Reilly gives Hearts pals a guided tour of Hampden

GARY SUTHERLAND

ON A grey Glasgow night they are training at Lesser Hampden, a mere free-kick from the National Stadium, when a vocal local child, familiar with this patch of Mount Florida, peers beyond the dark blue gate and shouts: "C'moan the Spiders!" These are fine words of encouragement for the amateurs of Queen's Park who convene here twice weekly after work for more work in order that they might translate the extra graft into matchday craft.

Steven Reilly has driven back from Edinburgh where he is learning his trade as a plumber to be put through his paces by manager Billy Stark. There's a big match on Tuesday, central defender Reilly anticipating a hard shift when Hearts visit Hampden for their CIS Cup second round tie, an additional factor being the ties between Reilly and several of the Hearts players.

This amiable 23-year-old spent two years at Tynecastle where he won the Youth Cup against Rangers. Team-mate Craig Gordon remains a friend, as does Stephen Simmons, and naturally Reilly knows Steven Pressley and Andy Webster too. "Craig has done tremendously well to establish himself as Scotland's No.1," says Reilly. "Andy is the same age as me and gives every young guy hope for what he has done so far."

While these Hearts peers have known only progression, it has been markedly different for Reilly who, in his second Hearts season, succumbed to an injury which laid him out for six months. Craig Levein became manager and Reilly suffered the further misfortune of having his Hearts future laid aside. But the hardest part was still to come.

"Stirling Albion was a reality check," says Reilly who had to balance his disappointment with finding a source of income. "Football is what you love doing and then you have to look for a job. It was hard to take and I didn't know if I could cope." He coped in a menswear store in Glasgow, selling suits. This suited him in the sense that his employer at least permitted him Saturdays off so that he could play football.

But when Allan Moore succeeded Ray Stewart at Albion, Reilly's difficulties returned. "Again I was injured at the time. It wasn't happening and it was time to move on. It has been that kind of pattern for me but then no player can dictate when he's going to be on the sidelines."

Reilly feels his football career troubles stem from tearing his thigh at Hearts. "I never really recovered from that and without full-time football I wasn't getting the use of gym facilities for rehabilitation. Coming to training after a full day's work I'm more likely to pull something because I'm not working those muscles on a regular basis."

In a few turbulent years Reilly has discovered a lot about football and himself and in his third season with Queen's Park is accustomed to the routine.

"I'm used to this now but I'm not giving up on my aspirations of a return to full-time football. I'm still only 23. It might even seem like it's drifting away but I'd be happy with second or first division football and making a living out of the game. Football still comes first in my life."

While harbouring hopes of a higher foot-hold in the game, Reilly does not take Queen's Park for granted. Deciding to play for the only amateur club in Scottish senior football is commitment in itself as there is no financial reward for that loyalty.

"Our crowd is small but we pull our boots on every second week and we're at Hamp-den. While they don't give you money the bonuses are great. Two seasons ago we went to Italy pre-season. This summer I went to Japan." Reilly accompanied a predominantly English select side, travelling to Tokyo to take on J-League sides in World Cup stadiums.

Not that such an excursion would have Reilly starry-eyed. After all he did have a trial for Real Madrid when they were looking for a full-back a few years back and Reilly's agent put him forward "I was training at Partick at the time and before I knew it I was at Real Madrid. I'm walking along the road with this Portuguese lad and Seedorf pulls into the training ground in his Ferrari. That week was an out-of-this-world experience."

It was shortly after the Real trial that Reilly signed for Hearts. The reason he'd been training with Thistle was he had just been released by first club Motherwell whom he joined as a teenager after Alex McLeish popped round to the house one night. "He persuaded me and my mum and dad that Motherwell was the right place for me to be and, you never know, it might have happened for me with him but he went to Hibs and then Harri Kampman came in."

After facing Hearts on Tuesday he hopes to have a beer with old friends after the game. "Depending on how well we've played! We're three divisions below them and they're out to show they are a top force this season so I don't think they'll take the foot off the pedal. George Burley will want them to score as many goals as possible."

Meanwhile Reilly's scoring exploits have made him the answer to a quiz question in the Queen's Park Social Club. Incredibly he netted a hat-trick of penalties at Hampden on his debut. "It was a very unusual day that." I'm not surprised. Do you know of anyone else ever doing something like that? "I know I was the last one to do it," he grins. "It's a funny achievement, something I can have a wee laugh about." You laugh with Steven Reilly and genuinely wish him well for the future.

Taken from the Scotsman