Craig Gordon ‘jealous’ as he heads back to Hampden

By STEPHEN HALLIDAY
Published on Thursday 17 May 2012 02:18

IT IS some time since Craig Gordon has been asked to make an appearance at Hampden. As grateful as he is for the invitation to the national stadium this weekend, he admits it is one he has accepted with a partial sense of dread.

The Scotland international goalkeeper will be on duty at the William Hill Scottish Cup Final as a studio analyst for Sky Sports. It is six years since Gordon savoured what remains his career highlight to date, helping Hearts win a dramatic penalty shoot-out against Gretna to lay their hands on the famous old trophy.

The stakes are even higher on this occasion, with Hibs providing the opposition for boyhood Hearts supporter Gordon’s former club, and he is gearing himself up for an impossibly tense afternoon.

“I’d certainly much rather be playing,” said the 29-year-old. “I’d love to be out there. It will be more nerve wracking for me in the studio. There’s nothing I can do to influence the game. It will be worse watching than playing. I’m very jealous of the players out there trying to get a victory for their team in what will be the biggest Edinburgh derby ever.”

Until Saturday, the highest profile fixture between the city rivals in living memory came at the semi-final stage of the Scottish Cup in 2006. Gordon kept a clean sheet and was something of a bystander for much of that game at Hampden as Hearts crushed Hibs 4-0 to book their final date with Gretna. “That semi-final goes down in history as one of Hearts’ greatest derby wins,” added Gordon, who played in 17 Edinburgh derbies during his time at Hearts and was on the losing side only four times.

“That’s the main one that sticks in my memory and it was a great day from start to finish. A big win was great for the supporters as well. But this Saturday is by far a bigger game than that one.

“Back then it was a final place up for grabs, it was nothing like winning the cup against your biggest rivals. I don’t think there’s ever been a game like this. It’s absolutely massive for the city and the bragging rights are there for either club to win.”

Clearly, Gordon will find impartiality hard to come by on Saturday. He is hopeful Hibs’ lengthy wait for success in Scotland’s premier cup tournament stretches into a 111th year.

“I hope it continues,” he smiled. “It’s a source of great enjoyment for Hearts fans who have a song or two about it. If it were to go the other way that would put an end to those and I’m sure there might be a few songs coming the other way. If Hibs do manage to lift the cup I’m sure they’ll have a few songs ready to get their own back over the next 100 years.

“It’s really close to call and the first goal could be so important. I don’t really see there being a massive favourite either way. Hibs have picked up a few decent results in recent weeks and look like they are back scoring goals again, albeit in the bottom six. But that will give them a bit of confidence whereas Hearts are coming off a heavy defeat at Celtic, they would want to be coming off a better performance. So there are positives and negatives for both teams going into it. There is only so much talking you can do, it’s about who can keep calm and manage to play the game rather than the occasion.

“I think if you can harness the excitement of the prospect of winning, it’s good, but if you think of the other side then that’s a slippery slope. The focus should be on winning it and not too much time spent on the consequences of defeat. There will be plenty time to dwell on that if it does happen. I know winning the cup in 2006 was the best day of my career. Two things about winning it stick out in my mind. Straight after lifting the cup and going round Hampden to take a lap of honour and also on the bus coming down Princes Street and seeing the streets filled with maroon and white. It really was quite something to see the streets full of people.

“At the time, Hearts had a good team and I was excited about the future. I thought we could have gone on and savoured that a few more times. I’m glad I managed to do it, though, and it’s something I will always cherish.”

Taken from the Scotsman