IT was Saturday, April 24, 1965, the final day of the 1964-65 Scottish league season. The top two teams were Hearts and Kilmarnock, and fate decreed that they should take each other on at Tynecastle, Edinburgh.
Hearts had 50 points, Kilmarnock 48. If the Ayrshire side, managed by Willie Waddell, won by only a single goal, their average would still be fractionally inferior to the Edinburgh team’s. They needed to win by two clear goals in order to take the title – and also end a series of second-place league finishes. Hearts needed only a draw to win their third championship in seven years.
More than 37,000 fans crammed into Tynecastle and watched as Hearts took the game to Kilmarnock in the opening 26 minutes. But then, in the 27th, the visitors scored through Davie Sneddon. Brian McIlroy added a second goal a couple of minutes later.
Kilmarnock clung onto their decisive lead, and when the full-time whistle sounded their players, officials and fans celebrated. Waddell is pictured above opening a bottle of champagne. Later, fans gathered in the streets of Kilmarnock to greet the winners.
The final placings in the table disclosed that Kilmarnock and Hearts had both won 22 games. Both had lost six and drawn six. Kilmarnock’s goal tally read 62 for and 33 against; Hearts’, 90 for and 49 against. Both were on 50 points. The Ayrshire team had won the title by 0.4 of a point.
In European terms they had already shown their mettle with a thrilling 5-4 aggregate win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the 1964-65 Fairs Cities' Cup. Now, as champions of Scotland, they had a place in the European Cup itself. After disposing of a team from Albania they ran up against Real Madrid, drawing 2-2 at Rugby Park and going down 5-1 at the Bernabéu.
Read more: Herald Diary
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