Two pieces of Hearts history awaiting Craig Gordon this week in the UEFA Conference League

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The 41-year-old goalkeeper continues to achieve new highs

Thursday evening’s UEFA Conference League tie against FC Heidenheim will be a historic occasion for the Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon. At the age of 41, he will make his 300th appearance for the club he has supported since childhood. A clean sheet on the night would be his 100th over two spells at Tynecastle Park. It is a game with much riding on it for so many reasons.

A remarkable fightback from a double leg-break suffered in 2022 has seen Gordon reinstated as Hearts’ first-choice goalkeeper. He is also back in the Scotland team after appearing to see the curtain come down on his international career in June when he was left out of the European Championship squad.

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Gordon’s desire to battle back to the top earned the respect of fans, players and coaches as he prepares for his 300th Hearts outing. “That's pretty special, 300,” admitted Kye Rowles, the club’s Australian defender. “Yeah, legend. It's amazing. He is a great leader and obviously a super ambassador for this club. I'll have to give him a big cuddle before the game.

“Just getting to know him over the past few years and how much a club and the city means to him, you get to know the man and he cares so much about this club. He's honoured and privileged, obviously. He just loves it so much and wants to be out there in front of his family and friends and give the most. I think the comeback story from his injury a couple of years back just goes to show how much he does care. Not only for the game but the club as well. He wanted to get back out on the field and help the club again. It's just inspirational.

“It's pretty amazing. Without diving into the injury too much, not many people who are younger and newer to the game and don't have all those games under your belt already could do that. He had accomplished so much already that it could have been easier to just say: ‘Look, that's me.’ But his fight, his drive, his passion to come back is just inspirational.”

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Gordon’s leadership qualities are often understated as he is not overly demonstrative on the field. “Leading by example. If you get yelled at by him, you know you've done something pretty wrong,” laughed Rowles. “It's best not to get to that level. He is always guiding you where to be, giving tips on, maybe this went wrong, this could maybe help it be better. Just things like that. Always trying to help. He's got so much knowledge that he can pass down to all us boys. If you're willing to learn, then he's got so much info and knowledge for you.”

Overseeing younger colleagues brings with it an inevitable tag. “Without sounding rude to him and his age, he's like a father,” smirked Rowles. “He just passes on knowledge, always there to lend a hand, always helpful. That's what you need on the field. You need people that you're going to fight for. They've got your back, you've got theirs. I think he embodies that role immensely and does such a good job as a leader. It's just great to have him there. “

Asked to compare Gordon to other goalkeepers he has played with at club level or internationally with Australia, Rowles touched on the issue of composure. “I think just that calmness. Just never flustered,” he replied. “There's a lot of goalkeepers that are quite aggro. I'm sure he is in his head but he doesn't portray that way.

“I think he's maybe more harsh on himself than he is others, which is another great quality. Always trying to help us learn from our mistakes and things like that. But like I said, the way he leads, the way he comes across on the field is pretty much who he is off the field as well. He's just a really nice guy and such a great leader.

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”He just let me know how the environment was when I arrived [in 2022], what to expect from certain teams, what to expect even at home, and what to expect from Scottish football. In my first few games, just having someone so calm but still have such a presence in the leadership way. It helped me a lot just to be myself on the field. Since he's come back into the team again, playing week in and week out this year, it's the same thing: Just being so comfortable with each other at the back. He's always helping, always talking, being a leader. It's just been great to be out there with him.”

Rowles was on the field at Tannadice Park in December 2022 when Gordon broke his leg, an injury which sidelined the goalkeeper for more than a year. “It was pretty tough to finish the game to be honest. All the boys were just heartbroken,” he recalled. “Just to see one of your mates go off like that is never a good thing. But to see where he's got to again after it is just inspirational. Everyone is super stoked that he could get back to the levels that he's reached again.

“Just hearing the way he spoke when you saw him in the gym before and after training, he was always saying it. If you ask how he is: ‘Yeah, I’m going good. It's a little bit sore, but that's to be expected.’ Always sticking to the timeline. If there was a setback, he took it in his stride, but just always knew that his timeline and the path that he was on, that he was convincing all of us that he really is coming back. He was true to his word and here he is.”

Scoring past him remains as difficult as ever. “I tend not to shoot in training, I just sky it over the bar. He's tough to beat at training, that's for sure. All of our boys are, to be fair,” said Rowles. The icing on Gordon’s cake would be a shutout against Heidenheim to reach 100 on his 300th appearance. “Well, fingers crossed. A clean sheet would be pretty important to getting any result out of the game, obviously. We just want to get out there and try and put in the best performance we can as a team,” stated Rowles.

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Heidenheim’s rise from the seventh tier of German football as recently as the 1990s is a tale admired across world football. “I hadn’t heard too much about Heidenheim until the recent years that they've been up [in the Bundesliga],” admitted Rowles. “They're obviously a great side and they've done amazing recently to get to where they are.“Reaching any European football level from any league is pretty special and a great achievement.

“So, look, we know it's going to be a tough ask and they're a great side. So, yeah, we'll just have to see what happens tomorrow. As a young Aussie coming over here, it's probably not really something that you've ever thought about, being able to play against a Bundesliga side in a European competition. So, to have that chance to possibly be out there against them and trying to get a result against them, it's pretty up there in moments, definitely.”

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