History of Tynecastle

OVER THE COURSE OF THE 21/22 SEASON, CLUB HISTORIAN DAVID SPEED WILL COVER THE ILLUSTRIOUS HISTORY OF OUR HOME.

PART NINE: RECORDS BROKEN

Having emerged from its financial problems, there was a positive mood around the club at the start of season 1905-06 and it was possible to undertake several ground improvements.

This included laying fresh turf in the goal areas, strengthening the fences and banking at the North

End, and building new stairs and gates in the Stand.

Hearts’ status in the game had remained high and the SFA allocated the International match against Wales, on 3 March 1906, to Tynecastle Park. This was the second International played in Gorgie and although Bobby Walker had to withdraw, due to a thigh strain, the attraction of the Hearts men, Charlie Thomson and George Wilson, ensured a record crowd for the fixture, with some 25,000 paying for admission.

However, due to a lack of turnstiles, fences were knocked down by impatient fans and walls were scaled at the North End (now the School End). This resulted in severe congestion, which forced many spectators onto the running track. The attendance was probably nearer 30,000 and it was clear that even with improvements, the ground capacity was insufficient for a club of Hearts’ importance. There was also disappointment on the field as Wales beat Scotland by 2-0.

Once again, the Directors took swift action and the club’s architect was asked to investigate significant expansion. This would take almost a year, because the standing embankments were fully extended to the perimeter fences and the distillery bonds. Some innovative ideas were required, but at least the club had the financial means to undertake major work after a splendid Scottish Cup run. That ended with a 1-0 win over Third Lanark in the Final at Ibrox on 28 April 1906.

In July 1906, Hearts Sports were held for the first time in several years and the Scottish Cup holders were able to sell 1,000 season tickets for the new football season. Nevertheless, running a major club was never without challenges and in November 1906, a portion of the banking at the bottom end, facing the hayfield, gave way in heavy rain and had to be immediately repaired.

Tynecastle Park was a regular venue for important matches, such as the Qualifying Cup Final between St.Bernards and Raith Rovers in November 1906, but a restricted capacity precluded the ground from hosting many major fixtures. As a result, in February 1907, after Edinburgh Corporation extended the stadium lease until 1915, the Directors were finally able to authorise major expansion and the creation of an additional 20,000 places.

As the embankments were already extended to the outer limits, a solution was to lower the ground on which the front row of spectators stood, three feet below the playing pitch. This involved removing most of the racing track and a considerable area of grass behind each goal. Only the track on the Stand side was retained for training and after a brick wall was built on the other three sides of the pitch, and the banking was covered in fresh cinders, Tynecastle’s capacity was certified at a staggering 61,784 (57,784 on the embankments and 4,000 in the Stand and Pavilion). The total cost of this development was just short of £353 and the work was undertaken by local contractors, Fisher Brothers, based as 125 Fountainbridge.

Thankfully, the renovation was finished in time for the defence of the Scottish Cup, because on 30 March 1907, the largest crowd to have watched a domestic game outside of Glasgow, descended on Gorgie to witness Hearts play Queens Park in the Semi-Finals. At the end of the game, the 33,500 fans produced incredibly wild cheering, because the maroons claimed victory with the only goal coming from David Axford. It was a new record attendance, and record receipts of just over £976, but most agreed that Tynecastle Park could not hold anything like 60,000.

The Scottish Cup was not retained as Hearts went down by 3-0 against Celtic in the Final. Nevertheless, once again, it was a lucrative competition and cash was certainly needed to maintain a challenge to the “Old Firm”. The club also worked hard on its commercial ventures, with large hoardings around the ground being used for advertising purposes and also the sale of catering rights. Fixture cards produced additional income, as did two automatic weighing machines from which the club received 25% of the takings.

In the summer of 1907, the departure of Director, William CP Brown, due to the insolvency of his building company was major blow, but he was replaced by Elias Fürst and

Although the removal of the track meant that athletic and cycling events were discontinued, prosperity always depended on football and the club treasurer looked forward to visits from Celtic. When the Glasgow side was in Gorgie on 23 November 1907, a new record attendance for a League fixture was established, with 22,500 watching a 1-0 victory for Hearts, thanks to a goal from Colombo.

At the start of season 1908-09, the ground was in really good shape, with only the fence in front of the Stand in need of painting. That year, the supporters received an additional service. The Exchange Telegraph Company paid Hearts the sum of £10 for the right to erect a half-time scoreboard and to issue the first regular programme. Fans could also watch the Tynecastle XI, a new team that was operated by the club in the Midlothian Junior League.

Although no work had been planned, in the early months of 1909, Hearts took advantage of local building developments. Soil from the foundations of the new Police Station in McLeod Street was used to fill up the banking in front of the Stand. The City Police always supported the club and after detectives watched the turnstiles, they reported many two-for-one admissions. As a result, the club made the payboxes convex and added extra fittings to stop unpaid access.

In the spring of 1909, Edinburgh Corporation allocated the hayfield behind the north embankment to the School Board and eventually, the proximity of its buildings would present a major problem in connection with ground improvements. In fact, almost from day one, there was a problem, as the projecting struts of Tynecastle’s fencing encroached on School Board land. Hearts therefore had to lease an additional strip of ground to accommodate the wooden supports. At the beginning of season 1909-10, the club placed numbers on the Stand seats and started to take advance bookings, but crowds were not buoyant, with poor results stemming from disharmony off the field. Manager, James McGhee, left in December 1909 and he was replaced by John McCartney the manager of St.Mirren. Being a stalwart player for Hibernian had made life difficult for McGhee, but the relationship with our Leith neighbours was normally harmonious. This was demonstrated on 1 January 1910, after the death of Hibs’ player, James Main, following an injury against Partick Thistle. That day, both sides wore black armbands and Hearts’ flag flew at half-mast as the maroons won a League match by 1-0.

In February 1910, the St.Andrew’s Ambulance Association was asked to attend all Hearts’ home matches and received a donation of £1/1/- (£1.05) and free admission to its members. They were immediately required for the Scottish Cup Second Round Replay, between Hearts and St.Mirren, when a handsome crowd of 26,000 watched a 0-0 draw. After beating the Paisley club in a third match at Ibrox, the team was drawn away to Hibs, but our city rivals underestimated the capacity of Easter Road and after crowd disorder, the game was abandoned with Hearts leading 1-0.

It was decided to replay the tie at Tynecastle and the Burgh Surveyor had to inspect the ground and publish his findings, in order to ease public concerns. When the game was played on 26 February 1910, it was Hibs that won by 1-0 with the attendance being only 23,500. This was due to the adverse publicity.

Big matches were certainly becoming more boisterous and the SFA issued a statement deploring the increase in obscene language and the use of ricketies, whistles and other annoying things.

During the summer of 1910, a new road was built from McLeod Street to the Police Station and as it stopped only a few yards from the members’ entrance, the club took the opportunity to erect five turnstiles and a new gate. However, tinkering around the edges was insufficient and at the AGM in May 1911, the shareholders were told that there would soon be a covered standing area on the Distillery side and that a small extra charge would be made for this accommodation. A budget of £450 was set, but this enclosure would materially help the club to secure International fixtures.

HAYMARKET TO NORTH MERCHISTON

John McCartney

As we come towards the end of our Heritage Trail journey, we travel from the Hearts War Memorial at Haymarket, up Dalry Road. Familiar territory and the scene of many happy cup-winning celebrations.

We pass Dalry Cemetery where an important figure in the club’s history is buried - Alex Lyon. Alex was the Assistant Trainer during the 1914-15 season, helping the players stay fit and at the top of the league, while also preparing for military service in the Great War. Alex would accompany the players when they went on route marches as part of their military training and it was on one of these, a particularly cold and wet one, that Alex developed bronchial pneumonia and sadly died on 14th February 1915, aged only 30, just before our men left for the Western Front. Alex left a wife and two young children. The bottom of Ardmillan Terrace was the original spot earmarked for the Heart of Midlothian War Memorial; however, back in 1922 the tramway company wanted to run lines up Ardmillan Terrace to link Dalry Road and Slateford Road, so this site was no longer an option. The city offered the alternative site at Haymarket where the memorial still stands proudly today. Next, we go up to North Merchiston Cemetery, which opened in 1881, the same year as the Club came to Gorgie.The cemetery is the final resting place of some key figures in the early part of the Club’s history and mentioned in previous articles. The first resting place we visit, takes us full circle, back to the man most closely associated with the original formation of the club back in 1874, and the man credited with giving us our name – Tom Purdie. Tom was the first team captain in 1874 and went on to become a Club Director. Tom was laid to rest here in 1929, alongside his wife Ann and daughter Jane – both of whom had died before him. Until quite recently there was no headstone to mark the spot, the stone that is there now was put in place after efforts by Hearts fans to have Tom’s grave marked. A short walk on we come to the final resting place of Bobby Walker, alongside his mother and his brother Alexander, who also played for Hearts from 1899-1903. Alexander had joined the army and sadly died of TB before he was posted overseas. In a Hearts playing career spanning from 1896-1913, Bobby was regarded as the best player of his age and a real superstar. His many, notable, achievements have recently been captured in a newly published book “This is his Story’ by Colin Robertson and Andrew Hoggan. Bobby died at 51 and his funeral was attended by huge crowds who lined the streets around the cemetery. His obituary in the Scotsman hopefully sums up his talents; “The Hearts never had a more brilliant forward than Walker. He was amazingly clever in manipulating the ball, and, it was on skill alone that he relied, for he was never favoured with physique. With the ball at his feet he could turn on his course elusively, and in such little space, that he could often put a whole defence out of position with his deft movement.”

Our final stop in the cemetery is at the grave of John McCartney. John famously constructed the team that might have won the League in 1914-15 but for the commitment made to the Great War.

Tom Purdie

years. John’s support for his boys continued, regularly sending them packages that contained remarkable amounts of supplies. These didn’t just include sundries such as soap, socks and cigarettes, but also boxes of Edinburgh rock, harmonicas, a melodeon and – of course – football boots, footballs and pumps! John never did get the chance to rebuild the side in the aftermath of the War. Having fallen out with the Directors he resigned in 1919. His talents as a manager cannot be doubted, though, as he went on to manage Portsmouth and promptly took them from the old Division 3 South to the English First Division.

John never lost his love of Hearts. Ill health forced his retirement from management in England in 1929 and he returned to Edinburgh, where he died in 1933. He specifically asked that his grave be within sight of his beloved Tynecastle.

All three of these men played a huge part in the early years of the Club and have been integral to building the name of Heart of Midlothian and making it into the Club that we all know and love today. It is fitting that they are all laid to rest so close to the Tynecastle Park.

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FROM THE VAULT

Football players are known for having pre-match superstitions.

David Beckham used to tidy his fridge before each game. Ronaldo is always last out of the tunnel. Laurent Blanc always kissed the top of Fabien Bartez’s bald head before each match in the 1998 World Cup. In the 1990’s Tony Mowbray started the Celtic “Huddle” where the players group together as a motivational exercise before kick-off.

Recently, the Hearts Women players began a routine of grouping together, bouncing up and down and then running off and grouping together again. The only imaginative name that I can come up with for it is “the Scatter” !

It appears to be working. They have won their last two away games.

Amongst all the usual range of emotions, nonsense and the occasional bit of sense that I, Adam Kennedy, and my co-host Daniel McIver spout on Perth to Paisley, the running theme to start off this season has been us mouthing off about a midfield partnership that we’ve built to high heaven.

A way to go to reach Rudi Skacel and Paul Hartley levels, we’re a pair of young Jambos so those two are the crème de la crème in our eyes, however the first of whom is Beni Baningime who I may or may not have dubbed “my Congolese king”. It therefore may not take a genius to realise that, occasionally, I can become attached with ease but I stand by what I said in that if he isn’t our club record sale then I ain’t interested.

If you’re a football club chairman that knows their stuff and recognises that he would be a tremendous purchase, then cough up ten million Great British pounds or get on your bike! And I’m fully aware that it is very poor of me to immediately ask interested parties to prepare their bids but the biggest compliment I can give him is that he’s a phenomenal coup for Heart of Midlothian Football Club.

Take it back to the start of his brief time with the men in maroon, I can’t remember a midfielder having such an impressive debut - particularly in a game of such magnitude - as the league opener against Celtic. Even more noteworthy given he was thrown in at the deep end after next to no pre-season and barely meeting his new teammates, immediately having to build fitness, match sharpness and playing at a venue - and in a country - he hadn’t previously done before. It was no surprise to see his reputation rising week by week after a series of genuinely sensational performances and when at his best, we’ve got a serious player on our hands. Beni boy may not be here for long but I will continue to appreciate this wonderful footballer and all that he contributes. Not just his gorgeous smile, of which I am incredibly envious. I’ve previously proclaimed that he is the greatest footballer I’ve ever seen, name me a better one.

Enter Cameron Devlin.

Whilst Beni Baningime, as Adam expressed above, has taken to life at Tynecastle incredibly well – I, Daniel, feel that Cammy Devlin looks like he has been here the whole time. When watching him make crunching challenges,

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sprinting for every ball regardless of how long he’s been on the park as if he’s desperate for a sponsorship from Duracell or celebrating a goal with as much intensity as everyone in the stands; he feels like he’s been a Hearts player for years instead of months.

Devlin was an unknown, similar to most of this year’s signings, before arriving from Australia but with glowing recommendations from journalists both domestic and international (and with the help of Scottish Cup legend Ryan McGowan singing his praises), we were all intrigued to see what he would bring to the already fantastic start to our season.

Tough tackling, a wind-up merchant and intense are characteristics Hearts fans are naturally drawn to and have done throughout both my time as Hearts fan and the club’s history in general. Growing up seeing individuals like Hartley, Severin, Brellier and Black to name a few – there’s something about that bulldog in the middle of the park that excites the Tynecastle faithful.

Devlin has come in and somehow surpassed all those expectations to become, in my opinion, our best signing of the summer. Someone who has barely put a foot wrong since walking through the door, enamouring himself to us all and managing to infuriate opposition fans and players alike – it’s been the dream start. Search his name on any form of social media and you’ll quickly find one phrase that sticks out: ‘he gets it.’ Now, whilst it can be debated as to what ‘it’ really is amongst football fans – I’ve never really heard one definitive answer – Devlin has it in spades. Hearts fans, generally, are an emotional bunch. As quickly as we’re going to win the league, we’re going to be struggling massively. As soon as we have the best player in the league, after one off afternoon the team needs wholesale change. But both Beni Baningime and Cammy Devlin have given the fanbase real reason to be excited. They bring both a calmness and an intensity. A dominance and a touch of class. A battering ram and a tactician. Of course the inevitability that they will move on for bigger and better things comes with the level of performances they have put in but that just means we need to enjoy them that much more right now.

Xavi and Iniesta? No thanks, we’ll take Devlin and Baningime. -Adam Kennedy and Daniel McIver, The Perth to Paisley Podcast. The podcast can be found on Spotify or wherever you find your podcasts

Firstly, a correction to my article in the last issue where I said the highest placed non-Colt team in the Lowland League would play-off with the East and

South of Scotland Leagues for a place in the SPFL. That of course should have read “play-off with the Highland League, and then if successful, with the bottom team in League 2”. I’m new at this, so go easy…

Today is Scottish Cup third round day, which

IN A NON-LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN Graeme McGinty

was traditionally the round that Hearts and other top division teams entered the competition, but changes a few years ago meant that this has now been shunted back to the fourth round and will remain that way for the foreseeable future.

Some tasty looking ties were pulled out of the hat by Charlie Mulgrew in last month’s draw. Auchinleck Talbot (a familiar face at Tynecastle in the recent past) could pull off a shock at home to struggling Hamilton Accies, repeating their feat a few seasons ago when they eliminated Ayr United. Bonnyrigg Rose are away to Barry Ferguson’s Alloa Athletic and not many will bet against them getting a result of some sort. Civil Service Strollers, who beat Cowdenbeath on their own patch in the last round, host Peterhead. Tranent Juniors at Stirling Albion? The Binos will be a wee bit nervous when the Belters come to town.

In those aforementioned days when Hearts entered in the third round. only eight non-league clubs took part via the North and South Qualifying Cups, where the semi-finalists in both competitions qualified for the following season’s Scottish Cup.

At that time no Junior clubs were allowed.

That changed under Stewart Regan’s time at the SFA when in 2007 the qualifying cup process was scrapped and all full members of the SFA were allowed automatic entry as well as the winners of the Scottish Junior Cup and the West, East and North Junior leagues, the Scottish Amateur Cup winners also following later. So, Pollok (West Champions), Linlithgow Rose (East & Junior Cup) and Culter (North) entered the cup for the first time that season along with a host of full SFA members who no longer had to pre-qualify and who themselves hadn’t appeared in the first round for many years. A few years later the SFA introduced the club licence process where non-members, playing in Senior football, could attain full membership and automatic entry to the Scottish Cup. It was this that led to the revolution in the non-league game discussed a couple of issues back and this season has seen a record modern day entry list for the competition of 113 clubs and as the West of Scotland League clubs take their first steps in Senior football and more become licenced, then this number will gradually grow each season. As well as Auchinleck Talbot visiting Tynecastle twice, Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic have faced Hibs here, eliminating Dumbarton along the way and have also beaten Montrose. Penicuik Athletic have beaten Stenhousemuir and enjoyed a trip to Firhill. Broxburn Athletic got the better of Cowdenbeath and had a day out at St. Mirren and there have been other shock results by clubs who only a few years ago couldn’t have dreamed of such ties and live TV coverage, and it is undeniable that the Scottish Cup has and will continue to benefit greatly from the inclusion of more non-league clubs in the competition. So back to today and I think we’re going to see several non-league clubs making it through to the fourth round and dreaming of the big ticket away tie to a Premiership club, one tie already guarantees a fourth round spot for a non-league club (Dalbeattie Star v East Kilbride). Where will the other shocks come, well take your pick; Alloa Athletic v Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic; Auchinleck Talbot v Hamilton Academical, Banks O’Dee v East Fife; Civil Service Strollers v Peterhead; Clydebank v Clyde; Dumbarton v Sauchie Juniors; Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale v Edinburgh City; Gala Fairydean Rovers v Annan Athletic; Stirling Albion v Tranent Juniors and Brechin City v Darvel in the TV match on Monday night.