Exclusive:‘ All I can do’ – Hearts icon Craig Gordon addresses Scotland future with 27-year record on the horizon.
Craig Gordon, the Hearts custodian, is set to add another chapter in his illustrious career by announcing his testimonial at Tynecastle. Walking through the entrance of the Hearts changing room, with a number of his most memorable shirts on display, the imposing figure of Scotland custodian Craig Gordon smiles and confesses, ‘fairytales don’t happen very frequently in football’. Wearing a crisp white T-shirt with the date of his testimonial imprinted on his left chest, the iconic stopper is preparing for another season in maroon after recently signing a one-year contract extension with the club, and will celebrate his incredible Hearts career by hosting former club Sunderland for a pre-season friendly on July 26.
His 43rd birthday is barely around the corner, and it would come as no surprise if he stood up for Scotland in the World Cup next summer if they qualified. Gordon’s career is already admirable, and he exudes confidence in knowing that he has at least one more chapter to write.
Hearts and Sunderland are two clubs that have played significant roles in Gordon’s career. His penalty shootout save against Gretna’s Derek Townsley helped the Jambos win the Scottish Cup in 2006, his first trophy of his career. He was named the SFWA Player of the Year the same year and became the club’s youngest inductee into the Hall of Fame a year later, at the age of 24.
His Gorgie victory set the stage for a move to the English Premier League. In the summer of 2007, Gordon became the most expensive custodian in British football history, signing for Sunderland for £9 million. Roy Keane lured him to the Stadium of Light after lighting a fire under the Wearsiders the previous season, propelling them from the bottom of the EFL Championship to the Premier League in less than eight months. Gordon, one of the greatest young goalkeepers in the country, arrived as a symbol of intent from the Black Cats, demonstrating that they were back among the big guys. Beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 with a dramatic late goal on his Premier League debut, his start to life in the English top flight couldn’t have gone much better.
“It was packed out,” Gordon recalls. “It was rocking that day. They’d just been promoted, and I’d been thrown in only a few days earlier, but we deserved to win. To score late in the first game…the excitement and buzz around the entire stadium. Even outside, on the bus, I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is a gigantic club’. That is why I’m so glad they’re back in the Premier League currently. I wish them all the best this season.”
He was a regular for Sunderland in his debut season, as the squad narrowly averted relegation with two games remaining. However, three months into the following season, a crippling run of injuries began to wreck his stint at the Stadium of Light. Keane, who had been out due to a knee injury, had already quit by the time Gordon was ready to return. Under new manager Steve Bruce, he was battling his way back into the starting lineup when he injured his arm in a clash with Jermain Defoe in a 2-0 loss to Tottenham. Injury after injury limited him to only one appearance in the final year of his deal on Wearside. Before he knew it, his time at Sunderland had ended. When he was released in 2012, he went through the most difficult phase of his long and illustrious career. Gordon acknowledges that after being without a club for more than two years, he pondered if his professional career had already come to a halt, and he considered retiring from the game for good at the age of 29.
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