Hands on Hearts: A Physio's Tale - Hardcover

Alan Rae; Paul Kiddie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1908373024 ISBN 13: 9781908373021

Publisher: Luath Press Ltd., 2011

Synopsis

Alan Rae was the physio at Hearts for over 20 years. He joined the club in 1982, languishing in the First Division and looking at the prospect of part time football. In that time he witnessed the comings and goings of 8 managers, 3 owners and too many players to mention. Six years after leaving 'The Jambos' he has penned a memoir of his time at Hearts. He has anecdotes about home games, European games and even pre and post season tours abroad. Woven into these memories is the medical knowledge of a true professional, from players suffering career threatening injuries to managers for whom the pain of losing is physical as well as mental. Rae strips away the glitz and the glamour of SPL football, leaving us with the grit and the gore: a profound reminder of what lies at the beating heart of the beautiful game.

[Rae] was one of the most trustworthy, wonderful, lunatic, crazy, loveable, straight-jacketed men I have ever met in my life. --JOHN ROBERTSON (Hearts striker 1981 1998; manager 2004 5)

[Rae] was an absolutely fantastic physio who even though he worked in tiny little physio room at Tynecastle got people back from injury very quickly. A wonderful man with a very dry sense of humour who was brilliant company. --SCOTT CRABBE (Hearts midfielder/striker 1986 1992)

About this title

About the Author

ALAN RAE was a long-serving employee of Hearts Football Club, a firm presence in the team s dugout on match days. Part-time from 1982 whilst also working at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, he later joined the club on a full-time basis. He was a well-respected member of the off-pitch team, and throughout his career witnessed eight managers, three owners and numerous players come and go. Alan left Hearts in 2005 after 23 years at Tynecastle Stadium. He now lives in the Scottish Borders.

PAUL KIDDIE began his journalistic career with DC Thomson in Dundee in 1984, where he spent twelve years before joining the Edinburgh Evening News sports desk. A similar length of service with Scotsman Publications saw him report on Hearts for six tumultuous seasons, during which time he first met Alan Rae. After a year living in the USA, Paul was offered the chance to return to Scotland as Communications Manager at Heart of Midlothian FC, a position he took up in January 2007.

Edition details

• Publisher: Luath Press Ltd.
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1908373024
• ISBN 13: 9781908373021
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 200