With his presence growing exponentially, Hansen had even assumed the role of Partick’s regular penalty taker, and before Christmas had arrived, so too had a glut of admiring scouts from English clubs.

In his last season at Firhill, Hansen was the star performer as Partick finished in a creditable fifth position in the Scottish Premier Division, scoring eight goals across all competitions and creating several others – he and John were both on the scoresheet in a 2-1 victory over Hearts. While not an ideal situation, it was a landscape that went a long way in developing Hansen’s trademark ease when bringing the ball out of defence, and even in joining the attack, as he so often would as a Liverpool player. Under the abrasive coaching persona of Bertie Auld, Hansen was often switched between central defence and central midfield, a tactical decision that was generally dependent upon whether John was available to play or not.

Within not much more than a year, he was a regular in the first team, going on to help them to promotion, as champions, in 1975/76, a campaign in which they also narrowly lost out in the Scottish League Cup semi-finals.

In attempts to balance the two sports, Hansen would head out to the golf course early on Sauchie Junior matchdays, with his coaches naming him as substitute if he didn’t make it to the football on time – only to throw him straight on once he had appeared, no matter how much of the game had elapsed.Įventually, despite them languishing in the second tier, Partick proved too powerful a pull to ignore, with Hansen signing professional terms in the summer of 1973.

The Second Revolution by Gary Hansen