Throughout the history of this great club, there remains one name synonymous with Heart of Midlothian Football Club. Willie Bauld, affectionately known as The King, was, perhaps, the greatest centre forward ever to wear the famous maroon jersey.

Bauld was born in Newcraighall in 1928. As a boy, he made his mark as a centre forward for the Boy's Brigade team and it was clear even at this age that he was a star in the making. He signed for Musselburgh Athletic but there then followed a bizarre twist of fate that would lead him to the team he supported - Hearts. Before he played a game for Musselburgh, English giants Sunderland offered the young Bauld the chance to sign for them. Bauld was eager to head south to one of the giants of the English game but peeved Musselburgh demanded compensation. The deal fell through, and before Sunderland could re-negotiate, Tynecastle manager David McLean signed Willie Bauld for Hearts in May 1946 - and history was made!

The young Bauld was farmed out to Midlothian junior side Newtongrange Star and then to Edinburgh City. In the summer of 1948, Bauld returned to Tynecastle but had to bide his time in the reserve team. Eventually he made first team debut in October 1948 in a League Cup tie against East Fife. Alongside him that day were fellow forwards Alfie Conn and Jimmy Wardhaugh. It was the birth of the 'terrible trio' - Bauld hit a hat-trick on his debut as Hearts thrashed East Fife 6-1 - no mean feat considering the Fifers were the cup holders! The 'Terrible Trio' would play together for a decade and, between them, they would score more than five hundred goals. If the sceptics thought Bauld's debut was a flash in the pan they were soon eating their words as he scored another hat-trick in his next game against Queen of the South.

At the end of his first season, Bauld had scored seventeen league goals as Hearts finished eight in the First Division - but they scored more league goals than champions Rangers and it was clear something special was brewing. Hearts were joint top scorers in the league the following season as they finished third with Bauld with scoring forty goals in all competitions. In 1950 Bauld made his debut for Scotland against England at Hampden Park. The Scottish Football Association, in their infinite wisdom, decided that Scotland would go to the World Cup later that year if they won the Home International Championship. Needing a draw, the Scots were, inevitably, trailing to the Auld Enemy when Willie Bauld volleyed a shot that came off the crossbar. Scotland lost, the World Cup was put to bed and, it has been argued, Bauld's international career suffered as a result. The greatest centre forward Hearts has ever seen would only play twice more for his country...

If he was less than appreciated by the grey suits of the SFA, Willie Bauld continued to command the respect of his peers at Tynecastle. Season 1953/54 saw Hearts at last mount a serious challenge for the league championship but Bauld suffered an injury that season as did Conn and Wardhaugh and Hearts slipped to second place, eventually finishing five points behind champions Celtic. But glory was not far away. Hearts stormed to the final of the League Cup in 1954/55 having beaten Celtic twice in the sectional stage, then St. Johnstone and Airdrieonians. Motherwell were the final opponents at Hampden and it was a day when Willie Bauld buried the ghosts of Hampden past! The King scored a hat-trick as Hearts won 4-2 to secure their first piece of silverware for forty-eight years - and Edinburgh celebrated!

The following season, Hearts again finished third in the league, falling just one short of a century of goals as the 'trio' reached their peak but it was in the Scottish Cup that Hearts found glory. Having brushed past Forfar Athletic and Stirling Albion, Hearts then destroyed Rangers in the quarter final at Tynecastle, Willie Bauld scoring twice in a pulsating 4-0 win. Hearts required a replay to overcome Raith Rovers in the semi-final before their first Scottish Cup final appearance in fifty years. Their opponents were Celtic and on a glorious April afternoon, Hearts won 3-1 to lift the famous old trophy for the first time since 1906. Willie Bauld didn't score that day but he was instrumental in the triumph and jubilant Hearts fans mobbed him and his teammates when they returned to the capital city that night.

Hearts finished runners up in the league again the following season as the championship continued to elude this great side. Willie was again hit by injury this season, missing a quarter of the league campaign and there's little doubt this was a major factor in Hearts finishing an agonising two points behind Rangers in the league.

The following season saw Bauld suffer further from injury and he only managed nine league appearances - but it was to turn out to be an historic season. If Willie Bauld was the King of Hearts, Alex Young was the young pretender to the throne. Young hit 24 goals as Hearts romped to the much yearned for league championship, the team scoring a record 132 goals, losing just one game and winning the championship by a massive 13 points - in the days when just two points were awarded for a win. Bauld did score twice against hapless East Fife in a 9-0 win - almost nine years to the day he made his memorable debut against the same opponents!

Willie managed twenty league appearances the following season but it was in the League Cup once more that The King made his mark. Hearts came through a section that included Rangers, Raith Rovers and Third Lanark before beating Ayr United and Kilmarnock en route to another final appearance at Hampden. Willie scored in both these rounds but he reserved his best, yet again, for the League Cup Final. Having knocked out Celtic in the semi-final, Partick Thistle fancied their chances but they met a Hearts team on fire that day. Bauld score twice and generally ran Thistle ragged as the maroons romped to a 5-1 win in front of 60,000 fans at Hampden to lift their fourth piece of silverware in four years. Hearts lost their league title by two points to Rangers but the golden age showed little sign of abating.

In season 1959/60 Bauld again suffered injuries and, at 31, some critics sniped that he was past his best. Willie disproved this theory in April 1960 by scoring Hearts one hundredth goal of the season in the last minute of 4-4 draw against St. Mirren at Paisley, - a result which clinched another league championship for Hearts!

As the swinging sixties began, Willie Bauld was closing in on the twilight of his career. Season 1960/61 saw him make just eleven league appearances and with Dave Mackay and Alex Young, vital parts of the Hearts success story, moving on to pastures new, Hearts slipped to seventh in the league championship that season - their lowest league placing for twelve years - a time when the young Willie Bauld was just beginning to make his mark.

Season 1961/62 was to be Willie's swansong with the club he loved so much. Eleven league appearances saw him find the net six times. 7th February 1962 witnessed Bauld's final league goal for Hearts, in a 2-1 win over Third Lanark, fittingly at Tynecastle Park.

Having served the club with distinction for fifteen years, Willie was given a testimonial by Hearts on 5th November 1962 with a game against Sheffield United. However, Hearts produced their own fireworks by deducting the cost of the match ball from Willie's payday. Willie took great offence and refused to return to Tynecastle for nearly fourteen years. When he did in 1976, he was given a standing ovation from the home crowd who would never forget his fantastic contribution to the greatest ever Hearts team.

Willie Bauld died suddenly on 11th March 1977. He was just 49 years old and his death stunned Hearts and its supporters. As a demonstration of how highly he was regarded, a huge crowd thronged Gorgie Road to watch his funeral cortege pass by. The King of Hearts was dead. But his legacy as perhaps the finest centre forward ever to play for Hearts will never be forgotten.

Willie Bauld, King of Hearts, 1928-1977.