At last the first competitive match for Hearts this season. Having qualified to play in Europe this season Hearts did not have to play in the qualifying groups in the Premier Sports Cup, or League Cup as I still call it, this season. They have looked to gain match fitness through a series of friendly matches but todays match will be the first real test for the revised squad. My programme had arrived the previous day on subscription and was a tribute to Drew Busby who died recently. Busby joined Hearts from Airdrie in 1973 for a fee of £30,000 and was one of my favourite players of that era. Initially a striker before moving back into midfield He was a whole hearted player who always gave 100% in what was not one of the best periods in Hearts history. While not the tallest of players he was good in he air and also had a strong shot. He was Hearts penalty taker at the time and I can only recall him missing one, in a League Cup penalty shootout against Dundee United. He was also fully c

A first for me today watching Hearts B in action in the Lowland League. There has been no reserve league in Scottish football since the Covid pandemic started in 2020. Reserve or B sides have been restricted to playing friendly matches with players also being sent on loan to lower league clubs to gain experience. Last season both Rangers and Celtic B sides were permitted, after a vote by member clubs, to play in the Lowland League, Scotlands fifth tier. Neither of the B sides could be promoted and both clubs had to pay £40k to the League as an entry fee. Both sides ended the season in the top three of the table behind League winners Bonnyrigg Rose. This season Hearts also applied to join the eighteen club League. Again after a vote among the clubs Hearts were voted in increasing the number of clubs to nineteen meaning each week a club will have a free match day. Again the B sides have had to pay £40k to the League and restrictions have been placed on both the age and first team experie

  The final pre-season game today was a friendly against Stoke City as a testimonial match for long-serving Jambo Gary Locke. Bonnyrigg born and bred, Locke joined Hearts in 1992 and played for the side in midfield or fullback until he moved to Bradford City along with manager Jim Jeffries. Following his playing career ending he returned to Hearts in 2010 as first team coach, again with Jim Jeffries as manager. Locke then took over as manager in January 2013 before Hearts went into administration. for season 2013/14 Hearts had a fifteen point deduction and faced an almost impossible task to avoid relegation. With senior players having departed Locke was forced to field a very long side and despite a brave fight relation wa confirmed. New owner Ann Budge relieved Locke of his managerial post at the end of the season.  After a brief managerial career at other clubs Locke returned to Hearts in 2018 as an ambassador, acting as liaison between the club and the fans, and has been a great suc

  Another trip out to Bonnyrigg tonight for the Premier Sports  Cup match v Falkirk although I still call the tournament the League Cup. I was meant to be childminding and dogsitting today but that was cancelled so I had a day at home. I checked the bus timetable and decided to catch the 18.09 31 from Haymarket. After a mushroom and ham pasta I walked to Haymarket torcatch the bus. It arrived on time but drove past the stop before the driver realised he had overshot. He stopped slightly further along the road and everyone at the stop walked down to get on. Unfortunately a group of three got on, looked like grandad, son and grandson got on. They started sitting at the back of the bus upstairs but as the bus emptied in Princes Street moved up to take three empty seats at the front with the grandad shouting ‘ I want to be the driver’. All the way to Bonnyrigg they were almost shouting to each other, generally about football, with some choice language. Even when the bus got busier and peop

  I was not intending to go to a match tonight however when push came to shoe it was no contest between watching Australian Masterchef or a pre-season friendly between Musselburgh Athletic and Newtongrange Star. I caught a 26 bus at Haymarket and arrived in Musselburgh just before 19.00. As the kick-off was not until 19.30 I took the bus an extra stop, getting off at the Brunton Theatre and walking back to the ground. I paid my £2 admission charge to enter the ground at around 19.10. As I was walking round to the covered standing area I noticed my old work colleague Gwyn and his wife Paula sitting at a table in the covered area behind the goals. Their son  Andy has recently moved from Dunbar United to join Musselburgh and was included among the substitutes tonight. I chatted with them for around fifteen minutes before heading to the covered area. There was not a large crowd the game and I took a seat on the back row of the terracing steps near the halfway line.  Musselburgh, managed by

  Another footballing first today with Bonnnrigg playing their first home game as an SPFL club following their.victory in the playoffs at the end of last season. I had gone out to Bonnyrigg and couple of weeks ago to get tickets for todays game and also th following midweek game against Falkirk. Jim was not sure if he could go due to family circumstances so I got tickets for me a Alex. I wandered down to Haymarket to catch the 12.25 31 bus to Bonnyrigg and thankfully I was early as the bus arrived at 12.40. I got on and then found out that due to the Edinburgh Festival Parade the bus was diverted along George Street rather than the usual route long Princes Street. Eventually we got to Newington where Alex got on. We stayed on the bus to Bonnyrigg bit got off at Broomieknwe as we were early. We then walked into the town centre although we were stopped by a guy asking where the Paper Mill was. He was an old friend of Alex and I directed him back to the pub opposite the Laird and Dog. We

A first today with a new team and a new ground but maybe not. During the close season Edinburgh City changed their name to FC Edinburgh due to copyright problem with the Edinburgh City FC name still owned by the former City Social Club at Restalrig. In addition the football club have now moved back to their old stamping ground at Meadowbank. The Council demolish old Meadowbank after the ten Edinburgh City FC moved out and have now built a new athletics ground and football pitch on the old site. FC Edinburgh who have been tenants at Spartans Ainslie Park have now back to Meadowbank after leaving in 2017. Having been at the first game at the 'old' Meadowbank when Meadowbank Thistle met Albion Rovers in 1974 I was now missing Hearts v Crawley Town to attend the first match at the new stadium. The Meadowbank Thistle had halftime entertainment in the shape of a gogo dancer but I was not expecting similar in these more politically correct times. I left home just after 13.00 to walk d

First Hearts match at Tynecastle this season with SPFL newcomers Bonnyrigg Rose playing in a friendly. I had seen Bonnyrigg play once before at Tynecastle when a Scottish Cup tie against Hibs was switched from Bonnyrigg to Tynecastle. Hibs win 8-1 but I still say Bonnyrigg won on penalties as third goal came from the spot while Hibs goals were all from open play.  I left home at 13.45 and walked along the canal towards Ogilvie Terrace. I then walked down to Robertson Avenue and along Gorgie Road to Tynecastle. The weather was beautiful and I arrived at Tynecastle around 14.15 before entering the ground. I had been unable to get my normal seat on the online booking so was sitting in section P rather than my usual section Q. Hearts had Craig Gordon back in goal for the first time this season. Joe Wright remained in central defence as a Trialist alongside Lewis Neilson and Stephen Kingsley. Cammy Devlin was in central midfield with Peter Haring and Michael  Smith while upfront Liam Boyce

First view of Hearts this season although they played a testimonial at East Fife last night. I could not be bothered travelling for that game but Ainslie Park is only a short distance from home. As I had walked quite a distance  today I decided to get a bus to the ground. I walked to Tollcross and caught a bus to Morrisons at Ferry Road whereI got off and walked down the hill to Ainslie Park. I arrived around 19.15 and showed my season ticket pass for entry. No programmes were availabe but I got a team sheet for 50p. Team sheets are normally free at Spartans matches and I thought it was a bit much to be charging when the match was only a pre-season friendly. I met Jim in the ground and we wandered down to our normal stance, on the grassy embankment, at the Pilton end of the ground looking across the pitch. We were joined by Alex just as the game was about to kickoff. Spartans made a few changes from the last time i saw them against East Fife with Jordan Tapping, Scott Maxwell and Blair

I was not intending to go to a game tonight having spent the day on a trip to Stirling. However I noticed that both Whitehill Welfare and. Musselburgh. Athletic we’re playing home games on the 30 bus route and decided to catch a 30 and see where I ended up. Whitehill were playing Heriot Watt University in a fixture switched from Whitehill Ferguson Park to the 3G pitch at Peffermilll. When the 30 arrived at Peffermill at just after 10.00 I decided to get off and watch this fixture. Even better admission was free and I took up position against the pitch barrier ready for the 19.25 kickoff.  As always with pre-season friendlies it was difficult to find details of the team line-ups.I found details of the Whitehall side on Twitter with the starting line-up containing four trialists. One of the trialists was Paul Tansey who had been released by Penicuik following his plea of guilty to assaulting his girlfriend over a period of time, including on one occasion by head butting her. Having not s

  Now we are into July pre-season friendlies are coming thick and fast. I did think about going to watch Spartans v Threave Rovers but that will probably be shooting practice for Spartans. Instead I headed to Christie Gillies Park for Civil Service Strollers (CSS) v Bonnyrigg Rose. Last season this would have been a Lowland League clash but today will be Bonnyriggs first match as an SPL side following their victory over Cowdenbeath in the end of season playoff. With the kickoff at 14.00 I left home at 12.30 to walk to the match. After walking down the old railway path I cut along past the old Doocot pub in Muirhouse and then down by Pennywell to Silverknowes. I then walked down Marine Drive to the ground arriving at around 13.45. I had bought an electronic ticket through Fanbase but due to the bright sunlight the gateman could not read the bar code on my phone. However he had my details and checked them out allowing me into the ground. I met Jim there who had just returned from a holid