Hibs hero tells how he left Hearts legend raging at last minute transfer snub

A former Hibs fan favourite has told the hilarious tale of how he left a Hearts icon ‘not very happy’ with a last minute transfer snub that saw him turn his car around despite having arrived at the club to sign a deal.

Scott Allan, who had three spells as a Hibs player with the most recent being between 2019 and 2022, was speaking on BBC Scotland’s A View From The Terrace programme about how close he came to playing for Paul Hartley in 2022. The current Cove Rangers boss, a Scottish Cup winner with Hearts in 2006 who also played for Hibs between 1998 and 200, was manager of Hartlepool United in England at the time and was eager to land Allan who was a free agent after leaving Hibs.

The 33-year old, who now plays with Kelty Hearts in League One, wasn’t keen on signing for the National League side who were in England’s League Two at the time. He much preferred to stay in Scotland and a last minute phone call came through that saw him head back up the road to play for Dick Campbell’s Arbroath.

Allan explained: “Paul had expressed interest in me, we had good chats, but personally at that time I wasn't fancying going back down to England. I had a young kid, I liked to watch his football and be a big part of his life, so that was probably the main reason why I didn't.

"At that time, I'm halfway down the motorway and it's one of the only options I've got at that moment in time. As I'm going down, Dick Campbell phones me and, simple question, what can we do? And I said, well, this is what I'm getting here. If you can match that, then we'll see what can happen.

“So I'm now in Hartlepool, I'm driving around the stadium. Hartlepool are texting me, are you here yet? Well, I've been here for an hour, but I'm circling the stadium. Dick Campbell phones me back and obviously we agree a deal.That was an awkward one because I wanted to tell Paul Hartley, but it was very, very awkward. I went phone off and drove back up the road.

"The next day, Paul wasn't happy, and rightly so. I should have handled it better at the time, but I think it was more the trepidation. I just didn't want to go back to England at that stage of my life and Dick Campbell threw in the life support."

Scott Allan’s Kelty Hearts set to face Paul Hartley’s Cove Rangers this month

The former Scotland under 21 international has represented no less than 14 clubs throughout his career including both Dundee and Dundee United in Scotland as well as Portsmouth, West Brom and Birmingham City in England. During his time with Arbroath he also had a brief loan spell with Larne where he helped them win the NIFL Premiership, adding another league winners medal to the Scottish Premiership one he picked up with Celtic in 2016.

Allan half joked during the discussion that he ‘dodged a bullet’ by not signing for Hartlepool who went on to be relegated from the EFL that season with Hartley being sacked in September. Allan’s Kelty Hearts are set to go head-to-head with Paul Hartley’s Cove Rangers fairly soon as the two meet on Tuesday, March 11.