Hearts in Gorgie on a Thursday Night

 

                                                Photo: Yahoo News

Football has changed immeasurably in the six decades since I attended my first match at a crumbling Brockville Park, Falkirk, now the site of a supermarket. Some of these changes are unquestionably for the best, other changes perhaps not so (don’t get me started on VAR…) But a relatively recent advent to the way we watch the game has made me think differently about this particular change. I refer to the emergence of young, cheerleading supporters, which many clubs have these days – the Ultras.

Sitting in the Wheatfield Stand at Tynecastle Park towards the Gorgie Road end, I have to admit to feeling somewhat dismayed when Hearts moved the Gorgie Ultras from the other end of the main stand to the front of the Gorgie Stand. My daughters and older grandchildren will tell you I’m something of a curmudgeonly old git, never happy and always pessimistic when it comes to all things Hearts. I believe I have a form of PTDS – Post Traumatic Dens Syndrome – which is a result of watching Hearts throwing away the chance to become league champions with just eight minutes left of season 1985/86. The silver-shirted Jambos needed just a point from their final game at Dens Park, Dundee to win the league for the first time since 1960. The devil incarnate that is Dundee substitute Albert Kidd scored twice towards the end of the game to inflict Hearts first defeat in any competition since the end of September. That defeat enabled Celtic to win the league on goal difference.

Ever since that day in May 1986, my glass has always been less than half empty as far as Hearts are concerned. I refuse to let optimism enter my mind, fearful the metaphorical roof will fall in as it did at Dens Park. So, when the club moved the always cheerful, sometimes annoyingly so, Gorgie Ultras to my part to Tynecastle my heart sank. What does some youngster banging a drum incessantly know about the pain and suffering fans of my generation experienced nearly 40 years ago?

And what’s this ‘tra la la la la la la’ stuff anyway? When I was their age I stood on the old crumbling Tynecastle terracing in the Shed chanting to the opposition fans, usually when Hearts conceded a goal, that ‘you’re gonna get your f***ing head kicked in’ or ‘you’re going home in a f***ing ambulance.’ It’s magic you know – there’s gonna be Gorgie aggro.

 Of course, I’m not advocating violence as being reflective of happier times. These chants were of their time and some elements of the Hearts support at that time weren’t slow in displaying sectarian chanting. Thankfully, most Hearts supporters have moved away from this unacceptable behaviour. That said, when I first heard the Gorgie Ultras my first thought was ‘jeez, gonnae gie it a rest?’  But now, whisper it, I actually enjoy them…(looks up the word ‘enjoy’ in a thesaurus)

The support from these young Gorgie Ultras is tremendous. While old curmudgeons like me sit arms crossed with faces like thunder, the young brigade are chanting their undying support for our team. What has particularly impressed me is the Ultras’ recent penchant for turning songs from my youth into meaningful football chants.

 The obvious example is Glad All Over, made famous by the Dave Clark Five back in the 1960s, into a display of obvious affection for Lawrence Shankland. Recently, there’s been an addition to the Shankland song book by an adaptation of She’s Electric by 1990s wonder group Oasis, although the line  ‘he scores against Hibees and Celtic’ kind of omits the rest of the teams Shanks regularly scores against. And the 1970s purveyors of cheesy music, Boney M, have had their hit Daddy Cool turned into a deep appreciation of Zander Clark.

As Hearts sit well clear in third place at the time of writing (see, there’s my nearly empty glass syndrome kicking in again) with the prospect of another shot at European football next season, the old classic by the Four Seasons – December ’63 (Oh What a Night) has been cleverly adapted by the Gorgie Ultras to ‘Oh What a Night, Hearts in Gorgie on a Thursday night, Hibs at home because they’re’….well, you get the picture.

Perhaps it’s their clever adaptation of songs from my youth that has made me change my mind about the Gorgie Ultras. Or their unwavering support for our team that puts older fans like me to shame. Whatever it is, I now look forward to hearing these fine young Hearts fans belting out their support from the Gorgie Stand. Yes, even the fan banging the drum.

To paraphrase that old Dave Clark Five song, ‘you make me happy’.

I’m off now to lie down in a darkened room.

  

Mike Smith

Twitter @Mike1874

www.thefitbason.com