Heart of Midlothian v Sunderland | Pre-season Friendly | 17.07.21

H E A R T O F M I D L O T H I A N V S S U N D E R L A N D A F C | T Y N E C A S T L E PA R K | 1 7. 0 7. 2 1 | 3 P M | £ 3

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M ATC H S P O N S O R

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CONTENTS

06 Today’s Squads 10 Craig Gordon 12 Opposition 05

18 Hearts on Tour 22 Charles Thomson 28 Big Hearts

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C LU B D I R E C T O RY League Champions: 1895, 1897, 1958, 1960.

1st Division: 1980, 2015, 2021 Scottish Cup: 1891, 1896, 1901, 1906, 1956, 1998, 2006, 2012.

League Cup: 1954/55, 1958/59, 1959/60, 1962/63.

Address: Tynecastle Park, Gorgie Road, Edinburgh, EH11 2NL Email: supporterservices@homplc. co.uk

Ticket Centre Tel: 0333 043 1874 (option 1, then 1) Online tickets: eticketing.co.uk/ heartofmidlothian Twitter: @HeartsTickets Clubstore Tel: 0333 043 1874 Website: www.heartsdirect.co.uk

Text the club confidentially on 07467 918874 to report incidents which you deem to be unacceptable within Tynecastle Park.

Twitter: @HeartsClubstore Hearts Museum @HeartsMuseum Programme Contributors Phil Turnbull, Sven Houston, Gary Cowen, David Mollison, Bill Smith, David Speed, Calum Sandison, Robert Doyle, Laura Livingston, IS SPO RT Laurie Dunsire Programme produced by: Design by: Ben Mortimer The views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the views of Heart of Midlothian Football Club.

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Most League Apps: Gary Mackay – 515 (1980-97) Most League Goals: John Robertson – 214 (1983-98)

Tel: 0333 043 1874 Website: www.heartsfc.co.uk Social Media Twitter: @JamTarts Instagram: @heartofmidlothianfc Facebook: heartofmidlothianfc LinkedIN: Heart of Midlothian FC Tynecastle Events: @TynecastlePark_ (Twitter)

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Formed: 1874

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We Meet Again We last locked horns with Sunderland back in August 2009 when a crowd of 13,000 watched on as Hearts held the then English Premiership side to a 1-1 draw in Gorgie.

David Obua (pictured) opened the scoring on the half-hour mark only for Darren Bent to pull the Mackems level 10 minutes later.

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HEARTS MANAGER: ROBBIE NEILSON CRAIG GORDON 01 MICHAEL SMITH 02 STEPHEN KINGSLEY 03 JOHN SOUTTAR 04 PETER HARING 05 JAMIE WALKER 07 AARON MCENEFF 08 LIAM BOYCE 10 GARY MACKAY-STEVEN 11 ROSS STEWART 13 ANDY HALLIDAY 16 ALEX COCHRANE 17 CRAIG HALKETT 19 JORDAN ROBERTS 20 ARMAND GNANDUILLET 21 EUAN HENDERSON 22 SCOTT MCGILL 24 CONNOR SMITH 27 MIHAI POPESCU 28 LOIC DAMOUR 29 JOSH GINNELLY 30 AIDAN DENHOLM 35 FINLAY POLLOCK 38

@officialheartofmidlothianfc @JamTarts @heartofmidlothianfc Heart of Midlothian FC

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SUNDERLAND MANAGER: LEE JOHNSON LEE BURGE TOM FLANAGAN JORDAN WILLIS BAILEY WRIGHT AIDEN O’BRIEN LYNDEN GOOCH LUKE O’NIEN ELLIOT EMBLETON ARBENIT XHEMAJLI JACK DIAMOND WILL GRIGG CARL WINCHESTER AIDEN MCGEADY ROSS STEWART DENVER HUME ALEX PRITCHARD

MATCH SPONSOR

MANAGER NOTES

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G

ood afternoon and welcome from Tynecastle Park.

I’d like to start by saying thank you to the 2000 Hearts fans who were here in Gorgie on Tuesday night to cheer us on to victory over Cove Rangers. It’s been a long, long 16 months playing in empty stadiums and Tynecastle is an arena that thrives on having supporters inside, generating an unbeatable atmosphere. To hear encouragement, applause and even singing during the week was a fantastic feeling and everyone here at the club is looking forward to it once again becoming a regular occurrence.

Our win over Cove Rangers was deserved and it was a good performance. At this early stage of the season we’re still finetuning parts of our play, but the big thing for me is that we’re creating lots of chances. We’ve got that attacking threat out wide and through the middle, and at the other end we’ve kept two clean sheets in two games.

There were lots of positives to take from Tuesday night. Craig Gordon kept his ninth consecutive shutout – a new club record – which is a great feat for him. Finlay Pollock made his full debut and Aidan Denholm came off the bench for his senior debut.

These young players are here on merit and I’ve been impressed, not just with their impact in games, but with the way they handle themselves in and around training. The onus is on them to keep it up.

Today we take a break from competitive action as we welcome Lee Johnson, the players and staff of Sunderland to Tynecastle for a friendly match. Lee is someone I know well as we were teammates here at Hearts back in 2006, and Craig Gordon moved from Hearts to Sunderland in 2007 so there are lots of connections that link our two clubs. I’m expecting a good game today. Sunderland are a big club down in England, with a massive fanbase, and they’ll be keen to build up momentum ahead of their season.

For us, it’s much the same. We had a good preseason and we’ve started the Premier Sports Cup campaign with two wins, five goals and two clean sheets. We want to keep the positivity flowing as we work towards a massive league opener against Celtic.

So if you’re here at the stadium, or watching at home, I hope you enjoy the game.

Robbie Neilson

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ood afternoon everyone and welcome back to Tynecastle!

CAPTAIN GORDON

First of all, I would like to start by thanking everyone who was fortunate enough to attend our Premier Sports Cup game against Cove Rangers this past Tuesday. To have fans back inside Tynecastle for the first time in 494 days was phenomenal and you really spurred the boys on to victory.

I have to admit I got a bit emotional when the entire stadium sang the Hearts song 10 minutes before fulltime. To hear that again after so long was really special and all the boys were talking about it in the dressing room at full time. We know you’ve missed it but believe me, we’ve been longing for it as well.

We were pleased with the performance against Cove Rangers and personally I was delighted to break the club record for most consecutive clean sheets (nine), as well as the most minutes without conceding.

I knew going into the game that I had to get to the 86th minute of the game in order to break the record as well as keep a clean sheet. When Craig Halkett went down with a knock on 84 minutes I was desperate for his treatment to last at least two minutes! I may have ever so slightly encouraged him to take his time.

This afternoon is another opportunity for us to fine tune our game ahead of the Premiership opener against Celtic later this month. It’s safe to say I’m a tad familiar with today’s visitors, the team I joined from Hearts back in 2007.

They will provide quality opposition this afternoon as they gear up for a push for promotion to the Championship. We were in the Premier League for the full five years that I was there and it’s disappointing to see them in the third tier now. That being said, I firmly believe they’re in good hands with Lee Johnson, an exteammate of mine here at Hearts.

I really hope they’re successful in their bid to get out of League One this season because Sunderland is a huge club that deserves to be much higher than it is.

They’re the size of club that’s capable of back-to-back promotion. They’re a Premier League club in terms of their stadium, facilities and Academy of Light.

Everything they have is set up for the Premier League and I hope they get back there as soon as possible.

Enjoy the game everyone!

Craig Gordon

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OPPOSITION REPORT SUNDERLAND For those of us with a Netflix subscription, there’s an extra sense of familiarity with today’s opponents from Wearside. The ‘Sunderland ‘till I Die’ documentary series offered a captivating insight into the ups and downs at the Stadium of Light, both inside the club and within the supporter base and wider community.

Above all else, the show served as a reminder of just how big a club Sunderland is. Despite boasting a large, passionate fan base and the ninth biggest football ground in the country, the Mackems still find themselves in the third tier of the English game. They arrive in Gorgie today in preparation for a fourth crack at escaping the League One dogfight and thereby move one step closer to the bright lights of Premier League.

They exited the top-flight in 2017 following a decade at the top and duly dropped out of the Championship the following year. As they prepare to embark on their fourth season in League One, Manager Lee Johnson – a former Jambo – will be fully aware of the challenge that awaits them.

Last season saw the Black Cats finish fourth before losing out to Lincoln City in the play-off semi-finals. Johnson, who was appointed halfway through the season following the departure of Phil Parkinson, has already shown enough to suggest the team’s fortunes may be changing.

He took his side to Wembley for the EFL Trophy Final, beating Tranmere Rovers 1-0 courtesy of a Lynden Gooch strike to bring silverware back to Wearside.

FOUNDED: 1879 HOME GROUND: STADIUM OF LIGHT CAPACITY: 48,707 MANAGER: LEE JOHNSON DIVISION: LEAGUE ONE TWITTER: @SUNDERLANDAFC

HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN 13 As he arrived back at Tynecastle, where he enjoyed a brief six-month spell in 2006, Johnson finds himself in the midst of a squad rebuild. He made his first summer signing 8 days ago with the capture of 28-year-old attacking midfielder Alex Pritchard from Huddersfield Town.

He was also successful in extending the services of fellow midfielder Luke O’Nien as the talented 26-year-old penned a deal until 2024. Former Celtic winger Aiden McGeady has

also put pen to paper on a one-year deal. The 35-year-old has made 130 appearances for the North-East side since first joining in 2017.

The Sunderland attacking ranks show plenty of promise with Northern Ireland striker Will Grigg and former Ross County youngster Ross Stewart in the ranks.

It promises to be another nail biting season at the Stadium of Light.

DID YOU KNOW? The Stadium of Light opened in July 1997, replacing the club’s home of 99 years – Roker Park – which stood less than two miles away.

Located on the banks of the River Wear, the original capacity was 42,000 but expansions have seen that rise to just under 49,000 – making it the ninth-biggest football stadium in England.

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LEE JOHNSON

he Sunderland gaffer will take his seat in the away dugout this afternoon and look out onto the park he briefly called home some 15 years ago.

It was January 2006 and then Hearts boss Graham Rix was busy adding to his squad ahead of a huge second half to the season that would ultimately end with the Jambos securing Champions League football.

Seeking midfield re-enforcements, he turned to Yeovil Town and duly forked up £50,000 for services of Lee Johnson. The Suffolkborn midfielder, whose youth career began at Arsenal, made his Jam Tarts debut as a substitute in a 4-1 win at Dunfermline on January 14th.

Two weeks later he found himself thrust into his first Edinburgh Derby as Rix handed him a starting berth in a 4-1 demolition of Hibs at Tynecastle. It was a positive start for the Englishman, however, this was no ordinary season in Gorgie.

Within two months of his arrival, Rix has been removed from his post and replaced by Valdas Ivanauskas. The new manager had his own ideas and Johnson found himself frozen out of the team and had only five appearances to his name come the end of the season.

Despite penning a two-and-a-half-year deal, he departed Edinburgh in August that year, returning to Bristol City – a club managed by his father, Gary Johnson.

Six years later, Lee returned north of the border to sign for St Johnstone in 2012. It was to be the last move of his playing career and he moved into his first managerial role with Oldham Athletic in 2013. The appointment made him the youngest manager in the Football League at the ripe age of 31.

Spells at Barnsley and Bristol City then followed before Sunderland came calling in December 2020. He took the side to the semi-final Championship play-offs last season and landed the club a piece of silverware by leading them to EFL Trophy Final glory.

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EXCERPTS FROM THE HEARTS HERITAGE TRAIL Launched in 2017, the Hearts Heritage Trail coach tour visits locations throughout Edinburgh that have connections to the history of the Club during its formative years. Uncovering some surprising locations, and sharing an extensively researched story, the trail has brought hundreds of visitors an unforgettable experience filled with fun and facts and football.

This season, we will be sharing some highlights from the Heritage Trail, starting with, of course, the Heart of Midlothian itself.

‘The Heart of Midlothian’ On Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, close to the West Door of St Giles Cathedral you will find the place that gave our great club its name and one of the best football crests in the World. The crest in the cobbles marks where the door to the Edinburgh Tollbooth was and the outline of the old Tollbooth is marked out in brass sets in the road. Originally built in 1430, the Tollbooth was where the town council met, where the laws of the city were made and where the locals paid their taxes. For many who could not afford to go outside the city walls it represented the centre of their world, so the locals nicknamed the building the ‘Heart of Midlothian’.

The Tollbooth had a darker side; it housed a notorious prison where people were locked up, sometimes tortured and occasionally executed.

The citizens of old Edinburgh enjoyed a public execution and although most executions took place in the Grassmarket, some famous executions, including that of Deacon Brodie took place at the Tollbooth.

The Tollbooth was demolished in 1817 and the name “Heart of Midlothian” may have been lost forever, had it not been for a book written in the following year by Sir Walter Scott. His novel ‘The Heart of Midlothian’ centred around the story of the infamous Porteous Riots in 1736, when an unpopular local lawman – Captain Porteous – was lynched by the Edinburgh mob. The key events of the tale took place around the old Tollbooth.

The door of the old jail house is now marked by this famous cobbled heart. It quickly became tradition that people would spit on the heart to show their contempt towards the old jail.

So, there we have it, the Heart after which we are named and the recognisable emblem of our club.

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Hearts

On Tour The 1950’s Tours

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hroughout the most successful decade in the Club’s history, manager Tommy Walker forged close bonds between his talented players by taking them on six post-season tours to destinations as far apart as the USA, South Africa and Australia. I’m going to take a look at the memorabilia associated with Hearts’ tours of the 1950’s.

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Gable, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. It is also famous for being haunted!

Hearts and Manchester United hopped back across the border to the USA to fulfil their third consecutive fixture, this time amongst the bright lights and glamour of Los Angeles. The team’s hotel, the Roosevelt on Hollywood Boulevard, was certainly glamorous; just two minutes’ walk from Mann’s Chinese Theatre with its Hollywood stars and handprints.

Famed as the venue for the first Oscar ceremony in 1929, the hotel’s residents over the years had included Marilyn Monroe who lived in the hotel for two years, Charlie Chaplin, Clark

Hearts were the guests of the Los Angeles Soccer League whose President, John Smith, was a Fifer from Dysart. As ever the team were lavishly entertained. On their first day in Los Angeles, the LASL treated both clubs to a lavish lunch at which they exchanged gifts.

Hearts presented the British Consul with a plaque bearing the coat of arms of the City of Edinburgh and the club’s name. That same evening, the Los Angeles Scots Club hosted Hearts at a glittering dinner at which the Hearts players and officials were presented with statuettes commemorating their visit by singers Frankie Vaughan who was in LA to make a film with Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy Squires who was then married to Roger Moore. Others attending included Alan Young who voiced Scrooge McDuck for Disney and the actor Herbert Marshall. The following day, the team spent a couple of hours at the relatively new “Disneyland” theme park which had only been opened five years earlier and being treated to a night at the “ball game”, watching the LA Dodgers take on the St Louis Cardinals, the home side winning 8-3.

On 1 June, the teams lined up against each other once again in foggy weather at Wrigley Field, a baseball stadium holding around 20,000 spectators. The ground was about half full to watch the teams

line up with Hearts making two changes, both at full back.

Danny Ferguson came in for his first game of the tour having recovered from injury and John Lough came in with the defence shuffled around and Johnny Hamilton dropping out.

The first half was a slightly dour struggle with both defences dominating. But finally, just before half time, Hearts broke the deadlock from the penalty spot with George Thomson as reliable as ever. Taking the lead just before the break instilled the team with confidence that they could gain a measure of revenge over their English opponents who had won the previous two meetings. So when Willie Bauld headed home a Gordon Smith cross with seven minutes of the second half played, Hearts had the momentum and just five minutes later, Hearts stretched their lead further when an Ian Crawford shot bounded off the chest of Harry Gregg in the United goal and Crawford followed up to poke home.

Finally, with five minutes left to play, Willie Bauld rounded off a thumping 4-0 win when he broke through the United defence and blasted home.

I’ve three nice items of memorabilia from this game in my collection. Many years ago, I acquired the statuette presented to Assistant Trainer Donald McLeod at the LA Scots Club dinner on the evening of 30 May 1960. Featuring a small footballer at the top, the trophy also has two American eagles flanking the plinth which has McLeod’s name and the date of the event engraved on it. It’s a great and historic item.

Second, we have an advertising

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flyer for matches taking place in Los Angeles during the Spring of 1960. Many of the games listed are Los Angeles Soccer League matches in April and May. Teams involved included the LA Scots. Towards the bottom of the flyer, there’s advertising for the match at Wrigley Field. Tickets were available from Switzerland Restaurant and Ebert’s Liquor Store.

Finally, there’s the programme for the game. A large sized 12-page programme, it sold for 35 cents at the match. The cover has striking red stripes containing the names of the competing sides, match details and a photograph showing Manchester United in action. Inside, there are the usual welcomes to the two teams with Hearts assured that “the mere presence here tonight of the thousands of fans of Scottish extraction will make this club feel at home”. The fifth page has a programme of events for the evening which included the Caledonia Pipe Band and Dancers, introductions to the British Consul General and a ceremonial kick off by Frankie Vaughan.

Page seven has the teams in 2-3-5 formation and page nine has pen pictures of the United side as well as a team group. There’s a similar page for Hearts on page ten although reading the pen pictures, you get the impression that they have been cut for reasons of space. For instance, Gordon Marshall’s biography says that he has been “Four years a Heart” and “has unique distinction of playing in Scottish football”. We’re not told what that unique distinction might be, however. Gordon Smith is lauded as “one of Scotland’s greatest-ever right wingers” whilst Willie Bauld is “a world-wide football favourite”.

That’s all the reading matter in the programme but there are a multitude of small adverts from businesses keen to support soccer in California.

The Switzerland Restaurant not only sold tickets but took a full page advert to “wish Manchester United and Hearts FC and their accompanying officials good luck in our sunny California”. If you were feeling especially homesick, you could try the Tam o’ Shanter Inn where “we grind and eat our own hamburger” and you could order “a Loch Ness Monster or a Mr McTavish”. I dread to think !

More from Canada and the USA next time.

Gary Cowen is a member of Hearts heritage group and is currently writing a book about the Hearts post-season tours

CHARLES BELLANY THOMSON

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hile both Hearts and Sunderland have faced some difficulties in recent years, the two clubs, formed in 1874 and 1879 respectively, have helped to shape the game of football and their glorious history, splendid stadiums and large and loyal support, underlines the enormous potential of both clubs. Hearts and Sunderland will surely come again at the top level, although perhaps not with so much glamour as was evident on 27 April 1895 when Sunderland, the newly crowned Champions of England, met Hearts, the Scottish Champions.

By David Speed and Donald Gow; Billy Dunlop, John Auld and Harry Johnston; Jimmy Hannah; James Gillespie, John Harvey, Johnny Campbell and Jimmy Millar.

Despite the weather being dull with a threat of rain, there

Sunderland absorbed some early Hearts pressure and by half-time the visitors had scored twice through Harry Johnston and Johnny Campbell. The maroons bounced back after the interval and on the hour mark they were 3-2 up thanks to goals from Willie Taylor, Bob McLaren and George Scott. This sparked the English side into action and Jimmy Millar, Robert McNeill and John Harvey all scored to give Sunderland a 5-3 victory and the title of “World Champions”.

CHARLIE THOMSON - A STAR TURN

The match would decide who would be the “World Champions” and although it was an unofficial contest and somewhat overstated, British players were spreading the game throughout the world at that time. Who would dispute that the winners of a Scotland v England match would indeed be World Champions?

Hearts fielded: Jock Fairbairn; Barney Battles and Jimmy Mirk; Alex Hall, Bob McLaren and George Hogg; Willie Taylor, Tom Chambers, Willie Michael, George Scott and Davie Baird. Sunderland played: Ned Doig; Robert McNeill

a splendid contest that Sunderland won by 5-3.

was a mighty crowd that was reported in the newspapers as 12,000. However, with gate receipts of £165 the crowd would be more realistically around 9,500. In any event, those present witnessed

In the modern game, players can be “stars” after only half-a-dozen games, but in the early days of professional football, praise was hard-earned. One man who was consistently complimented was Charlie Thomson, who graced the colours of both Sunderland and Hearts, and was a player of immense quality. He nullified the most dangerous forwards in the game and transferred defence into attack. Charlie also marshaled his colleagues, urging them to further efforts, and although he may not have been a great artist, he was fearless and indomitable, and a wonderful man to have on your side.

Standing a shade under six-feet tall and weighing a muscular thirteen stone, Charlie Thomson certainly

had a dominating physical presence and his leadership qualities were second to none.

He had initially joined Hearts as a centre-forward, but steppedback to become Britain’s finest centre-half. Charlie never seemed to tire as he checked the runs of the opposition attackers and his astute reading of the game

meant that he always seemed to be in the right place at critical moments.

He was born on 12 June 1878 at Prestonpans in Haddingtonshire (now East Lothian) where his father was a fisherman. After he left school, Charlie pursued a different career, serving his apprenticeship as a baker. He also played juvenile football for a team called Pearl and then progressed to the junior grade with Prestonpans Athletic. Charlie was eventually lured into the capital on 16 April 1898 for a trial against Kilmarnock and he scored in a 5-2 victory. The 19-year old attacker was immediately recruited on a two-year contract and it was also arranged that Hearts’ new man would have a job at Forwells Bakery in Dalry Road.

HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN 23 For two years he operated at centre-forward, being noted for his thunderous shots and powerful headers. He was hard to stop in full-flight and indeed, on 6 April 1901, Charlie cracked home Hearts’ third goal in the monumental 4-3 victory over Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final

at Ibrox Park. His popularity exploded, even more so when Charlie dropped back to centrehalf in 1902-03. He organized the defence and primed the attack in majestic style.

Hearts had to rebuff the transfer approaches of Middlesbrough and Liverpool, and there was no doubt that his physique and ability would have made him a star defender in England.

Charlie was always seen where there was work to be done and his masterful play and limitless energy were an inspiration to his colleagues. This helped Hearts to reach the Scottish Cup Final on 11 April 1903, but the team was very unfortunate to lose against Rangers after a second replay.

Charlie seemed settled in Edinburgh and the journeyman

baker married Helen Thomson, who worked in the rubber mill, in July 1903. It came as no surprise when Charlie took over as Hearts’ captain in 1903-04 and he

remained in this role, apart from a very brief period, until he left Tynecastle.

Charlie skippered Hearts to runners-up position in the League in 1903-04 and 1905-06, but his main success was in the Scottish Cup. After the disappointment of 1903, he led the team back to the Cup Final on 28 April 1906, and inspired Hearts to a 1-0 victory over Third Lanark at Ibrox Park.

The following year, Charlie missed the Scottish Cup Final through illness and his absence is said to have cost Hearts the match against Celtic.

Hearts’ skipper made the first of 21 Full International appearances in March 1904 against Ireland.

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He won 12 of his caps while with Hearts and Charlie was captain of Scotland on nine of these occasions, three times in the principal fixture against England.

In addition, he played in five League Internationals, four of these against the Football League.

Hearts tried hard to retain his services and in August 1905, a benefit match was organized for Charlie Thomson in which Rangers were defeated 3-2 before just over 3,000 supporters. However, the big defender could not resist the chance to play in England and in April 1908, he moved to Sunderland for the then maximum transfer fee of £350. Sunderland actually sent £700, because Tom Allan also went south. Cynics would say that it was only Thomson that the Wearsiders were really after, and that Allan’s move allowed them to pay the fee that Hearts required.

Charlie Thomson had scored 47 goals in 218 competitive games for Hearts and in an overall total of almost 420 appearances, he earned 23 winners’ medals in the local competitions.

From 1908 to 1915, Charlie scored eight goals in 265 competitive games for Sunderland and he was an outstanding figure, and captain, when the Roker Park side became League Champions in 191213. Sunderland also reached the FA Cup Final that same season, but lost by the only goal against Aston Villa at Crystal Palace. At that time, compliments kept flowing for Charlie and it was said in the English newspapers that wherever he was on the field, there was liveliness about. His faults were many, but his willingness was immense.

He was comfortable at home in Roker Baths Road, but the Great War broke out in August 1914 and Charlie returned to Scotland, where in April 1916, he acquired the Black Bull public house in Prestonpans

for £6,000. He was also a guest player with St.Bernards in 1915-16, but the War effectively ended his first-class career.

Charlie was exempt from Army service for a period, because he was said to have a strained heart and was suffering from muscular rheumatism. He was also keyman in a very large public house business.

Nevertheless, in early 1917, because he was able to engage in his trade as a baker, Charlie joined the forces and was attached to the Italian Army.

He formally retired from football in May 1919 and concentrated his energies on running the Black Bull. Charlie later operated a similar business in Sunderland where he was enormously popular. In 1922, he turned down the chance of managing Ashington FC and around 1927, Charlie retired to live in Edinburgh.

The wine and spirit merchant, passed away at an Edinburgh Nursing Home on 6 February 1936 when he was only 57 years of age. After a private service at his home in Kingsknowe Gardens, his funeral cortege motored to Mere Knolls Cemetery in his adopted home of Sunderland.

Hundreds of Wearside supporters were present for the interment and his grave was lined with evergreens and tulips of red and white. Hearts’ Chairman, William CP Brown, and Director, William Burns, attended the ceremony and laid the club’s floral tribute.

Charlie Thomson was a genuine star and after he passed away, it was said that a more whole-hearted player Hearts, Sunderland and Scotland never had.

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FROM THE

VAULT A

s Hearts Club Photographer, I enjoy visiting different away grounds.

but a reminder of better days in the ship building industry. Not many grounds can claim such a backdrop!

Most stadiums in the top flight tend to be modern custom built structures generally all looking much the same. However after a season in the championship I enjoyed going to the more authentic stadiums.

Why is it called Cappielow?

My favourite in the Championship is Cappielow, the home of Greenock Morton.

Behind one end of the stadium still stands the James Watt Dock Crane, now redundant

Legend has it that when what is now the football park was just a field , a group of men used to race to cut it so they could play football on it. The word Cappielow being an old Scandinavian word meaning “a race between two people.”

Cappielow gets my vote as the Championship’s most charming stadium!

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PEOPLE WITH

BIG HEARTS. Name: Craig Wilson Job: General Manager at Big Hearts Favourite player: Gilles Rousset Best memory: Being a matchday mascot at Tynecastle in 1996

PEOPLE POWERED: BUILDING THE FUTURE OF BIG HEARTS Craig Wilson, General Manager at Big Hearts, explains why taking a participatory approach was the right choice to shape the strategic direction of the Club’s charity.

“At Big Hearts, we use the power of football to change lives.

Since 2015, we’ve been working with the Club, Hearts fans and local organisations to run free programmes addressing the main challenges on our doorstep. At the top of the list: food poverty, social isolation and poor mental health.

Covid-19 had a significant impact on our activity: we had to re-think our delivery model. Our unique position as a charity associated with a high-profile Club enabled us to support over 8,000 individuals last year - including households in crisis, isolated older people and disadvantaged school pupils. The Scottish Government even designated Big Hearts as one of Scotland’s ‘Community Anchor Organisations’ during the pandemic.

As we swiftly adapted our activity, we partnered with Nesta - the UK Innovation Agency for Social Good - to start shaping our future strategy. We used their ‘Listen and Learn’ approach to gather valuable insights from families we support, volunteers, partner charities and local authorities.

Around 200 individuals took the time to share their thoughts.

Taking a people powered approach seemed the right way to build our future ambitions, as our decision-making process is largely evidence-based. We get inspired from the people we meet and the experiences they share.

The outcomes from the public survey and workshops were overwhelmingly positive. There was a strong sense of appreciation from all sides, including from agencies in Edinburgh who valued the positive impact Big Hearts had on people’s lives during the pandemic. Many stakeholders recognised that our position at

@bighearts

the heart of the local community enabled us to respond quickly to people’s needs and to direct resources where it would make a difference. It confirmed that putting individuals at the centre of our work was a priority widely shared across the community.

The participatory process initiated six months ago is now embedded in our organisation.

Two elements from this approach resonate particularly with us: shifting perceptions of what is possible – taking risks and challenging assumptions of what we think is right; and the power of the collective – prioritising collaborative work to grow together around common goals.

Our Staff team and Board of Trustees are now using the data collected to plan tangible actions for 2021-2024. Our football and charity supporters will continue to play a huge role and we look forward to revealing more very soon.”

@bigheartscommunity

SC 037311 - www.bighearts.org.uk

FIRST TEAM

30 WWW.HEARTSFC.CO.UK

APPEARANCES 2020/21 PLAYER

LEAGUE CUP

LEAGUE

SFA CUP

TOTALS

STARTS

SUBS

GOALS

STARTS

SUBS

GOALS

STARTS

SUBS

GOALS

STARTS

SUBS

GOALS

Craig

GORDON

-

-

-

2

-

2*

-

-

-

2

-

2*

Ross

STEWART

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Michael

SMITH

-

-

-

2

-

-

-

-

-

2

-

-

Cammy

LOGAN

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Jamie

BRANDON

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Alex

COCHRANE (L)

-

-

-

2

-

-

-

-

-

2

-

-

Stephen

KINGSLEY

-

-

-

2

-

-

-

-

-

2

-

-

John

SOUTTAR

-

-

-

2

-

-

-

-

-

2

-

-

Mihai

POSPECU

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Craig

HALKETT

-

-

-

2

-

-

-

-

-

2

-

-

Peter

HARING

-

-

-

1

1

-

-

-

-

1

1

-

Chris

HAMILTON

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Loic

DAMOUR

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Scott

McGILL

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Aaron

McENEFF

-

-

-

1

1

-

-

-

-

1

1

-

Gary

MACKAY-STEVEN

-

-

-

2

-

2

-

-

-

2

-

2

Andy

HALLIDAY

-

-

-

1

1

1

-

-

-

1

1

1

Jamie

WALKER

-

-

-

0

1

-

-

-

-

0

1

-

Jordan

ROBERTS

-

-

-

0

1

-

-

-

-

0

1

Josh

GINNELLY

-

-

-

2

-

-

-

-

-

2

-

-

Liam

BOYCE

-

-

-

2

-

2

-

-

-

2

-

2

Armand

GNANDUILLET

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Euan

HENDERSON

-

-

-

0

2

-

-

-

-

0

2

-

Connor

SMITH

-

-

-

0

1

-

-

-

-

0

1

-

Finlay

POLLOCK

-

-

-

1

1

-

-

-

-

1

1

Aaron

DARGE

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Aidan

DENHOLM

-

-

-

0

1

-

-

-

-

0

1

-

Totals

-

-

-

22

10

5

-

-

-

22

10

5

$ Player on loan * Now left Club *Denotes shut out in goals column # Retired as player, now on Development Staff

HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN 31

TONIGHT’S MATCH SPONSOR

459 LANARK ROARD TANNERSBAR.CO.UK