King of the Castle

WHEN PEOPLE ask in the centuries to come: "Just what did Vladimir Romanov ever do for Hearts?", one answer may be that he saved Tynecastle.

While less determined directors of Hearts' fortunes were happy to move to a soul-less and two-thirds-empty Murrayfield, Romanov has seen the sense of staying on at the noisy and vibrant Gorgie premises.

And it is to become a new improved Tynecastle when the rickety old stand is replaced in the not too distant future, with a 12,000 increase in capacity making the atmosphere even more edgy and in your face.

All it will take to put the final part of the Tynecastle jigsaw in place is the re-zoning or removal of a nursery, a secondary school, an adult training centre, a community association building and an NHS clinic. Three giant whisky storage tanks will also have to be removed from the nearby North British Distillery as part of the project.

It all seems a small price to pay so that the Hearts may flourish.

Taken from the Sunday Herald