Steve Clarke pays emotional tribute to 'formidable' Rod Petrie as reaction to Hibs manager rejection says all
The Scotland boss has opened up on a previous application to become Hibs boss, in a glowing tribute to the late former Easter Road chairman
Scotland head coach Steve Clarke has paid a poignant tribute to former Hibs chairman and SFA president Rod Petrie following his death last week at the age of 69.
Petrie lost his battle with cancer on August 22, with his passing coming just a few months after the death of ex-Easter Road owner Sir Tom Farmer, with whom the pair had a close working relationship.
A chartered accountant, Petrie’s association with the Edinburgh club spanned 28 years, during which he oversaw the redevelopment of Easter Road and established the club’s East Mains training complex.
During his time at Hampden Park, he played a crucial role in negotiations over the purchase of Hampden Park and had to navigate the Covid pandemic crisis before handing over the reigns to Mike Mulraney in June 2023.
Clarke recalls missing out on Hibs job during Rod Petrie’s Easter Road tenure
Paying his own heartfelt tribute, Clarke admitted Petrie was always supportive of him despite enduring a difficult start to his reign as national team boss - and missing out on the Hibs managerial role under Petrie’s watch.
“Sad news and condolences to Rod's family,” Clarke stated. “A really good guy. He made me look quite humorous at times! I first spoke to Rod when I applied for the Hibs job many years ago and I had a good chat with him.
“He didn't give me the job. He didn't hold that against me. I came in, he was the president when I came to the Scottish FA. He always looked quite serious and quite formidable, but then you get to meet him, you get to have a chat with him and he was great, he was great for me.
“We had a little bit of a tough start. Maybe some of you don't remember, but I had a tough start, got hammered, beaten twice by Belgium, hammered by Russia. Rod always sent a little text message, 'keep going', 'don't worry about it', 'we've got your back', 'everything will be fine'.
“He was really, really supportive for me as a head coach coming into the international scene. Even when he stepped away, Mike took over, he was always at the games, you'd bump into him at Hibs, which was his big passion, he had a great love for Hibs. A really good, a really good football man, a good person. A big loss for the Scottish game.”