Pride and joy: no broken hearts in Gretna as Jambos parade their win

In Edinburgh, population 450,000, tens of thousands of Hearts fans lined the streets yesterday to cheer Hearts – and the Scottish Cup – home to Tynecastle.

In Gretna, population 3500, they threw a children's disco at Raydale Park, home to the narrowly beaten finalists.

The celebrations may have been different but the pride was felt as deeply in the border village as in the nation's capital.

"We have nothing to be downhearted about," declared Mary Telfer, a 60-year-old Gretna florist born the year her local team was formed. "The game was absolutely fantastic and we couldn't ask for anything better – as far as I'm concerned it was 1-1."

That was how the game ended on Saturday, at least after extra time. Then 45,000 fans – perhaps 10,000 in Gretna's black and white colours, watched the cup go to Hearts after penalty kicks.

The sky over Ms Telfer's shop may have been grey yesterday but her town was still very much black and white.

From the beauty salon to the cake shop, there was evidence of the pre-match build-up. Shops had still to take down the banners in their windows wishing the team good luck. Anywhere else the sight would have been just a bit sad. Not in Gretna. Here it was still party time.

Brooks Mileson, Gretna's sugar daddy, spent much of the day wandering the village, chatting with traders and signing autographs.

Callum and Gail Boyd walked daughter Jo and her friend Natasha to the Raydale Park disco, all in white shirts, still celebrating the village's biggest ever day.

Mike Chapman, 64, said: "I have not met a miserable person today. There has never been this much excitement in Gretna."

Jack Gass, a 64-year-old lifelong fan, said: "They were all heroes yesterday. It was totally a team effort. It would have been better if we had won but we made a good show."

Shaun Kenny travelled 380 miles from Bristol with his two brothers. "I was born 150 yards from the club. But when my father died I left because he was my last tie with the town, apart from the team.

"I'm so proud. I was in my kilt the whole day and went straight to the function room in the clubhouse when I got back here. I was dancing and singing Neil Diamond on the karaoke machine."

Gretna – or at least its Green – has always been best known for its weddings. Last year it welcomed more than 5000 happy couples.

Now football has upstaged marriages. "It's put Gretna on the map," said Stevie Marshall, 50, a lorry driver who played for the reserves team in the 1970s. "The whole town is behind them."

Not all Gretnans were in the village yesterday. Louise Marshall Millington, was in the capital, ironically piping Hearts to their victory party.

Police believe 80,000 people watched Hearts parade their cup through Edinburgh. About 10,000 followed the team's open-top bus throughout its journey.

Yet even Hearts fans spared a thought for their victims. Yesterday even the most diehard fans of the Jam Tarts admitted their team had been a bit, well, jammy. Johnathan Scott, 28, from Edinburgh's High Street said: "The Gretna fans and players were fantastic. After the game the Gretna players paraded around the ground.You'd never see that at a Celtic or Rangers game. Even the Hearts supporters applauded them."

Derek Lindsay, 56, has supported the Jambos since he was three. He planned to pop the cork on his champagne as the players' bus passed him from the City Chambers down the Mound towards Tynecastle.

Mr Lindsay said: "I'm over the moon. It's a while since we've won, but I'm lucky – I've seen it twice in my lifetime."

There were smirks in the crowd too, as fans looked forward to this Monday morning's bragging rights. Few could forget that Hearts have now won the Scottish Cup six times. Capital rivals Hibs, however, haven't held the trophy since 1902.

James Mitchell, 79, and wife Jessie, 82, have seen this all before. Fifty years ago the couple gathered in the High Street after Hearts' cup win in 1956. This time their two daughters had to plan the day with military precision to ensure their parents could attend the event.

Alison Augustithis, 55, from Portobello, said: "Our parents are now in a nursing home, but it was important to us that we brought them here today, as it is fifty years since they were last here together.

"First we had to get permission from the nursing home," she said. "Then we collected our mum and dad and their wheelchairs by taxi.

"We got here nice and early so that we could get a good spot in the High Street which would give them a nice view of the team bus as it passed."

Taken from the Herald