Tam Cowan: Hearts off to the diehard Jambos who raised £30k in one day at Tynecastle

TAM pays tribute to the Hearts supporters who took part in a rally at Tynecastle last week to raise much-needed funds for their troubled club.

IT was an honour and a privilege to be at Tynecastle last Sunday for the Hearts Fans’ Rally.

Mainly because it gave me one last chance to have a look at the famous old stadium.

Nah, only joking. There are 30,000 reasons why I think the Jambos will survive as, unbelievably, that’s how many pounds a few hundred diehards raised over the course of a fun-filled day in the Gorgie Suite.

I even got to taste the fundraising beer Rudi Skac-Ale (tasty and full of life at Tynecastle, flat as a pancake at Tannadice) and it’s certainly well named.

One quick swig and I kept falling over for no apparent reason.

It was announced on the day that the fresh wave of season-ticket sales had hit 1900. This prompted one big-hearted Jambo to buy another two on the spot so that (Hibs fans look away now) the total was 1902.

I started my wee stint by holding up cards with the numbers 5 and 1.

But don’t worry, I’m not into that sooky-sooky stuff.

With every mobile camera in the hall beautifully poised, I held them up as “15” to show exactly how many points the cheating b******s will be docked next season.

As a Motherwell fan, I know exactly how the Jambos are feeling right now.

We went into administration in April 2002 and Hearts went into administration in April 2013 (although, to avoid relegation, the fly sods didn’t actually announce it until June).

Donald Findlay QC was the other speaker last Sunday and he was terrific. Bit of a busman’s holiday, though, for a QC to speak in front of Hearts fans on his day off, eh?

A lifelong Rangers fan, Donald is now chairman of Cowdenbeath (glory hunter!) and he spoke warmly about the need for all Scottish football fans to pull together and why the country would be a poorer place without Hearts.

It was great stuff, although I know some of the audience were surprised he had the microphone for 40 minutes without giving us one song.

(Did you know Donald auditioned for The Voice last year? The judges hated it. Well, except King Will.i.am.)

The star names on Sunday were led by Gary Locke. He’s been Hearts boss for six months (gold watch material when you consider the recent managers at Tynecastle have been fired as frequently as The One O’Clock Gun).

It was weird to see Lockey at a big Hearts event – he’s usually injured. In fact, I enjoyed extracting the urine about that famous image of him holding the 1998 Scottish Cup aloft while wearing his suit. Now you know where John Terry got the idea.

The event was also supported by former player Paul Hartley and what a job he’s done at Alloa with successive promotions from the Third Division to the Second and then up to the First.

Just think, if the wee man celebrates a memorable hat-trick next season, he won’t get to lead his team out at Tynecastle the following year.

The Hearts first-team squad were also in attendance and what a sacrifice some of those lads have made. Many of them have agreed to play for half the wages they weren’t getting.

Former assistant-boss Billy Brown has offered to work for nothing. What a gesture. That’s a tenner a week less than he was getting at East Fife.

Davie Weir has also done his bit. The ex-Hearts skipper has kindly agreed to donate this year’s winter fuel allowance.

And it was revealed on Sunday that another former player – the one and only Mo Johnston – has bought two season tickets – even though Hibs are apparently the only club he’s ever wanted to buy two season tickets for.

Sadly, the ultimate Hearts legend, John Robertson, didn’t make it along to the rally. The wee man was planning to put in an appearance but he got as far as Hermiston Gate before spending the next eight hours at Krispy Kreme.

I nearly never made it as well. Earlier on Sunday I was asked to show face at a charity game in Leith between two teams of drug addicts and the ref added two hours of injury time. Aye, it was a proper needle match.

? We all know about the heroic Hearts players who went to fight for king and country in the First World War. But were you aware a similar thing almost happened some 70 years later?

Yep, just before the start of the Falklands conflict, I have it on good authority that Walter Kidd challenged Argentina to a square-go.

? I read this week that Hearts are doing a fundraising gig for 80s pop star Fish. Or have I got that the wrong way round?

? Memo to my wee BBC pal Billy Dodds: Don’t forget to pack the factor 50 when you jet off on holiday next week.

I’m worried sick after reading in yesterday’s paper about the poor wee cat that had both ears amputated due to sunburn.

Do you know why ginger people sunburn so easily? It’s nature’s way of telling them to stay indoors.

Taken from the Daily Record