Tom can't get enough of that Hearts hurly Burley

FAN OF THE WEEK

TOM WALLACE from Edinburgh was nominated to be Fan of the Week for the dedication he has shown over the last decade following the Jambos.

Tom's love affair with the Jambos began at Cappielow some 20 years ago when his elder brother Alan took him along to a game against Morton and he's been hooked ever since.

But it is the last ten years that 26-year-old Tom has become a diehard, holding a season-ticket and rarely missing a game, including European trips.

First Hearts game: "I was only about six when I went to the Morton game. I'm not sure what the final score was although I remember we won and that it was freezing and pouring with rain- it always seems to rain in Greenock. Apparently the only thing I kept asking was 'is it time to go home yet' so I obviously didn't enjoy it that much!

Most memorable moment: "There are two that really stick out. I suppose the first is obvious for every Hearts fan and that is watching them lift the Scottish Cup in 1998. The whole season was great and we played some fantastic football so it was great to be rewarded with a trophy. The second is perhaps a little more obscure and that's the second leg of the Hearts v Stuttgart UEFA Cup game at Tynecastle. Hearts won but still went out over the two-legs but it was the best atmosphere I have every experienced at Tynecastle."

Favourite all-time player: "I've seen a lot of good players but my favourite, although he wasn't perhaps the best of all that I have seen, was Thomas Flogel. I thought he was hugely underrated and did a great job for Hearts while he was at the club. I don't like to use the word but I suppose he was a versatile player. About the only two places I didn't see him play for Hearts were left back and goalkeeper although I'm sure he would have done a great job there too! He was part of the cup-winning team and really seemed to enjoy his time at the club. I've even seen him back at Tynecastle watching matches from time to time."

Favourite all-time manager: "I know it's early days but it's shaping up to be George Burley already given how he has transformed the club. It's unusual for any club in Scotland outwith the Old Firm to attract a manager like him and I'm really confident that under him the club can go on to achieve great things."

Greatest lengths gone to in order to watch Hearts: "I was lucky enough to see Hearts beat Bordeaux in the UEFA Cup a few years ago although my brother and I almost missed the match. We drove to Prestwick and flew with a low-cost airline to Paris, or so we thought. It turned out that the airport was actually a good hour away from Paris yet we had a tight schedule and a train to catch to Bordeaux and it was the last one of the night. Anyway, after a nervous bus journey into Paris we arrived at the station just in time to see the last train leave. The place was getting locked up for the night so we ended up having to wander about Paris until the next one, seven hours later at 7am. "Our tickets were then not valid so we had no shell out for new ones but it was all worth it when Mark de Vries scored!"

Funniest Hearts related moment: "I went to a Hearts v Raith game a good few years ago and bought a Hearts fanzine on the way in. I was flicking through the pages and there was a feature called 'Where are they now?' I recognised one of the pictures of this wee boy in the seventies who was leading out the Hearts team with this awful haircut. Then it finally clicked that it was my brother-in-law! We had a good chuckle at that."

Taken from the Scotsman