Inverness Caley Thistle’s former manager gives away his entire collection of his time at Hearts to Edinburgh club as part of exhibition dedicated to him
FORMER Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager John Robertson has handed over his entire collection of memorabilia of his time at Heart of Midlothian to be part of a new exhibition.
The Edinburgh club have announced that it has acquired the entire collection of Robertson’s time at Tynecastle as part of a new display which will honour him at the Hearts Museum which opens next month.
Hearts Heritage will be responsible for the curation and preservation of the collection with both the club and Robertson keen his collection should be kept intact and passed into the safe keeping for generations of supporters to come.
To mark the launch of the collection, Hearts has planned an event called “Robbo: The Life of a Legend”, on Thursday, April 10 at the Gorgie Suite.
It will see Robertson relive his life and times in football, from child protégé to his unrivalled status as the irrepressible Hammer of the Hibs.
He will tell the story behind some of the amazing artefacts in his collection; from his first pair of boots to his match worn shirts caps and top striker awards.
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Hearts' Head of Heritage, Lianne Parry, said: "This is a historic milestone for the Hearts Museum – the first acquisition of an entire collection dedicated to a single player.
”Extensive research has been undertaken by Hearts Heritage to uncover the unique stories behind each object, and we are immensely grateful to John for his co-operation in this.”
Robertson is Hearts’ all time leading goalscorer, with 214 goals in 513 appearances for the club. He also played for Newcastle United, Dundee and Livingston during his playing career.
He was manager of Inverness Caledonian Thistle during two different periods at the club. First during the 2002-03 season when he helped guide Inverness to promotion to the Premiership.
He left in 2004 to become manager of Hearts, before going on to take charge Ross County, Livingston, Derry City and East Fife.
He returned to Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2017 where he led them to Scottish Challenge Cup success in March 2018 beating Dumbarton 1-0 in the final.
He was placed on compassionate leave in February 2021, before returning to the club as a sporting director where he stayed until November 2023.