| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Alexander Douglas Wardhaugh[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1929-03-21)21 March 1929 | ||
| Place of birth | Berwick-upon-Tweed, England[1] | ||
| Date of death | 2 January 1978(1978-01-02) (aged 48) | ||
| Place of death | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
| Position | Inside forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Shaftesbury Park | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1946–1959 | Heart of Midlothian | 303 | (206) |
| 1959–1961 | Dunfermline Athletic | 12 | (4) |
| Total | 315 | (210) | |
| International career | |||
| 1951–1956 | Scottish Football League XI | 9 | (8) |
| 1954–1956 | Scotland | 2 | (0) |
| 1957[2] | Scotland B | 1 | (0) |
| 1958[3] | SFL trial v SFA | 1 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
James Alexander Douglas Wardhaugh (21 March 1929 – 2 January 1978)[1] was a professionalfootballer, who was part of theTerrible TrioHeart of Midlothian forward line of the 1950s, alongsideWillie Bauld andAlfie Conn. He was also the club's record League goal-scorer for almost 40 years, until his tally of 206 was surpassed byJohn Robertson in 1997.[4] Born in England, he made two appearances for theScotland national team.
Born inBerwick-upon-Tweed,[1] Wardhaugh was raised inEdinburgh and began his career with Hearts in 1946.[5] He played regularly in his first year atTynecastle but missed much of the following1947–48 season while undertaking his National Service inWorcestershire.[6]
On 9 October 1948, after a mediocre start to the1948–49 season Hearts' manager Davie McLean combined Wardhaugh with two fellow young forwards, Willie Bauld and Alfie Conn, for the first time.[7] The combination of Wardhaugh's dazzling dribbling and non-stop running, Bauld's cerebral play and prodigious aerial ability, and Conn's energetic, tenacious style and powerful shooting perfectly complemented each other,[8] and their first match as a forward combination ended in a 6–1 defeat ofEast Fife. This was especially notable as the same opposition had defeated theMaroons 4–0 a matter of weeks earlier.
Quickly dubbed theTerrible Trio, they continued to score freely in the following four seasons, with Wardhaugh notching 77 goals, as Hearts became regular top four finishers, although defensive inconsistency ensured they failed to collect any silverware. During this period, Wardhaugh was subject of a £26,000 bid fromNewcastle United in 1952, which was accepted by Hearts. He was unable to agree terms with theTyneside club though, and the deal fell through.[6]
In1953–54, Wardhaugh became theA Division's top scorer with 27 goals as Hearts appeared set to win theLeague championship. A stuttering end to their season sawCeltic overtake them by the season's end but Wardhaugh would earn his first winner's medal later that calendar year. He scored seven times during Hearts progress to theLeague Cup final in October 1954, including home and away goals against Celtic in the initial group stage. In the Hampden showpiece, he scored the third goal asMotherwell were defeated 4–2,[9] ending the Edinburgh side's 48-year wait for a major trophy.
The following season,1955–56, Wardhaugh was again the League's leading scorer with 28 goals, although Hearts were not close to challengingRangers for the title. Instead they focused upon theScottish Cup and Wardhaugh was part of the side which won Scottish football'sBlue Riband event with a 3–1 defeat of Celtic in the final.
By 1957, age and injuries had become an increasing problem for Conn and Bauld, and increasingly Wardhaugh found himself part of a new "trio", alongside youngScotland internationalsJimmy Murray andAlex Young.[10] The new combination helped Hearts to the1957–58 League Championship, with a record 132 goals scored in 34 games. For a third time, Wardhaugh was the League's top marksman, although he shared this honour with team-mate Murray, the pair both scoring 28 times.
Although Wardhaugh was part of the side that won the1958–59 League Cup, he too was by this stage becoming a fringe player. He left Hearts in 1959 having scored 375 goals for the side, and a record League total of 206, which was only surpassed by John Robertson 38 years later. He scored 376 goals in 518 games.[11]
Speculation linked him with a move to Hearts' city rivalsHibernian.[12] Eventually it wasDunfermline Athletic he joined in 1959 for a fee of £2,000.
Wardhaugh was selected twice for theScotland national side, making his debut against the 'Magical Magyar'Hungarian team of the early 1950s. his second full cap was in 1954. He played two years later againstNorthern Ireland in 1956.
His selection could be viewed as controversial as, despite his Scottish parentage and sense of identity,[5] he was born in England, at a time when the home football associations had strict eligibility restrictions for their national sides. Other "Scots" such asJoe Baker andGordon Marshall were obliged to seek selection for theEngland national team due to their place of birth. However, for footballing purposes theScottish Football Association andthe Football Association considered their shared boundary to be theRiver Tweed, allowing Wardhaugh to represent Scotland. His case was helped by the fact thatBerwick Rangers, based to the south of his Marshall Meadows birthplace, had competed in Scottish football since 1905.[5]
Wardhaugh also represented theScottish Football League XI and scored eight goals in nine appearances.[13]
Wardhaugh retired in 1961 and started a new career in sportsjournalism. He possessed a keen interest in sports generally and his writing was not limited to football coverage. His first role was with theEdinburgh Evening News, where he developed a particular enthusiasm forice hockey and was responsible for the paper's coverage of the localMurrayfield Racers. Later he worked for theScottish Daily Express as well as editing Hearts' official matchday programme.[6]
In the 1970s he worked as a publicity officer for theBBC while continuing to cover live sport events. It was after one such occasion, a match betweenEast Fife and Hearts on 2 January 1978, that he died, collapsing on his way back to his Edinburgh home.[6] His death came less than a year after that of his friend andTerrible Trio team-mate Bauld.