I have to admit I was not sure about going to this game. The match had originally been arranged to be played at Liverpools Anfield ground, as the first home game since they won the Champions League. However due to pitch remedial work the game could not be staged there and initially the thought was to stage the game at Spurs White Hart Lane stadium in London. With Liverpool having beaten Spurs to win the Champions League it was felt that staging the game there may have be an invitation for trouble. The Scottish Rugby Union then agreed to stage the match at their Murrayfield Rugby Stadium which has a capacity of 67,500. The Scottish Football Association raised no objections despite Scottish Betfred Cup ties being staged on the same day. Prices were set ranging from £36 to £67 for adult tickets with children tickets starting at £11. My misgivings were both staging a friendly with non-Scottish sides when games were being staged in Scotland on the same day and also handing over cas

Hearts were playing today at East Fife today in the Betfred Cup, however by the time I thought about going tickets had been sold out. I therefore decided to head to Bonnyrigg today to see the home side play their first match in the Lowland League, now the fifth tier of Scottish football. I walked down to Haymarket and caught a 31 bus at around 13.30 arriving in Bonnyrigg at 14.15. I got of a couple of stops early and walked to the park arriving at around 14.25. Paid my £7 admission and £2 for a programme and headed towards the uncovered concrete terracing on the dressing room side of the ground. Jim arrived after about five minutes. He had intended to go to Kelty Hearts v Dalbeattie Star which he had also attended last season. This had been Kelty's first match in the Lowland League and he changed his mind about going and instead came to Bonnyrigg to see their first match at the higher level. Just before kick-off we moved round the park to the grassy banking area opposite the co

Another Betfred Cup tie and Hearts pretty much guaranteed qualification if they win this match and move to eight points from nine. Left home at around seven and walked down to Tynecastlle. As match was a cup-tie my season ticket was not valid and I had paid £12 for a ticket, although I did get my usual seat in the Main Stand. Met two ex-work colleagues, Robin and Colin, in the concourse area and had a long chat. Colin like me took voluntary redundancy and Robin is following suit with tomorrow being his last day with RBS. After I took my seat Pete, yet another guy I used to work with, came along for a chat. He was wearing the new Hearts third strip which looks very smart and I am dropping hints for my next birthday.  Hearts made three changes to the side which defeated Cowdenbeath. John Souttar, Jamie Walker and Aaron Hickey came in at the expense of Christophe Berra, Dario Zanatta and Bobby Burns. Aidy White, signed towards the end of last season as a free agent following a lo

After another beautiful day I made a late decision to head out to Ainslie Park. Walked down the old North Edinburgh Railway line path and arrived at the ground at 19.20. Paid my £12 admission and entered the ground where I bought my £2.50 programme.  Took up position against the fence near the turnstiles and was joined a few minutes later by Alex and Jim and we spent the time prior to kickoff discussing various football related matters.. We decided to stay where we were to watch the game although the only issue was the setting sun over Ainslie Park. No matter where you stand on the seated side of the park the sun set makes viewing difficulty. It is not so much of a problem at Spartans matches where you can move across to the grassy standing area behind the dugouts. However, due to SPFL rules, the grassy standing areas are closed for City matches. Given a win here would make City firm favourites to qualify for the Betfred Cup knock-out stages I was surprised at the number of chan

A quiet Sunday afternoon and nothing much on TV as I could not be bothered watching the golf. A Hearts XI were playing Tynecastle at Meggetland to celebrate the launch of the new Tynecastle strip so i decided to head out for the match. Other than Tynecastle, Meggetland is the closest football ground to my home and I had a pleasant twenty minute walk along the canal to the ground. I paid my £6 admission, although there was no programme or team sheets available. However Tynecastle now publish their team line-ups on Twitter and I was able to obtain the line-up from that source. Tynecastle share Meggetland with Boroughmuir Rugby Club and the facilities are of a high standard with the ground being one of the better facilities for fans in the East of Scotland. The pictures above show the view from the main stand. There are standing areas behind the goal to the right and also directly opposite the main stand. Tynecasyle, under the management of former Hearts player Calum Elliot

Hearts were the 'free' team in their Betfred Cup section today. They had organised a friendly against Cambridge Utd. at the Oriam but this was behind closed doors so I had to choose somewhere else to go. Decided on Edinburgh City v Dunfermline Athletic and left home at 13.30 to walk to Ainslie Park. Walked down the old North Edinburgh railway line which is now a footpath and cycle track and arrived at the ground at around 14.20. Surprisingly I had to queue to get in. I had the pay £12 admission as although City offer half-price admission to Hearts and Hibs season ticket holders this does not apply to matches where gate is shared between the two teams, as in the Befred Cup. I bought a programme for £2.50 and headed for a seat in the stand. I saw John seated amongst the City fans but that area was full so I eventually managed to find a seat amongst the Dunfermline fans. Unusually for a City match standing was being permitted behind the goals at both ends and the ground was fi

Another Betfred Cup match this time at section leaders Cowdenbeath. Wandered down to Haymarket Station and caught the 18.01 train to Cowdenbeath. It cost me more than it would on a later train as the off peak fare does not apply until 18.30. I was thankful I caught this train as the 18.30 was cancelled when the engine broke down at Waverley Station and the next train which arrived was therefore packed, with people standing all the way. On arrival at Cowdenbeath I walked down to the ground and paid my £12 admission charge. Inside the ground I bought a programme for £2.50. This must be one of the best programmes in Scottish Football despite Cowdenbeath generally being in the lower half on League Two. The programme contained a number of interesting articles including an interview with Craig Levein reprinted from the programme when he took charge of Cowdenbeath as manager in 1997. Hearts made a number of changes to the side who had played against Dundee United in the last match. A

To celebrate ten years of playing at Ainslie Park Spartans have organised a friendly against Liverpool U23s. The proceeds from the match will also be used to raise funds for the Spartans Community Football Academy which looks to change lives for the better in north Edinburgh. With kick-off at 19.00 I left the house at 17.40 and walked to the ground arriving at around 18.35. Met Malcolm in the ground and just before kick-off we moved across to the grassy terracing where we met Jim and Alex.  Spartans were feilding their strongest available side with new signing Michael Bolochoweckyj (formerly with Montrose) making his first start at centre-half. Liverpool fielded a young side who are looked strong and powerful The only name I recognised was former Falkirk player Tony Gallagher. Spartans played a Manchester United XI in their first match at Ainslie Park and lost 7-1. That Manchester side include Paul Progba, Darren Fletcher and Danny Drinkwater among others and it will be interes

With Hearts having played yesterday there were no Betfred Cup matches in Edinburgh today with Hibs in Stirling and Edinburgh City being the 'free' team in their five man group today. There were however a number of friendly matches in the non-league sector and I decided to head to Bonnyrigg to watch the Rose playing against Clyde, a League One side who are also not playing  Betfred Cup today. Left the house at 12.30 and caught a 31 bus at Haymarket arriving in Bonnyrigg just after 13.30 for the 14.00 kick-off. Walked to the ground where the normal entrance gate was closed due to 'ongoing floodlight installation work'. I knew that Dean Brett would not be playing for Bonnyrigg today as I saw him in the car park as I walked to the other entrance gate. £5 admission but no programme or team-sheets available. Bonnyrigg won the East of Scotland League last season but were initially denied promotion to the Lowland League as they could not obtain an SFA licence due

First competitive match of the season and really looking forward to it. Left home at around 19.00 and walked down to Tynecastle arriving about 19.20. As the game is BetFred Cup match seasons tickets are not valid. I had however bought my ticket in advance and therefore did not have to wait in a queue at the ticket office before going through the turnstiles. Met a guy I know from seeing him at various matches around the country in the ground. He was telling me that next years "Groundhoppers Day" which allows fans to attend four matches in one day will cover games at Dalkeith Thistle, Easthouses Lily, Bonnyrigg  Rose and Newtongrange Star. These games are attended by fans across the UK who wish to visit new grounds however the snag for Hearts fans is that Hearts play Ross County at Tynecastle on the same day so no Groundhoppers Day for me. Hearts fielded new signings Jamie Walker and Conor Washington which should mean a greater attacking threat than was shown last seas

This friendly fixture was originally scheduled for Thursday evening when I would not have been able to go along. However match was switched to tonight and I was able to attend. Left the house 17.45 to catch a 26 bus to Musselburgh and arrive in time for the advertised 19.15 kickoff. Arrived at the ground at 19.00 and paid my £3 admission to find the kickoff had been switched until 19.30. No programmes or team-sheets available but having seem both teams recently I was able to identify most of the players. If I can find any further details I will update the line-ups. The game started slightly late and Spartans had most of the early play although they were shock in four minutes. Full-back Jordan Orru broke down the left and passed the ball to Darren Downie about fifteen yards out inside the penalty box. The striker hit a side footer into the left hand corner of the goal with Blair Carswell unable to save as he was wrong-footed. Spartans continued to press forward with Ian McFarland