Mike Smith - The Team for Me: Fifty Years of Following Hearts

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2018

Pitch Publishing

A2 Yeoman Gate

Yeoman Way

Durrington

BN13 3QZ

www.pitchpublishing.co.uk

Mike Smith, 2018

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A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library

Print ISBN 978-1-78531-427-8

eBook ISBN 978-1-78531-467-4

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Contents

Foreword by Jim Jefferies

O NE of the biggest misnomers you will hear is that football is only a game. For millions of people across the world its much more than that. Its a way of life and their association with their team can be as strong, if not stronger than relations with some of their family.

My association with Heart of Midlothian FC stretches over five decades from signing for the club as a 16-year-old raw recruit in 1967 to managing the club from 1995 to 2000 and again from 2010 to 2011. Winning the Scottish Cup in 1998 was one of the greatest moments of my career. I have enjoyed my spells managing other clubs such as Berwick Rangers, Falkirk, Bradford City, Kilmarnock and Dunfermline Athletic. And when Hearts asked me back for a second spell as manager at the beginning of 2010 I couldnt say no.

Most of my football life has been spent at Tynecastle and I take considerable pride at having captained and managed the club. The Scottish Cup triumph of 1998, which ended more than three decades without a major trophy, will live with every Hearts supporter who witnessed it. The scenes in Edinburgh that weekend will never be forgotten, and it summed up exactly what being a Hearts supporter means. Many of the tales in The Team For Me hark back to a different era. The author began following Hearts the year after I signed as a player at Tynecastle and the memories this book invokes are fond ones, despite Hearts obvious struggles on and off the field when I started playing.

One thing that hasnt changed over the years is the passion and commitment shown by generations of Hearts supporters. This has never waned, even during the dark days when the club was relegated on more than one occasion in the late 1970s and the even darker days when there was the real possibility of closure in 1981 and again in 2013. The fans refused to let a Scottish football institution die and the club will forever be in debt if youll pardon the description to those who support them with such pride and no little determination.

But this book will resonate with not only Hearts supporters. Thousands of football fans across the country will relate to the match day routine, the superstitions, the heartbreak and occasional joy football brings. No matter which team they follow they will recognise the commitment mentally, physically and financially that comes with the territory of being a football fan.

The Premiership may grab the headlines, but I still see such commitment in my present role as sporting director at Edinburgh City. There are many people involved with City, just as there are at the other clubs Ive been at, who work tremendously hard and sometimes for little reward. Their love for the game does them huge credit.

Its the love of the game that keeps supporters coming back for more. This book reflects the passion Hearts fans have for their club, but it could apply to any club in the land. When they look back over the years they will say with a huge amount of pride this is my team.

The team for me.

Jim Jefferies, July 2018

Acknowledgements

W HEN I wrote Hearts 50 Greatest Games (Pitch) in 2012, I declared to the delight of many, I suspect that would be the last from me in terms of writing books. So, true to my word, here I am six years later with another.

I was inspired, if that is the right word, by a fellow author, Daniel Gray. He has written many books, some about football. Saturday, 3pm (Bloomsbury) is a brilliant short collection of footballing tales and Daniel writes in a style I can only aspire to. He is also a Middlesbrough supporter so where his creative talent comes from is one of lifes mysteries.

Running my own hypnotherapy business (www.mgshypnotherapy-services.co.uk) and writing a book has been very demanding and there are several people I wish to thank.

I wish to thank Jane and Paul Camillin and Duncan Olner at Pitch Publishing for their support; Davy Allan and co. of the excellent London Hearts website www.londonhearts.com and the huge database of information that is a boon for people like me who write about Hearts; Graham Herriot, whose ceaseless encouragement of my writing style is hugely appreciated; Gary Copland (a Hibee but who is mentioned in this book); Graeme Baxter, for his role in the Joe Smith tale; and Phyllis Stephen, editor of The Edinburgh Reporter, for her support.

Thanks are also due to former Hearts player and manager Jim Jefferies for writing the foreword for this book and to Eric McCowat for the use of photographs.

However, I would not have been able to write this book without the support of my daughters Laura and Michaela and my truly wonderful wife Marion who is also my inspiration, soulmate and best friend.

I dedicate this book to my grandchildren Jack, Hannah, Ava and Max and to the memory of my late father who was one of the few people who encouraged my writing many years ago.

Finally, thank you to you for buying this book. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

Mike Smith, July 2018

Saturday Mornings

D EPENDING on what youve been up to the night before, Saturday mornings are the best time of the week. Unless you work Saturdays, of course, in which case youll be thinking Im talking absolute nonsense.

For football fans, no matter which team you support, Saturday mornings are sacrosanct. True, in this age of satellite television with games being switched to Sunday lunchtimes, Monday evenings and, more recently, Friday evenings there are some Saturdays during the football season where this may not apply.

But this only usually affects top-flight clubs. When Im not watching the famous Heart of Midlothian, I may be at Ainslie Park in the north of Edinburgh watching either Edinburgh City in League Two or The Spartans in the Lowland League. And these weekend games are invariably on a Saturday with the traditional 3pm kick-off.

Generally, Saturday mornings are a time of hope. It may have been a tough week at work; there may be family issues to contend with; the cat may have been sick on the carpet (again) and the hangover from last nights drinking session may be refusing to budge. But its the time of the week when you wake up naturally no alarm screeching at 6am demanding you rise from your slumber for another day of torment.

As I rub the sleep from my eyes my conscious mind kicks in. I stretch, I yawn, I look to see if my wife Marion has arisen (she usually has) and I contemplate whether Harry Cochrane will be in the Hearts team that afternoon. These considerations (and not always in that order) are undertaken before I push my stiff limbs out of bed.