Well after a European match on Thursday it was off to Dens Park today for a Sunday league match against Dundee. I decided to take the cheapest means of travel and caught the Megabus which by using my concessionary travel card I managed to travel for £1, 50p each way to book a seat. I caught the 11.40 Megabus and arrived at Dundee bus station around 13.00. I decided to walk to Dens Park and despite going the wrong way at one stage arrived at Tannadice Street around 13.45. The rain had just started to pour down so I nipped into a cafe for a latte and a blueberry muffin hoping the rain would stop. After around fifteen minutes the rain died down and I walked up the hill towards the ground. The turnstiles were not open so ai decided to have a walk before the turnstiles opened and I met Colin, another old work colleague. We had a chat about the Hearts recent from beforeColin headed back down towards the ground. I walk a bit further and then turned back towards the away fans entrance. There a

  Hearts match again moved to Sunday after European match on Thursday. This gave me a chance to go elsewhere so I decided to head out to Penicuik for their East of Scotland Premier League match against Hill of Beath Hawthorn (HoBH). I caught a 47 bus at Lauriston Place around 13.10  head out to Penicuik for the 14.30 kickoff. The bus was early so I got off at Mauricewood and walked from there to Montgomery Park. I paid my £5 admission and bought a £2 programme. The Penicuik programme is an excellent read despite the number of adverts which as I have said before makes it seem like a Penicuik Yellow Pages (for those if you old enough to remember the BT Yellow Pages thudding through your letter box). I met my old work colleague John who is treasurer at Penicuik. He admitted he had seen me at Meggetland when Tynecastle defeated Penicuik 9-0 but was too embarrassed to speak to me after the result. We both agreed that Penicuik fell to pieces due to a lack of central defenders after Paul Thom

European football again tonight. After an early meal I left home around 18.50 to walk down the road to Tynecastle. I arrived around 19.10 and scanned my electronic ticket for entry. I was heading towards the snack bar at the Roseburn end when I met Jim. He was going to catch up with Graham and I joined him. You can guess what our topic of conversation was - football ! Alex joined us later and we chatted for about fifteen minutes before heading to our respective stand seats. There was a father and child separated by my seat and another. I agreed to move to one of their seats so they could sit together. The child was Aiden Denholm’s cousin so I felt quite virtuous in helping out a Hearts player.  Hearts made  four changes from the side that defeated Partick Thistle in the Viaplay Cup on Sunday. Stephen Kingsley, Nathaniel Atkinson, Cammy Devlin and Liam Boyce replaced Odel Offiah, Toby Sibbick, Calem Nieuwenhof and Alex Lowry. With Peter Haring missing through injury it like Alex Cochran

  I decided to go to Ainslie Park tonight to watch hearts B against Tranent. Tranent had finished fifth in last seasons Lowland League and were tipped as strong challengers this season. I left home around 18.30 and walked to Queensferry Street where I caught a 19 bus to Crewe Toll. From there I walked along Ferry Road,cut through Morrisons car park, and then on to Ainslie Park. I paid my £5 admission and an extra £1 for a programme for entry to the ground. I took a position against the perimeter fence around 19.15 and tried to log this match on my Futbology app. The direct login was has not  working on my new phone since I got it earlier this week. However the old trick of switching the phone off and then back on again cleared the problem and I was able to log my attendance on the app. Grant arrived and we had a chat before deciding to move ito the stand as the rain started. Grant met an old friend, Jack, and we sat with him near the halfway line.  Hearts are currently third in the Low

Todays League Cup game should have been played yesterday but was pushed back to today due to Hearts European commitments, although surprisingly the kick-off was 14.00 rather than the normal 15.00. I had an early lunch and left for the match around 13.15. I scanned my digital ticket from my phone for entry, seasons tickets are only available for SPL matches. I remember in the pass your paper season ticket book used to cover all first team home matches at Tynecastle. I went up to my seat in section R to watch the remainder off the sides warm-up sessions before settling down for the match. Hearts made a number of changes for todays match. Into the side came Odel  Offiah (a fullback or centre half signed on a season long loan from Brighton), Clemen Nieuwenhof, Toby Sibbick, Barrie McKay (making his first start of the season) and Kenneth Vargas (also making his first start). The changes showed the strength of the Hearts squad with the bench also having a number of experienced players. Patri

  With Hearts having played in the Europa Conference Qualifiers on Thursday their League Cup tie against Patrick Thistle had been moved back to tomorrow. I therefore had a choice of where to go today but finally decided to head to Ainslie Park to watch Spartans v Elgin City as I knew Jim was heading there also.I left home around 13.30 to walk to Ainslie Park but after reaching the foot of Orchard Brae decided to get a bus for the rest of the journey. I jumped on a 19 to Crewe Toll and walked along Ferry Road before heading down to Ainslie Park. My Fanbase ticket was scanned on entry and I bought programme before going up to the cafe bar. I had a marvellous steak pie and a coffee before walking back down to the pitch side where I met Jim. We had a chat as we watched the sides warming up and decided to stay at the cafe end for the first half. This is Spartans third match as an SPFL side and they have drawn both their previous matches 1-1. Jamie Dishington has scored both their goals but

It is Friday evening and what do I do? After watching Tynecastle against Penicuik on Saturday thought I would  watch them against Gala Fairydean Rovers in the South Qualifying Cup. Following an early meal I left home around 19.45 for the fifteen minute walk along the canal to Meggetland. I arrived just after 19.00 and paid my £5 entry. As I got into the stand I met a guy carrying team sheets and he allowed me to photograph them. I them went into the top of the stand and met Alex, Andy and Gwen and settled down to watch the match. Tynecastle made two changes from Saturday's side with Jack Chesser coming in for Matty Combe in midfield and second half hat-trick hero Russell cCairns  replacing Fletcher Hendry up front. Gala have again made a number of changes to their side. The main players I recognise are Danny Galbraith who played for Hearts before moving to Man Utd as a teen. He did not make it at Utd but has had a good career Hibs, York and Edinburgh City among others. Gareth Rodge

  Really looking forward to tonight’s Europa League qualifier. After a 2-1 defeat in Rosenborg last week a 1-0 vicirty would mean extra time and then penalties. However a two goal margin would mean Hearts qualifying for the next round. I left home around 18.45 and walked down to Tynecastle. I scanned my ticket and headed into thr ground. I thought about gettinhg some food but decided to head to my seat to watch the teams warm up. Hearts made a number of changes from the Kilmarnock game on Saturday. Aiden Denholm replaced the injured Peter Haring in midfield while Liam Boyce and Alex Cochrane replaced Tagawa and Alan Forrest. It was not the team I would would have chosen, as for Rosenborg I knew nothing about rather club or player,   The club has won a record 26 league titles, a shared record 12  Norwegian  Football Cup  titles and have played more  UEFA   matches than any other Norwegian team. RBK play their home games at the all-swatter  Lerkendal Stadion  which has a capacity of 2142

A Sunday afternoon game at Tynecastle after the European Conference League qualifier in Rosenberg on Sunday. I watched the game in Hearts TV and thought Hearts were awful in the first half but improved in the second, a late Lawrence Shankland goal left Hearts 2-1 and every chance of winning the tie at Tynecastle next week. However todays match against Kilmarnock would not be easy with Killiecrankie having beat Rangers 1-0 at Rugby Park in their first SPL game last week. With a three o’clock kickoff I left home around two to walk down to Tynecastle. I arrived around 14.30 and scanned my season ticket for entry. This would be my first time in my new site which was slighter lower down in the Main Stand and easier for an exit given I was right in line with the exit barriers. I watched the sides warming up as I waited for the kickoff. Hearts made some changes from the team in Rosenberg earlier in the eeek. Steven Kingsley came in at left-back for the suspended Alex Cochrane while Peter Hari

  With Hearts having played Rosenberg in the Europa Conference qualifiers on Thursday todays scheduled League match against Kilmarnock has been pushed back to Sunday. As a consequence I had a choice of where to go and I decided to head to Meggetland to watch Tynecastle host Penicuik in the East of  Scotland Premier League. I left home around 13.40 for the short walk along the banks of the canal to Meggetland. I arrived around 14.05 and paid my £5 concessionary admission. The stadium, which is also used by Boroughmuir Rigby Club, has a capacity of 4388 with 500 seats in the main stand and a grassy terracing area opposite the stand. Tynecastle do not normally issue programmes and the quality of the PA system makes it difficult to hear the announcement iPod the team line-ups. However I recognised the bulk of the Penicuik side and found the Penicuik Twitter page listed both line-ups in full. Tynecastle struggled last season and narrowly escaped relegation. They have strengthened their squa

  Another match at Ainslie Park with Hearts B taking on Cowdenbeath in the Lowland League.after any early meal I left home and caught a 22 bus around 18.20. The bus arrived at CreweToll around 19.00 where I got off and walked along Ferry Road towards Ainslie Park.  I arrived around 19.15 and headed to the cafe for a coffee and a sausage roll as I was a bit early arriving. After I finished my snack I wandered down to touchline side where I met Grant. We were having a chat until the rain came on when we decided to move into the stand to watch the match. The Hearts squad included Liam McFarlane, Luke Rathie and James Wilson all of whom had been on the bench for the first team Europa League qualifier against Rosenberg on Thursday. Aiden Denholm who came on as a substitute on Thursday was not included in the squad. Hearts B are currently second in the Lowland League with ten points from four matches. Another three points tonight would put them top of the table. Cowdenbeath, under the manage

  I was going to watch Edinburgh South tonight but there is some doubt as to where they are playing their home matches at present. I therefore decided to go and see Civil Service Strollers (CSS) at home to Haddington Athletic in the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup. I bought a ticket through Fanbase and after an early meal headed of to Tollcross to catch a bus to the ground. I caught a 16 at 18.25 as the quicker 27 bus was not due until another seven minutes. The journey was a nightmare are especially around Picardy Place where it took four changes of lights to get from John Lewis to the Playhouse. I eventually arrived at Muirhouse around 19.20 and then walked down Marine Drive to Christie Gillies Park. There are works going on around the ground and entry is currently through the social club and then on to the entrance. I resisted temptation to buy a pint and headed towards the entrance. My ticket was scanned and I entered the ground. There wre no programmes tonight and no announcements