Donald Macleod

The cause for Macleod's concern was a horrendous gash on the head of Hearts' left half John Cumming, who had sustained the injury after an accidental clash in the second half with rival Celtic forward Willie Fernie. Few will forget the ex-Motherwell player Macleod repeatedly begging Maroon braveheart Cumming, in those pre-substitute days, to leave the field for treatment.

This incident encapsulated the qualities of humanity and fellow feeling for his players which characterised the late Donald Macleod's approach to his role as assistant trainer and physiotherapist during the Gorgie club's golden years in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Born deep inside Hibernian territory in the Abbeyhill District of Edinburgh's Maryfield, Donald Macleod was the son of a family which had a strong engineering tradition based on working for the then world-renowned but now defunct Edinburgh firm of Brown Brothers.

Consequently, after the usual career in schools football, Donald followed his father into engineering with the famous capital firm while keeping alive his own football dreams playing for juvenile teams such as Arniston Star.

However, the intervention of the Second World War saw Donald Macleod serving with the Royal Navy at Dunkirk and later in India, although the Navy connection also provided him with the opportunity to play for a short spell with Portsmouth, where he rubbed shoulders with legendary English international half-back Jimmy Dickinson, a stalwart of the Pompey side which won two post-war English League titles in the 1940s.

At the end of hostilities, Donald Macleod eventually signed for the great post-war Motherwell team which boasted such luminaries as international half-back Willie Redpath and full backs Willie Kilmarnock and Archie Shaw and centre half Andy Paton.

At this time Donald Macleod trained twice a week at Easter Road with the Hibs reserve squad, as famous 1950s-vintage Hibs

forward and half-back Tommy

Preston recalls.

''Donald Macleod was a very likeable and popular guy indeed. Just how likeable and popular can be gauged by the fact that when playing for Motherwell against Hibs in the 1951 Scottish Cup semi-final at Tynecastle, Donald put in a hard but fair tackle that nevertheless broke Hibs defender John Ogilvie's leg, and then went on to score the goal that put Motherwell ahead to win the tie. There were no hard feelings in the dressing room when Donald came the following week to Easter Road to train.'' Macleod was to experience the agony of competitive disappointment the following month as he played right half in the Motherwell side that lost to Celtic in the 1951 Scottish Cup Final thanks to a solitary goal by Celtic centre forward John McPhail.

After leaving Motherwell, and spending a spell outside football, the advent of former East Fife and Hearts player Johnny Harvey as first-team trainer to the side managed by Hearts legendary inside forward Tommy Walker, led to Donald Macleod joining the Tynecastle club as assistant trainer and physiotherapist. He became greatly respected by Hearts stars such as Willie Bauld, Alfie Conn, and Jimmie Wardhaugh, by younger players, and by others who played key roles in the Gorgie side's run of winning several league titles and league cups in the 1950s and 1960s.

A keen fisherman and golfer and a lover of the Borders region, he had a short spell on the staff of Heriot Watt University after leaving Tynecastle. He and his wife moved to the Borders in 1975. He is survived by two sons and a daughter.