Hearts and Minds

Two years ago life looked quite good for Hearts fans as they took the field for the Europa League Play-Off against Liverpool at Tynecastle.  They had finished the previous season in fifth place but had taken the silverware and city bragging rights by destroying their local rivals, Hibernian at Hampton Park in the Scottish Cup Final. Talk around Edinburgh was of a push for second spot in the Rangers-less SPL. Dreams were of repeating the 2006 feat of reaching the Champions League Qualifying Rounds, and nights of hosting more European greats at one of Britain’s oldest used football grounds.

Instead a series of “unfortunate events” off the pitch saw the club lurch from one financial crisis to another. Lithuanian owner Vladimir Romanov, having failed in attempts to buy Dundee United, Dundee and Dunfermline took majority control of the club in 2005. He underlined his knowledge of the game by sacking manager George Burley after the club had won their first eight games of the season and were top of the Premier League. The Lithuanian’s time in charge would see nine managers appointed in just seven seasons, with many of those ejected through the revolving doors in a similar brutal way to Burley.

During this period debt mounted as the complex ownership structure of the club failed to deliver any re-assurances to the authorities or the fans that the club had a viable future. Last summer the club, saddled with debt close to £25 million, entered administration and received a 15 point penalty and a transfer embargo. Even the most ardent Hearts fan knew that avoiding relegation would be akin to climbing Arthur’s Seat dressed with both legs tied together.

But light came at the end of the tunnel in the form of The Foundation of Hearts. Once again, a supporter-led initiative had shown football the importance of the fans voice. Administration and the painful memory of the Romanov decade officially ended on 11 June 2014.

Fast forward six weeks and Tynecastle would be hosting its first ever Petrofac Training Cup game.  As they say in the East End, “just like my dreams, they fade and die”. Instead of welcoming the likes of Gerrard, Suarez, Sturridge and Andy Carroll again it would be the Messrs Swinglehurst, McNiff and Carcary that variety lining up for Annan Athletic, currently plying their trade in the fourth tier of Scottish Football. This was to be the first meeting between the two sides – a event of such historic proportions that I simply had to be there. Well, the fact I was already in town for the Commonwealth Games was just pure coincidence.

This was my first visit to Tynecastle, long overdue having done every other major club in Scotland. The ground is a mixture of old and new. Three modern, uniform stands provide the comfort for the fans making their way down Gorgie Road, whilst the Archibald Leitch- built Main Stand, dating back to 1919, still reminds the fans of former glories

Visitors Annan Athletic’s biggest claim to fame is beating Rangers two seasons ago when they were bed-fellows in the Scottish Third Division. Elected into the professional leagues after the demise of Gretna in 2008. They couldn’t have asked for a tougher draw in the Challenge Cup, although with both clubs sharing the gate receipts, they would at least get a nice windfall from the game.

The Scottish Challenge Cup, this season sponsored by Petrofac Training, is an interesting concept. All clubs below the Premier League enter the cup at the first round stage, with “wildcard” entries this season Brora Rangers and Spartans adding some junior league spice. With Hearts, Hibernian and Rangers all in the First Division this season, it may well be the most competitive yet.

This was the traditional Fuller Family trip to Scotland, with a visit to the Commonwealth Games in the cards for tomorrow. While the girls headed to spot Yuang Guang and Tian Tian at the Zoo, I headed down the Dalry Road to find Tynecastle. Thirsty from my long walk I decided to have a spot of refreshment in The Tynecastle Arms. Despite my feeble attempts at trying to disguise my English accent, asking for a pint of Belhaven was like the scene from American Werewolf In London where the two backpackers enter the pub in the Yorkshire Moors. I was saved by a man coming in, wearing a pair of Stuart Pearce’s Italia 90 shorts, shrunken in the wash, who diverted the majority of the pub’s attention for me to disappear into a dark corner.

A quick trip round the Club Shop revealed a complete lack of Heart- shaped merchandise or even any jam tarts so I headed for the press box just as the sun disappeared behind the ominous gray storm clouds. Welcome to Scotland.

Heart of Midlothian 3 Annan Athletic 1 – Tynecastle – Saturday 26th July 2014
When Hearts opened the scoring in the 8th minute the surprise was it had taken so long. Billy King’s pile-driver into the roof of the net was their fourth shot on target in the game that appeared from the first few seconds to be a complete mis-match. It was good to see the PA announcer also taken by surprise, having to ask a chap sitting next to me who scored – people don’t realize what a tough job it is, especially when you are playing Scrabble on your iPhone.

Hearts looked like they meant business. Very smart deep claret shirts, no sponsor’s logo (tick) and their manager Robbie Neilson looking very smart on the touch line in his Barbour. One became two in the 20th minute when Osman Sow was allowed to overlap on the right and placed the ball into the corner of the net, then almost added a third seconds later. The group of vocal Annan fans (well, children) positioned at the top of the away stand who had been so vocal about their hatred for Edinburgh fifteen minutes previously were now silent.

The third arrived in the 40th minute when full back Callum Paterson headed home unmarked from a corner. Paterson’s happiness would turn to tears just five minutes later when on the half-time whistle he fell awkwardly after a challenge and was stretchered off the pitch.

Fair do’s to the stadium announcer. He was obviously under orders to slip in the sponsor’s name at every opportunity and he didn’t waste the chance in a break in play to remind us where we could find all the latest Petrofac Training news, Petrofac Training reaction and even Petrofac Training Instagram pictures. My attention though was caught by the number of birds in the stadium. They were everywhere, sitting ominously on top of the stand opposite, waiting for their chance to swoop and head one in. A lone duck-like creature (sorry, I have no idea on ornithology) patrolled the Annan penalty area in the first half and could well have had the last touch on Sow’s goal.

The second half didn’t quite have the same storyline. Hearts continued to attack, using pace to get to the byline but the Annan keeper, Alex Mitchell, was in inspired form. Then in injury time Scott Davidson gave the fifty or so away fans something to shout about when he scored the goal of the game for Annan, striking home from distance.

Just over 6,700 had come out on a sunny, then windy, rainy and sunny again afternoon to see the “New” Hearts. Whilst it was only the Challenge Cup, the fans cannot complain that the team hadn’t taken it seriously. With the huge images on the sides of the stands of bygone heroes such as Tommy Walker and John Hendrie looking down on today’s players, there is a sense that the club is once again starting to build for the future.