Murrayfield of dreams for Hearts

By Phil Gordon

At this time of year, Murrayfield's famous turf usually endures nothing more than the footprints of one man and his lawn mower. On Wednesday night, the spiritual home of Scottish rugby will find its summer break shattered - on and off the pitch.

The stadium is being hijacked by the round ball. More than 20,000 Heart of Midlothian fans are expected for the club's Champions' League second qualifying round, first leg, against Siroki Brijeg. If the Bosnians lack the cachet of Schalke 04, whom Hearts enter-tained at Murrayfield two years ago in the Uefa Cup, then it has not diluted the fervour of the Edinburgh public.

More than 250,000 turned out in May to watch Hearts parade the Scottish Cup around the city after the dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Gretna. But the real prize for Valdas Ivanauskas's side had already been won: qualifying for the Champions' League by finishing second in the Scottish Premier League.

This hurdle, and then, they hope, a far bigger one in the third qualifying round next month, stand between Hearts and a potential £10 million payout if they reach the lucrative group stage. It is for that reason that Hearts have brought Murrayfield off the bench again for a European campaign.

Their own Tynecastle may be the most atmospheric ground in the business, but its 17,000 seats can no longer cope with the demand from Hearts fans domestically, never mind on the big stage. Every SPL game was a sellout last season and that meant that relocating to Murrayfield - just around the corner - was a risk worth taking, to maximise on revenue and satisfy supporter interest.

Just to get in the swing of things for Siroki, Hearts played Osasuna in a friendly last Wednesday. They defeated the Spanish side, who are also in the Champions' League, 2-0, and Osasuna's goalkeeper, Ricardo, believes the Edinburgh club can reach the holy grail of the group stage.

"They are a good passing side and I think they would do well in the Champions' League," said the former Manchester United keeper. "Hearts are like Osasuna in the Spanish league. We are both small clubs, and it is refreshing to see those teams qualify."

For Steven Pressley, it is vital that Hearts do not suffer the same upset that befell Celtic this time last year, when they went into a second qualifying round tie against the unknown Artmedia Bratislava and went out of the Champions' League after losing 5-4 on aggregate. "We have to guard against complacency," said the Hearts captain. "Celtic's experience last year shows that whoever you get, it will be a real test. This is our first chance to experience the Champions' League and we don't want to mess it up."

Pressley is one of the few survivors from Hearts' fine run in the Uefa Cup in 2003-04, and for that reason he felt that the dry run at Murrayfield last week was a useful exercise. "There are not too many of us left from the squad two season ago, so it was beneficial," he said. "Those Uefa Cup games were good nights at Murrayfield. The fans generated a great atmosphere, and hopefully they can do it again."

The only time Ibrahim Tall had set foot in the place was when he went with his Hearts compatriot Jérôme Brellier to see their beloved France beaten by Scotland last January in rugby's Six Nations' Championship. Tall scored one of the goals against Osasuna, and the defender would love to repeat that against the Bosnians.

"It is a great stadium and the pitch is also very good," said Tall. "I think that if we have more fans here next week it will be very good for the team, because the atmosphere will be very impor-tant. When I played in France the supporters were very quiet, but in this country the supporters are much louder."

Hearts could give their fans even more reason for walking tall if they end up reaching the Champions' League group stage.

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