It looks like I am fated never to get to see Linlithgow Rose at home. After failing to get a ticket for their cup-tie last week I decided to go and watch them today against Whitehill Welfare. In common with the majority of the games in the Lowland and East of Scotland Leagues the match has been called of due to a frozen pitch. With Hearts not playing till tomorrow, although I am not going as I cannot stand the Ibrox atmosphere, I had a free afternoon. The best of the local fixtures, and hopefully good for a few goals, seemed to be at Falkirk. Caught the 13.24 train at Haymarket which was slightly late and arrived in Falkirk at 14.55. I walked from Grahamston Station to the Falkirk Stadium but it had been some time since I had been there. I managed to take the wrong route and ended up at a roundabout heading onto a dual carriageway heading out of Falkirk. However luckily I could see the ground from the roundabout and was able to walk up a side road and cross over to the ground. I b

Game number fifty of this season and it's not even December yet. I will unfortunately miss a few matches in December as I am in Cape Verde on holiday to celebrate Natalie's birthday for two weeks. Left the house just before 13.00 aiming to catch the 13.05 35 bus to the Oriam. However as I arrived at the stop a 34 arrived and I jumped on. Turns out that the buses were being delayed by congestion in the East End due to the closure of York Place for more tramworks. I arrived at the Oriam around 13.25 after checking Twitter to ensure the game was still on as the rain was now pouring down. Walked into the ground with entrance being free as the teams were warning up. I got a wave from Bobby Zlamal in the Hearts goal and shouted to him "It's a miserable day for a game" to which he laughed. Took up position under the cover of the stand roof near to entrance to wait for Malcolm. I was chatting to the Hearts photographer before Malcolm arrived around 13.45. We walked up

Scottish Cup weekend today. After missing out on a ticket for last nights match at Linlithgow v Falkirk I managed to get a ticket for Bonnyrigg today. This set up Bonnyrigg, currently second in the Lowland League, against the in-form Montrose of League One. As I had not had much exercise in the morning I decided to walk part of the way. I left home about 12.30 and walked as far as Cameron Toll. I decided enough was enough and after a short wait I caught a 31 bus for the remainder of the journey. It had been drizzling while I was walking but got heavier as I was on the bus. Arrived at the ground around 14.10. The club website had said that searches would be carried out by police and stewards on entry but I was merely asked if I had any cans or bottles in my pockets before showing my ticket and walking in. I bought a £2 programme and then took a stance in the covered area to avoid the rain. Jim arrived about five minutes later and we moved to the back of the covered area rather than

International break again so no SPL games scheduled for today. Not even the thought of watching Steven Naismith captaining Scotland on the occasion of his fiftieth cap could persuade me to stay at home and watch Cypus v Scotland on Sky TV. I was wanting to go to a new ground so decided to head out to Broxburn to watch the home side take on Linlithgow Rose in the East of Scotland Premier league. I left home just before 13.00 and walked down to Haymarket to catch a bus out to Broxburn. I caught an X17 at around 13.15 and arrived in Broxburn around half an hour later in plenty time for the 14.30 kick-off. I had never been to the ground before but with the aid of Google Maps found it quite easily as Albyn Park is only about a ten minute walk from the bus stop in the main road through Broxburn. Paid my £6 entry and bought a decent programme for £1.50 on entering the ground. The ground is a tidy non league set-up with three sides being grass banking and opposite the main standing area t

I had been out for the RBSGPA annual lunch today and did not get home until 16.30. However after changing out of my suit and having a sit down to let lunch settle I headed off for Ainslie Park at 18.15. To try and lose some of the lunchtime calories I walked to the ground and arrived at around 19.10. Showed my season ticket and walked into the ground where I bought two programmes. The second one was for Jim who had decided to go and watch Raith  Rovers v Elgin tonight. After my walk in the chilly night air I headed for the cafe and bought a coffee to warm up. I read my programme sitting at a table and then headed down to the fence near the turnstiles with the remainder of my drink. Malcolm arrived around 19.30, having had to wait in a queue at the turnstiles due to the numbers waiting for entry. Alex came through the turnstiles minutes later and we headed to look for seats in the stand before the crowds came out from the cafe. We grabbed three good seats on the halfway line and se

First game at Tynecastle since Craig Levein's departure as manager and a crucial encounter with Hearts and St Mirren both struggling near the bottom of the SPL. My oldest friend, Ivan is going to the game for only his second visit to Tynecastle in twelve years. We first met in Primary One, which was not yesterday, and have been friends since then. We went to games regularly in the 1970's and 80's although I gave up on most away games once the children were born. We did however go to see Hearts win in both Bordeaux and Basel. This maintained my record of never seeing Hearts lose outside Scotland having seen wins and a draw at Berwick, a win at Everton and a draw with Liverpool.  To ensure we could get seats together I got two seats in the Wheatfield stand, in line the with the Gorgie Road goalmouth. I gave up my Main Stand season ticket seat in exchange for my Wheatfield seat and I am hoping the change of view brings a change of fortunes. I was sitting watching Chelsea v

This match should have been played a few weeks ago but was postponed as Spartans Scottish Cup replay with Deveronvale took precedence. The re-arranged date meant that Jim, who is in Italy and Alex, out for dinner with some ex-colleagues could not attend so it looked as if I would be on my own. As I had done quite a bit of walking during the day I decided to be lazy and catch a busy. Caught a 27 bus at Tollcross at 18.25 but it must have been early as we arrived at Inverleith by 18.50. As I did not want to be too early I got off there and walked along Ferry Road to Ainslie Park. Arrived at the ground around 19.10 and used my season ticket to get in. Jim had asked me to get him a programme so I bought two today. Then headed to the cafe for a coffee, no sausage rolls tonight so I made do with just the drink. As I was sitting drinking my coffee and reading the programme a crowd of Berwick fans came in. To my surprise one of the group was Robert, who I had worked with in Corporate Bank

I was a bit disappointed today as I had intended to go and watch Penicuik against Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale in the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup this evening. However it was announced in the morning that due to the torrential rain yesterday the match had been  postponed. Hearts were playing Moron in the Reserve league this afternoon at the Oriam and I decided to go along. I had texted Malcolm and he was also going. I left the house at 12.45 and to get a bit of exercise walked along the canal as far as Slateford Station. I got on a 34 bus there and met Alan who was also going to the game accompanied by a young lady who supported Morton. Malcom got on the bus at Longstone and we arrived at the Oriam around 13.40 for the 14.00 kickoff. As usual admission was free and we took our steps in the stand near the halfway line ready for the game although the view from the stand was at times obscured by the low sun over the trees across the park. Hearts were fielding  young side w

Betfred Cup semi-final day and while I did not hold out much hope of victory I decided to go having paid £30 for a ticket. After a brunch of a bacon roll  and a square sausage roll I walked down to Haymarket around 11.30. Bought a ticket to Mount Florida and managed to catch the 11.34 express to Glasgow Queen Street. Thankfully the train had eight carriages and I was able to get a seat although there were a number of people forced to stand in the aisles. Train arrived in Glasgow about 12.15 and I headed for Central Station to continue on to Mount Florida. As I was early I decided to have a walk round central Glasgow before entering the station. When I entered the station I just missed the 13.01 direct to Mount Florida with the next direct train due at 13.16. However there was a train to Newton at 13.08 which passed through Mount Florida so I got that arriving at Mount Florida just before 13.30. As the Hearts fans section was at the other end off the ground I walked from the station

With Hearts playing Rangers tomorrow in the Betfred Cup semi-final I had a decision to make about where to go today. However the big football news this week came on Thursday when it was announced that Craig Levein had been relieved of his manager and director of football roles at Hearts. While he will stay on until the end of the season taking responsibility for upgrading the academy and backroom operations and will no longer be involved with team matters. Assistant manager Austin McPhee has been appointed as interim manager while Hearts begin the search for a new manager. Names already in the frame include McPhee, Steven Robinson of Motherwell, Ross Jack recently sacked by Sunderland, Steven Presley of Carlisle and Shelly Kerr who currently manages the Scotland Women's side. I do not think the latter will get the job but it will be interesting who is the final choice. Back to today I could have gone to Edinburgh United or Bonnyrigg but decided to go and watch Penicuik in their