Another beautiful day of glorious sunshine but I was a bit apprehensive about going to the match tonight. For the last couple of days the weather forecast has been for thunderstorms and torrential rain following the current heatwave and I did not fancy being caught in a storm when I was out. However as the sun was still shining I decided to brave the elements and headed to of parties Road at 18.30. I walked along to Tollcross and caught a 27 bus, getting off ajust before Colinton Mains and then walking the short distance to the ground. The ground is in the back streets of Colinton, la leafy suburb, and can be tricky to find in what is a mainly residential area unless you are familiar with the location. I arrived at the ground just around 19.00 and paid my £4 entrance fee. Jim was going to Broxburn tonight and had asked me to get him a couple of  programmes. Jamie who designs and edit the programme was selling the current  issue inside the stadium and I bought three copies. The cover of

Another beautiful sunny day and I decided to go to Ainslie Park for their Lowland League match against Edinburgh  University. There are close links between the two clubs with Spartans having been formed in 1951 to allow players who were no longer eligible to play for the University to continue playing competitive matches. With the bright sunshine I decided to walk to Ainslie Park and left home at 13.30 to walk down the old railway path. The hot weather had brought out a number of walkers and cyclists but I managed to arrive at the ground at 14.30. I showed my season ticket at the turnstiles and then purchased a programme on entry. The cover shows former Spartan Ally McKinnon who now plays for the University, the eligibility rules having been relaxed since 1951. I took up position on the barrier fence to soak in the sunshine and read my programme. Just before kick-off I met my old work colleague, Martin. He is a former referee and now acts as a refereeing supervisor and was at the game

  Off to Ainslie Park tonight to watch Spartans first Lowland League match of the season against Rangers B. For some time now there has been talk of the B sides of Rangers and Celtic joining the SPFL although they would not be permitted to gain promotion to the SPL. This would mirror the situation of both Germany and Spain where B teams perform in the lower levels of the professional leagues in both countries. I do not agree with this proposal as I do not think that any benefit should apply to Rangers and Celtic and not to other teams in the SPL. Generally Rangers and Celtic rely on buying in players with few academy products becoming first team regulars. In the past both sides ,along with other SPL clubs, have benefited by loaning out young players to lower division clubs to allow them to gain first team experience, albeit at a lower level, before graduating to their respective first teams . SPL B sides have been entered in the Challenge Cup for lower league sides but as yet not in le

  Hearts have a weekend off in the League Cup group stages as each group contains five teams who play each other one. This friendly match was announced on Tuesday and again would be played with a reduced capacity of 2000 fans due to Covid restrictions. It was announced on Wednesday that tickets would be available to season ticket holders of a first come, first served basis from 13.00 that day. Thankfully I had nothing else on and I was able to log on and secure a ticket which arrived in the post on Friday. n yet another beautiful sunny day I left home just after 14.00 to walk down to Tynecastle. Arrived and entered through the Main stand turnstiles. While I did not have my season ticket seat again I was in the Main stand and only three rows away from my usual seat.  Hearts made three changes from the midweek starting eleven against Cove Ross Stewart, Peter Haring and Jamie Walker replacing Craig Gordon, Steven Kingsley and Josh Ginnelly. This was to give the latter three a rest before

First game of the season in the East of Scotland League and an interesting one. Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale (LTHV) have been in the EoS League for a number of years playing at Saughton Park in West Edinburgh. However this season despite renaming the stand at Saughton  Park after Tom Allison, one of their long-serving officials, they have decided to move and play their home games at Ainslie Park. I think that initially Spartans thought LTHV would take over after Edinburgh City moved back to Meadowbank. However with the move delayed as the Meadowbank refurbishment has not yet been completed we now have three sides, albeit in different  leagues, playing at Ainslie Park. With kickoff at 19.30 I left home at 18.20 and walked down the old railway path. At the ground my electronic ticket was scanned at the turnstiles as I walked in. I received a text from Jim just before I arrived and wandered down to the grassy bank beyond the stand to meet up with him. Being a warm sunny night we hoped t

  Well at last my first chance to watch Hearts at Tynecastle for 494 days. It is the longest period i have had without being at Tynecastlle since 1967. With Covid restrictions still in force Hearts held a ballot for season ticket holders who wished to attend this initial home game in the Premier Sports cup group stages. Originally the crowd was to be restricted to 200 fans but permission was granted for 2000 and I was successful in the ballot. My season ticket only covers home league matches so  I had to pay £5 for tonights ticket. I will not be in my usual seat in the Main Stand but instead in Section C of the Wheatfield stand. My season ticket used to be in Section E of the Wheatfield and C is the section on the other side of the halfway line to where I used to sit. I left home at 18.45 and walked to Tynecastle. I had a bit further to walk as I had to enter by the Wheatfield gates. Walking passed the Gorgie stand I noticed that fans were queueing as they wait to be searched by stewar

A first competitive match of the season for me tonight. With the Premier Sports Cup, or the old League Cup, group stages starting tonight I was off to watch Edinburgh City play Hamilton at Ainslie Park.  It’s have announced that they will be moving back to Meadowbank after the council refurbishment is complete and this is likely to be towards the end of this year. I left home at 18.30 and walked down the old railway path to Ainslie Park. I had bought my ticket online and loaded onto my phone for access. On arrival at Ainslie Park I had to queue at the main gates as fans were called forward to have tickets scanned on entry. The City website had also advised temperature checks would be taken but this did not happen. After my ticket was checked I walked into the ground by way of the exit gates as the turnstiles were not in use for tonight’s match. No programmes were available, although I understand they will be on the website for sale soon, so I met Jim at the pitch barrier and took a pho

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Despite uncertain weather I was determined not to stay at home tonight given the England v Denmark Euo semi-final was live of television. I cannot stand the jingoistic commentary on both channels when England are playing so I headed out to Bonnyrigg to watch Hearts in a pre-season friendly. I had purchased a ticket online, in advance, last week before the semi-final lineups were known and it arrived in the post of Saturday. My contact details were handwritten on the ticket stub with the fixture details also handwritten on the ticket itself. The kick-off was at 19.00 so after a quick bowl of pasta I headed down to Haymarket to catch a bus out to Bonnyrigg. The "Rose" website had advised fans to arrive early so I reached Bonnyrigg at around 18.30 for

     It had been a miserable day today with intermittent heavy rain but I had bought a ticket for  Hearts friendly in Prestonpans so I was determined to go. My ticket had been purchased online with Preston Athletic using Eventbrite as their ticket provider so I had an electronic ticket on my phone. After an early meal I wandered down to Haymarket to catch a 26 bus to the "Pans". The 26 has split destinations with termini at both Seton Sands and Tranent but goes via Prestonpans on both routes. I caught a bus at just aft 18.00 with went across town and through Portobello and Musselburgh before arriving in Prestonpans. I had checked which stop to get off the bus nearest the ground and was pleased to see a fellow traveller wearing a Hearts rain-jacket getting off at the same stop. I had only been to Pennypit Park once before which is a short walk to the bus stop but was happy to follow my fellow traveller towards the ground. My electronic ticket was checked and my temperature tak

A lovely morning today and we both went for a long walk. With the match kicking off at 13.00 I had a brunch of a couple of bacon rolls with brown sauce before heading off to Ainslie Park at 11.45. Walked down the old railway path and I arrive at the ground at 12.40. Showed my season ticket and wandered in taking up a position on the fence at the cafe end of the ground. I managed to get a photo of a team sheet before moving to a seat in the stand for kick-off.   Spartans made a few changes following their heavy defeat to Hearts in midweek. Daniel Baur and Arron Murrell returned to the starting line-up with Ian McFarland returning to the squad as a substitute. He was joined on the bench but six trialists one of whom was former player Jordan Caddow.  Spartans lined up with Euan Smith, normally a midfield player in central defence and central defender Baur at left-back. Baur was a Hearts youth player and played a couple of times in the first team under Craig Levein's management. He was

Another beautiful day today and decided to head for a new ground for me, St Marks Park the home of Craigroyston FC. After a quick bite to eat I headed along to Tollcross to catch a bus to the ground at 18.30ish. I had done quite a bit of walking during the day so decided to be lazy tonight. I caught a 23 and met Alan on the bus. We both got of at Cannonmills and walked along past the site of the old Powderhall stadium towards the ground. I used to go to Powderhall regularly to watch Edinburgh Monarchs speedway racing but have only been out to their new track at Armadale on a couple of occasions. The Craigroyston ground is in a public park and just of the main road. We walked down to the gates were entrance was by donation only and after placing cash in the collecting tins entered the ground. Spectators were only allowed in the area behind one goal and also the side of the pitch opposite the dugouts so we took up position against the fence at the side of the pitch. The ground is in a ni