Saturday and an unusual football day with both Hearts and Hibs playing at home. However Tynecastle was the only choice for me. I left home after lunch and instead of going direct to Tynecastle I went for a theee mile walk and arrived at the ground around 14.30. The weather this morning had been awful with high winds but they had now died done and the game was on. I showed my Covid passport then my season ticket for entry. As I entered the stadium I thought about getting a pie and a coffee but decided that after my exercise this would be counter productive. Hearts made six changes to the starting line-up against Celtic in midweek. The injure Michael Smith and Craig Halkett were out along with Alex Cochrane , Barrie McKay, Peer Haring and Josh Ginnelly who dropped to the bench. Into the side came Nate Atkinson, Taylor Moore, Andy Halliday, Gary Mackay-Steven (GMS) and Ellis Simms. New signing Toby Sibbick, who was with Hearts in 2019 on loan, was included in the substitutes. Motherwell

  Big game tonight against Celtic. With Motherwell due at Tynecastle on Saturday Hearts issued a double issue programme. My copy arrived direct from Curtis Sports by post yesterday. For those buying at the ground eighty pages for £4 is excellent value. Lots of interesting reading.  Game is live on Sky but I left home at 18.50 to walk to Tynecastle. Arrived around 191.0 and had to queue to show my Covid pass before using my season ticket at the turnstiles. My ticket did not work in first gate but I moved to the next one to get in without a problem. When I gt to my seat I added my Futbology app. This will be my 1710  Hearts match while it is 115 times for Celtic. Hearts had cut the ticket allocation for Celtic, who previously got the whole of the Roseburn stand. Now they are only getting half the stand and there were predictable moans from their fans. I wonder how they would feel if they had to watch a game from the away fans seats at Parkhead. Stuck in a corner with a restricted view an

With little midweek football recently I decided to had to Christie Gillies Park tonight to watch Civil Service Strollers(CSSS) play Armadale Thistle in the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup. Having seen CSS play well against Spartans on Saturday I thought it would be a good game with CSS likely to win comfortably. I was wrong ! I caught a 27 bus at Tollcross around 18.30 and got off at the top of Muirhouse before walking down to Christie Gillies Park. I arrived at the ground around 19.00 and showed my Fanbase electric ticket for entry. No programmes or team sheets were available as I entered the ground. I wandered round to the small stand on the far side of the pitch and met Alan. He had been at the Spartans game on Saturday and we had a chat about the game. I then headed to the fence at the end of the ground CSS were attacking where I met both Alex and Stuart.  Tonight’s game promised to be an interesting fixture with CSS sixth in the Tier Five Lowland League and Armadale top of Confere

  It is Scottish Cup today and SPL sides now enter the competition. Hearts are away to Auchinleck Talbot and given the previous twice they have played Talbot in the Cup they have reached the final I was tempted to go. However as the match was being televised kickoff was 12.30. To get to Auchinleck by train I would have need to go to Glasgow and change for another train to get to the ground. After the game the first train back to Glasgow was not until 16.00 and I did not really fancy hanging about in Auchinleck for two hours after the game. Reluctantly I decided not to go and and stayed at home to watch on BBC. With twenty minutes to go Hearts were 3-0 ahead and I decided to switch off and head to Ainslie Park to watch Spartans. I walked to Tollcross but next bus to Ainslie Park was not for twenty minutes which would mean I would miss the kick-off. I then walked down to the West End and caught a 19 bus outside Mathers Bar. This took me to Crewe Toll and I walked along the railway path,

  Well Covid crowd restrictions are now lifted and my first Hearts game of 2022 beckons. With the winter break having been moved Hearts had only played one game without fans and although Covid testing checking had been upgraded to 50% of fans been checked there should be a big crowd tonight. I left home at 18.50 to walk to Tynecastle and on arrival there were no queues at the turnstiles. I showed my Covid pass to the stewards and then used my season ticket to enter the ground. I arrived at my seat around 19.15 to watch the teams warm up before kick-off. Hearts have lost a few players in the transfer window with the big loss being John Souttar signing a pre-contract with Rangers. While he will not be able to play for Rangers until next season it may be that Rangers will make an offer to a Hearts to allow Souttar to move during the current transfer window. Manager Robbie Neilson showed his confidence in the defender by retaining him in the starting line-up tonight. Also leaving are Jamie

Covid regulations still in force and maximum crowds of 500 at outdoor events until Monday. I did think about going to Penicuik v Tranent but that was all ticket and not available via Fanbase. I then decided to use my Spartans season ticket and watch their Lowland League match against Vale of Leithen. I left home at 13.30 walked to Ainslie Park along the old railway path. After an hours walk I arrived at Ainslie Park and showed my season ticket for admission. I paid £2 for a programme and a team sheet and took up a stance against the fence at the Ferry Road end of the ground. I saw Stuart on the cafe balcony and waved to him as he was doing the tannoy duty today.  Today was a top v bottom clash in the Lowland League. Spartans are currently fourth on goal difference although level on points with both Rangers B and Celtic B. Vale however have had a disastrous season with their first win a Bo'ness coming in December. They are currently bottom on the table with four points from twenty-f

  Finally going to my first match of 2020.  Had been looking to go and see Spartans on Tuesday in their local Derby against Civil Service Strollers. However despite being played on a plastic pitch the match was cancelled due to a frozen pitch. I believe that it can be difficult to clear a frozen plastic pitch as the plastic can tear in the process so I can understand why the game was called off. I was then going, again to Ainslie Park, to watch Edinburgh City v Elgin on Friday but I was late home and did not have enough time to get there. Today however it was first v third in the Lowland League with Bonnyrigg v Spartans at New Dundas Park. Further Covid restrictions have been brought in by the Scottish Government limiting attendances at outdoor event to 500.  I have no idea why that figure was chosen given Tynecastle can hold 20,000 while Ainslie Park around 3,000 but limit is the same for both. Maybe the government should spend time enforcing mask wearing on public transport and in sh