At the end of October, Donald Park left Heart of Midlothian after six years as a coach within various age groups of the Academy, including the B Team.
A former Hearts player himself, Donald was a familiar face around the corridors of Oriam, having assisted both Steven Naismith and Liam Fox during their spells as B Team head coach.
In his playing days, Donald initially spent six years at Tynecastle between 1972 and 1978 before joining Partick Thistle, however he returned for a further two years in Gorgie in 1983.
Towards the end of his playing career, Park started to move into the world of coaching at Meadowbank Thistle, where he was currently playing, and he had his first managerial stint with the club in 1992.
Park enjoyed coaching spells at Arbroath, Hibernian and Inverness as well as coaching the Scotland Under-19s between 2017 and 2018.
After departing the Scotland setup in the summer of 2018, Park returned to Hearts, where he went on to help kids of all ages within the Hearts Academy.
The club would like to place on record its thanks to Donald for all his hard work and endeavour during his time with the club.
First team assistant coach Liam Fox added:
“Donald has been a fantastic servant to the football club. Someone who doesn’t want to be front and centre or hog the limelight, but he's put in a huge amount to help not only the young players, but probably more importantly, to help younger coaches.
“I can talk on a personal level as I was fortunate enough to have Donald when I was a young player at Inverness, and he was the assistant manager and the amount of time, effort and knowledge that he had to improve me. It’s difficult to put into words how much he helped me.
“The experience that he has and has passed on to not only me, but to Steven Naismith, John Rankin, Andy Kirk and Jon Daly. All the coaches within the academy like Angus Beith, Lee Wallace and David McNeil.
“It’s always a loss when you lose someone of that calibre with that experience but Parky probably felt this was the right time for him to take a step back.
“For me, coming back to take the B Team, he was a constant source of information. He would always give you a bit of experience and wisdom. He would never miss you in a half-time team talk though because of that relationship he built up with the players, it was always coming from a good place.
“Maybe a day or two later, he’d always come round and explain why he did it but was always because he felt you could do better, so he was always demanding but that’s something that will always stay with me. He just wanted the best for you, so he could be as harsh or critical as he wanted but you knew it was always coming from a good place.
“Society has changed, so things are a little bit different to when I was a player, but you still have to put the time and effort in with the players. One of the things Parky taught me was you have to build a connection with the players. That can be easy with some players and more difficult with other players, but you have to find that thing that connects you to them, so that they know what you’re saying is for the best of their careers.
“I don’t think I can put into words how much of an impact he’s had on me and I’m 100% a better coach for having had Donald Park in my playing career but more importantly in my coaching career.”
All the best, Donald!
