Hearts win equal share of Scottish Cup final tickets

Rob Robertson

15 Apr 1998

HEARTS and Rangers are set to be given a near equal split of Scottish Cup final tickets following a private meeting between the clubs and the SFA yesterday.

It is understood that the Edinburgh club will receive just less than 24,000 tickets, compared to around 25,000 for the Ibrox outfit.

The ticket allocation will be welcomed by Hearts fans, who were concerned that Rangers would receive the lion's share of tickets for the match to be staged at Celtic Park.

Rangers' representative at the meeting, operations manager Alistair Hood, was unavailable for comment yesterday.

However, Hearts' representatives are delighted at the split of tickets, with the majority of their allocation to be in the North Stand.

Chief executive Chris Robinson had written to the SFA prior to yesterday's meeting asking for a 50-50 split and had requested that lots should be drawn for the bigger allocation if such a distribution could not be agreed.

Yesterday, Robinson, who attended the meeting to discuss the matter with the SFA and Rangers, said: ''Certainly we believe this is as fair a split as we could have achieved bearing in mind the restrictions placed on ticket allocation by the police in terms of segregation and As they heard the good news for their fans, Hearts were yesterday facing major concern on the playing front in the chase for the league title.

It is likely that their top scorer, Jim Hamilton, will miss out on three of the club's four matches in the title run-in, while midfield player Colin Cameron is struggling to shake off a pelvic injury and may also miss some of the remaining games.

Although Hamilton's suspension has yet to be confirmed, he was sitting on 14 points, two below the level for suspension, before his booking at Easter Road on Saturday, and his involvement in an incident with Hibernian midfielder Pat McGinlay is likely to lead to an automatic three-match ban.

As for Cameron, Hearts manager Jim Jefferies is considering resting him to make sure he is fit for the Scottish Cup final against Rangers.

In recent weeks, the midfield player has been having to rest between games and missed out on last Wednesday's home draw against Motherwell, although he did play in the defeat against Hibs.

He will see a specialist later on this week for a second opinion on the injury, which has curtailed his form of late.

The midfield area is one that caused manager Jim Jefferies concern on Saturday and he will hope captain Steve Fulton and Cameron can return to the form that provided a springboard for Hearts' league and cup successes.

The expected loss of Hamilton will be a major blow to the Tynecastle club as he has hit a rich vein of goalscoring form and has created a profitable combination with French striker Stephane Adam.

Hamilton, who won the Bells Player of the Month for March, will be ruled out of the games against Rangers at Tynecastle, Aberdeen at Pittodrie, and the final-day home match against Dunfermline Athletic, although he can play against St Johnstone at Tynecastle on Saturday.

The suspension will be over before the Scottish Cup final in which Hamilton, who was signed from Dundee for #300,000 15 months ago, is obviously keen to figure.

On the positive side for Hearts, club captain Gary Locke is making good progress and there is a chance he may return to the side against St Johnstone on Saturday - and, if not then, is likely to be fit for the following week.

Meanwhile, Hearts annnounced they had plans to stage a rugby league match between London Broncos, which is owned by Richard Branson, and Bradford Bulls in the summer, to promote the game north of the Border.

Club chairman Leslie Deans said yesterday that the game, planned for Sunday, July 19, was an example of the Edinburgh club maximising the use of Tyne-castle, which is at the centre of a #9m redevelopment programme.

Among the famous players who could turn out in the rugby league match are Martin Offiah, Shaun Edwards and former All Black John Timu.

Taken from the Herald