Hearts have managed to win two prizes at the inaugural Clydesdale Bank Premier League End Of Season Awards at Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow.
The club are to be commended for the efforts and innovation that resulted in them receiving the award of ‘best fan initiative’, which was for their ‘Magnificent Seven’ scheme. This was a project that aimed to encourage families from all over the country to come to Tynecastle, with things like stadium tours, free shirts/match tickets and meeting players all being part of the packages given out, and it seems to have been a roaring success. This sort of thing is particularly important for clubs like Hearts, who should be looking to grow as much as they can in order to realise the potential that we all know is there.
However it is the award given to Tynecastle Stadium for ‘Best Away Ground’ that will no doubt have generated more debate among the fans, and indeed those of other clubs. Ever since our famous old ground’s redevelopment back in the ’90s it has received excellent feedback from around the country for the unique atmosphere that can be generated there. The ‘closeness’ to the pitch seems to have been what has helped this the most – the stands do practically appear to be right on top of the pitch and I can imagine that Tynie must be a pretty intimidating place to play if you’re an opposing player. The fact that the corners are closed in also helps to keep the noise levels high.
Quite a few fans of other clubs have told me they do rate Tynecastle as one of the best, if not the best ground in the SPL now, although given Hearts’ form this season perhaps the motives for that are nothing at all to do with the stadium! Let’s face it, it’s not exactly been ‘Fortress Tynecastle’ has it? I mean, even Rangers have won there for goodness sake!
Seriously though, this is good publicity for a change, and yet more weight behind the argument that staying at Tynecastle is imperative for Hearts. There’s quite a lot of nervousness just now about the future of our home and the ‘impending’ (or otherwise) redevelopment of the new stand is seen as an absolutely pivotal moment in the club’s immediate future. Let’s hope that our fears can be quelled in the next few weeks and we see evidence of something positive happening on that front.
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Personally I think it’s the best home ground but there you go …… I wonder what we think is the best away ground. I quite like Easter Road which I think in many ways resembles Tynie, i.e. 3 decent stands and 1 pile of keech, and a good atmosphere (in my opinion anyway).
Well I don’t suppose many of us can really comment on what the best home ground is unless we regularly sit with home fans at other venues. Personally I find the Hearts support quite over-critical and quiet, but then that’s probably where I sit. As for away grounds, yeah I’d probably agree with Easter Road – I’d say both of the Edinburgh grounds are the best in the league for atmosphere. Tannadice is probably the best view, but if you end up in the old ‘L’ shaped stand and you’re over five feet tall, forget it!
Celtic Park was voted as the 2nd best atmosphere in Europe by fans all over the continent. Rangers finished a pathetic and miserable… well.. that’s the problem out of the top 20 they weren’t even ranked. BTW Larsson was also voted the 4th Greatest foreign player to ever play in the UK out of a list of 50. Laudrup finished a miserable 24th. That puts that story to bed as to who was the greatest to ever play in Scotland then.
It’s only people’s opinions though isn’t it? This sort of thing isn’t ever decided as a matter of fact. Which foreign player was considered to be the best import as a matter of interest? Cantona or Zola maybe?
Cantona.
Difficult to disagree, although there will be those who’ll say that the likes of Ronaldo these days are at that level now.
true i think zola had more of an impact than cantona did and bergkamp was 2nd then henry then larsson
Larsson 4th for best import in the Premisership? You have to be having a laugh.
In the UK I think he said. Considering how long he was here and what he achieved I think it’s fair comment.
Larsson for his price was probably the best ever to play in the UK. In the words of Thierry Henry after the Champions League final, where Henrik single won it on his won for Barca. “Everyone talks about Ronaldinhio, Eto people like that, but i didnt see them tonight! I only saw Henrik Larsson, he came on and twice changed the game. So talk about the proper footballer after the game, the one who made the difference, and tonight it was Henrik Larsson”
Correction *Own*
Great player, undoubtedly. Best player? Hmmm… not so sure about that. I guess it shows that it all depends on which colours you have painted on the inside of your eyelids.
Yeah that’s true, although to be fair I think Henry’s comments had a lot to do with a personal spat with Ronaldinho at the time than anything else. Not taking anything away from Larsson – he was excellent, but it’s difficult to truly rate how good he was because he regularly played in a league like ours – would have been interesting to see how he’d have done in Spain or Italy at his peak.
Ronaldinho, who said, “With Henrik leaving us at the end of the season this club is losing a great scorer, no question. But I am also losing a great friend. Henrik was my idol and now that I am playing next to him it is fantastic.”[4] SJ, I don’t think those who voted in the poll are as you seem to be suggesting, die hard Celtic fans. For me and obviously for many others he deserves to be in the top 5.
R.K., and if I had voted, the results would have been skewed a different way. Swings and roundabouts really – and all down to personal opinion. When you get to that level, there’s really very little to choose between any of them so it’s all about small factors & personal preference. For me, Laudrup was the greatest SPL foreign player, but clearly not everyone agrees.
Neither of you guys are wrong or right on this though – you just have a view – same applies to Ronaldinho or Henry. Larsson was very different in style to some of the guys he’s being compared against here though (Laudrup, Henry, etc) – you’re better putting him up against someone like Van Nistelrooy or Solkjaer here. Oh and btw, Tynecastle is STILL the best away ground in the SPL…apparently!
Yep, and that’s…er…undisputed! It was in a poll so it must be true.
These polls are always correct SJ – didn’t you know that?
Has to be Schmeichel for me, he almost single handedly saved an entire season for Man U. I always feel that goalkeepers are forgotten for strikers and as a former school goalie I always argue in their favour. Big Pete made mistakes but remember how many times have we watched Larsson sky it or Henry miss the ball entirely.
Schmeichel is a fantastic shout actually – probably the biggest influence on United in the ’90s – and that includes Cantona.