Craig Gordon

MANAGER NOTESCAPTAIN GORDON

Good afternoon Jambos!

It’s a pleasure to welcome you back to Tynecastle for today’s Edinburgh Derby and I can think of no better way to resume league action after the international break. I was delighted to start all three of Scotland’s World Cup Qualifier games, culminating in a massive win in Austria on Tuesday night which keeps us firmly in the running for a top two finish in the group. Until then, however, my only focus is Hearts. The Edinburgh Derby is the first fixture we look out for at the start of the season and I can’t wait to sample that unique atmosphere once again. We beat Hibs at Hampden last season, however, with no fans in the ground it simply wasn’t the same. This afternoon, there’s not a spare seat to be had at Tynecastle and I know the place will be absolutely rocking come kick-off. Today’s match is a top of the table clash with both teams having enjoyed a good start to the season. That’s it all it is however; a start. We want to keep pushing ourselves right at the top and to do so you have win the big games, not least the derbies. I’ve had the good fortune of playing in many a match against Hibs over the years and one thing never changes: The intensity and desire to win. The boys are raring to go and for a few of the lads in the dressing room, this will be their first taste of derby day in the Capital but rest assured they’re fully aware of how much it means to the club and our supporters. Today is also our first Derby as a fan-owned club; a truly magnificent achievement by our incredible supporters. We want to send you all home happy with three points in the bag. Finally, I would like to sign off my message today by paying tribute to a lifelong Jambo who sadly lost his life not too long ago at the age of 42. Steven Macmillan of Stoneyburn was a true Jambo with two main passions in his life: Family and football. For many years he was the secretary of Stoneyburn Juniors and on behalf of everyone at the club I would like to pass on our sincere condolences.

HHGH

Craig Gordon

SETTING THE SCENE

HIBERNIAN

It’s Matchday 5 of the cinch Premiership season and it’s Derby Day in Auld Reekie as Hibs arrive in Gorgie for a top of the table Capital clash.

Both sides sit joint-top with 10 pointsa-piece following a strong start to the league season on both sides of the Edinburgh divide. The Easter Road side have taken maximum points off Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Ross County so far, with a share of the spoils coming in a 2-2 draw at Dens Park.

Martin Boyle and Kyle Magennis lead the scoring charts with three strikes each and the former found himself in excellent form heading into the recent international break. He found himself on the scoresheet for Australia before suffering an injury which kept him out of their tie with Vietnam with some doubts as to whether he’ll be ready to feature this afternoon.

One player certain not to be turning out in green and white today is talisman Christian Doidge. He grabbed two goals at the start of the season before suffering from an injury setback that will likely keep him sidelined until December. Manager Jack Ross will, however, be able to call upon key players such as Paul Hanlon and Joe Newell, both of whom have been missing in recent weeks. There could also be a debut for new signing Nathan Woods with the defender joining on season long loan from Middlesborough. Although the men from Leith won the last Tynecastle meeting between the two sides back in December 2019, it’s the Jambos who have earned the bragging rights in the last two outings. The most recent league win came back in March 2020, just days before COVID-19 brought the season to a halt. Goals from Sean

Clare, Ollie Bozanic and Conor Washington sealed a memorable 3-1 win at Easter Road under Daniel Stendel.

The most recent victory came at Hampden on Halloween night 2020 as goals from Craig Wighton and Liam Boyce saw Hearts progress to the Scottish Cup Final with a 2-1 win at an empty national stadium. Robbie Neilson and the boys will be coming into today’s tie full of confidence thanks to a solid start to the campaign. A sold out Tynecastle can look forward to seeing potential home debuts for Ben Woodburn, Taylor Moore, Cammy Devlin and the latest recruit – Barrie McKay. Following his heroics between the sticks for Scotland on Tuesday night, Captain Craig Gordon will lead the boys in maroon out of the tunnel with just one target in mind: Derby Day delight.

ONCE UPON A DERBY DAY

Hearts and Hibs locked horns on Saturday 23rd March 1991 in what would become game 9 of ’22 in a row’ as the Jambos derby dominance continued in Gorgie.

The game came to be referred to as ‘the Andy Goram Show’ as the Hibs shotstopper pulled off a string of stunning saves to prevent a cricket scoreline as the boys in maroon ran out 3-1 winners.

A match report from the day noted:

“Time and time again the Hibs keeper defied Hearts with superb saves and the scoreline could easily have been trebled. The four goals came in a nine minute spell early in the second half; a Craig Levein header on 56 minutes following a Dave McPherson header; a vicious 20 yard shot by George Wright four minutes later.

On 64 minutes Torolano pulled one back with a glancing header from a Weir free-kick, but sixty seconds later Goram made his one and only mistake of the afternoon when he misjudged a John Colquhoun cross and John Robertson nodded the ball into the empty net. The remainder of the match was Hearts v Goram with Scott Crabbe denied twice by two acrobatic, breath-taking saves. Hearts: Walker, Sandison, McKinlay, Levein, Wright, McPherson, Crabbe, D.Ferguson, Robertson.

Hibs: Goram, Miller, Milne, Orr, Hamilton, Hunter, Weir, P.Wright, Findlay, Mitchell, McGinlay.

LINLITHGOW ROSE CFC MAKE DONATION TO MND SCOTLAND

Hearts’ Community Football Department recently partnered up with Linlithgow Rose Community FC to deliver one of their popular Play the Game

Courses, which resulted in a very generous donation from Linlithgow to the club’s new front of shirt partner, MND Scotland.

The aim of this partnership with

Linlithgow Rose Community FC (LRCFC), one of West Lothian’s largest grassroots clubs, was to encourage local youngsters to get out of the house, socialise with friends and engage with their love for playing the game. Across the entire 8 week Summer programme, the ‘Play the Game’ team managed to deliver 14 courses, across 7 venues to almost 900 kids, including 100+ youngsters at Linlithgow between the 26th-30th July.

As part of this partnership between the clubs, there is an agreed share of any surplus generated to help support the continuing work of both our own Community Football department but also to help the partnering grassroots clubs. Previous partner clubs have used this money to purchase new kits and equipment, put towards facility hire or used to subsidise youngsters attendance of their teams. Linlithgow Rose CFC, themselves a registered charity, decided to do something a little different with their surplus and selflessly donate it to MND Scotland. The total donation sat at around £300 initially but in a further act of incredible generosity, Linlithgow Rose CFC, decided to round this figure up to £500 to further help the fight against Motor Neurone Disease.

Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is a brutally fast, rapidly progressing terminal illness that stops signals from the brain from reaching the muscles. This means people with MND can quickly lose their ability to walk, talk, eat and breathe unaided. There is no cure or effective treatment, but MND Scotland continues to work tirelessly to fund pioneering research as well as providing practical, emotional, and financial support to those impacted by the disease, with the ultimate aim of defeating MND. Thanks to a pioneering new 2-year partnership with Dell Technologies, Hearts will proudly sport MND Scotland across the front of their home shirts, as well as a donation being made to the charity for every home shirt sold. This fantastic partnership between the club, Dell Technologies and MND Scotland will honour the memory of former captain Marius Žaliūkas who passed away last year after a brave struggle against motor neurone disease. Speaking on the successful Play the Game Partnership and generous £500 donation from Linlithgow Rose CFC, C.J Sandison, Hearts’ Community Co-ordinator, said: “Linlithgow Rose Community FC have long been supporters of our Play the Game programme. To partner up with them for our Summer Courses and see the response in getting over 100 youngsters join us, is superb and testament to LRCFC’s reach in the local community. For them to then

suggest donating £500 to MND Scotland as part of the partnership, blew us all away with the immense generosity of the trustees. I’d like to give a profound thank you on behalf of all here at Hearts to Russell Gordon, Alistair Paton and Michael Wilson at LRCFC for this successful partnership and their donation to help the fight against MND.” Morag McGowan, Corporate Partnerships Manager at MND Scotland, said on the donation:

“It was an absolute pleasure to meet all at LRCFC and accept the incredibly generous donation of £500. It was fantastic to hear of the great work being done in the local community by LRCFC and the wider South East region area by Hearts Community football team. The donation is going to help support many living with MND and make such a difference so a massive thank you to Linlithgow and Hearts for their work in supporting MND Scotland.” Club Secretary at Linlithgow Rose CFC, Russell Gordon, added:

“To partner up with the Hearts Play the Game Team and provide football for over 100 of our youngsters over the Summer was superb to be a part of. The kids absolutely loved the week and we look forward to partnering up with Hearts again in the future. When we discussed the surplus funds from the course, we never had any doubt that we wanted to donate this money. To see the work that MND Scotland do and know that we can support that should make all associated with LRCFC really proud.” To celebrate the success of the partnership course and to give thanks to LRCFC for their generosity, the club hosted the trustees of LRCFC and Morag McGowan from MND Scotland at Tynecastle last week to present a cheque for £500 to help battle MND. Pictures below.

To find out more about MND Scotland, and join our fight against MND, please visit https://www. mndscotland.org.uk/ To find out more about upcoming Holiday Play the Game Courses email CalumSandison@homplc.co.uk