the other end of the park from us, but I did watch them!”

Hearts won when Derek Townsley’s effort was saved by Craig Gordon and then Gavin Skelton missed the target. That night Locke ended up back at Tynecastle. Somehow he always does. Having played, captained and supported the club, he returned last season in a coaching capacity. It proved a decent homecoming, the third-place finish in the SPL giving them a platform to build from. More importantly, the good fortune he had enjoyed in his playing days against the team from the other side of the city, translated into his coaching career at Hearts. Alongside his long-time mentors Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown, he had started the season planning the Hearts campaign and discussing ambitions to better last season’s league finish. The target of winning a cup will also have featured high on the list of priorities. But within a few weeks it was time for Vladimir Romanov’s managerial merry-go-round to start birling again. Jim and Billy departed. He could have walked but was advised to hang fire.

“I’ll always be grateful for the fact they told me to stick with it. They said ‘you’re a Hearts man through and through’, and they said to stay and see what happens, and luckily for me I’ve met a guy in Paulo I have huge respect for. I’ve built a great relationship with him.”

It hasn’t always been easy. With salaries being paid late and unsettling the squad, players being forced on to the sidelines over contract disputes and others moved on, there have been hurdles to clear.

“But being on the coaching staff your main focus is the football. Paulo’s the manager, he has to go through all the meetings with the directors and as a coach I don’t see that, so it was for me to keep the players focused on the job in hand and trying to win matches. I look back and see it as a great learning curve for me. We’ve come through a lot. It’s been a real rollercoaster.” And the ride isn’t over yet.

Taken from the Scotsman