Tynecastle ‘Best Away Ground’ In SPL

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.