A few years ago I used to use the JambosKickback web forum pretty religiously. It was my main source of entertainment and football related chat for a good few years and I often used it as a means of getting through another day of my dull repetitive job (what can I say, I was working for Edinburgh City Council at the time). There were a number of regulars who seemed to eschew the reactionary, sensationalist or just down right depressing ramblings of a lot of the posters (I'm not suggesting that's a phenomenon unique to Hearts, every club forum is probably the same) and these became the people whose contributions I would look forward to the most, guys like 'Fulham Jambo', 'Tazio', 'Gigalo Aunt' and 'Mozzer' who's attitudes and opinions usually echoed my own. Shortly after Hearts cup win in 2006 it became apparent that another regular poster who fell into this bracket, 'Buffallo Bill', was in the process of writing a book based around his upbringing and life as a Hearts supporter. I read about his progress with great interest but due to a change in job (and a polite word about how much time I appeared to be spending on football forums) I fell away from Kickback and to my eternal shame have only just got around to reading his finished work.
Two Miles to Tynecastle was published in August 2008, written by Andrew-Henry Bowie (I was slightly gutted his real name wasn't Bill). The book centres on Andrew's life, the early part of which was spent growing up in Saughton Mains Bank amidst circumstances which were often challenging. The book takes the reader on a journey from Andrew's early days into adulthood as he tries to escape the dissatisfaction he feels towards his life. Hearts remain a constant throughout his story and stay with him as he settles down into marriage and eventual fatherhood whilst taking control of the direction th his working life is heading in, encouraged and supported by his wife.
At least that's how I saw it, I could be talking bollocks here, and it wouldn’t be the first time
Thankfully Andrew was good enough to speak to me and answer some question on Hearts, his book, and why following Hearts is like searching for a black cab....
What are your hopes for the coming season? Does Hearts overall performance last season qualify for your ‘one bad season/one good season’ theory?
Hearts’ ‘one bad season/one good season’ lasted the best part of 20 years from 1983 with very few exceptions. Generally, if the season ended on an even numbered year then we were in Europe. However, it doesn’t seem to happen these days although we only have six years to wait until another Scottish Cup Final! As for this season, I think we’ll do well; and to use one of those even numbered season analogies, I predict that we’ll witness something akin to the enjoyable 1995/96 season that we experienced under Jefferies in his first season in charge as manager. Results will be better, a bit of passion will displayed and I’m confident of a feel-good factor returning. That would do nicely for me now, as it did for me then, back in ’96.
What is your opinion of the current custodians of Hearts? I rarely use JambosKickback nowadays (mainly as my web stats at work were becoming a borderline sacking offence), however, it seems the support is split between ‘Vlad sheep’ and ‘hat kickers’. I believe the more mellow (not to be confused with apathetic) majority probably sit somewhere in the middle. What’s your personal stance?
Kickback’s most vociferous warriors are those with the most things to say but the reality is that even during the darkest hours of Romanov’s time here, the fans just got on with doing their job: that is, to support the team. I don’t have any qualms about people wishing to raise concern or even protest against Vlad. I respect anyone’s right to an opinion. What I don’t respect are the keyboard drama-queens who surface after every defeat and talk of mass-protest but do absolutely nothing about it in the real world. As for me, I would love it if a new regime came in with buckets of cash but idealisms don’t count for much. If he lets Jim Jefferies get on with his job then I have no problem with Vlad. I think Romanov has part mellowed and part lost interest. Yet one can only really judge retrospectively, so therefore it is only when his tenure ends that we’ll be able to properly assess the Romanov era.
In your book you cite the Saulius Mikoliunas/Andy Davis incident at the point when the written press turned against Hearts. Do you feel the club’s poor relationship with the press and associated negative public image has improved in recent seasons?
I don’t know what the press think of Hearts because I rarely take in what they have to say. Thereare one or two journalists worth reading; Graeme Spiers and Euan Murray are fair in my opinion. However, it is clear that far too many hacks and pundits simply don’t like our club and fill their articles and airtime with dreadful clichés. However, I did particularly enjoy watching Pat Nevin’s facial expression in the immediately aftermath of Hearts’ Scottish Cup victory over Hibs in 2009.
Do you welcome the direct communications approach being adopted by the Hearts? In the main they now seem to reveal all news updates via their own website and even partake in two way communications (on certain topics) with fans via Facebook.
I don’t use Facebook so I can’t comment on that but like any supporter; I do welcome any news and communications the club releases. What I have enjoyed are the ‘Ask the Club/Manager’ evenings in the Gorgie Suite with JJ and Sergejus Fedotovas etc. It’s very much a case of take it or leave it but personally, I enjoy listening to them and seeing them answer questions by looking at people in the eye. Until the stadium issue is sorted and the debt is significantly reduced, then questions will always be needing answered.
In the book you talk of your dissatisfaction with the early part of your life (prior to marriage and fatherhood) which at times seemed racked with anxiety and low self-esteem. Without suggesting Hearts were the main trigger, do you think there was a link between these feelings and the frustrations of supporting a football team with its fair share of on field and off field problems throughout the years?
The events of May 1986 when Hearts blew the Championship in the last seven minutes had a massive impact on my life. It was the crow-bar that broke the camel’s back, and without doubt, passionately supporting a team can have a bearing on one’s personal life. Hearts failures and near misses thoroughly represented me in the 1980s and early 90s. Likewise, attaching one’s self to the Old Firm can lead to an extremely misplaced sense of pre-eminence and pomposity, which is why you see so many ugly people strutting round supermarkets wearing Rangers and Celtic tops. I don’t wear replica strips anymore but if I did: what would that say about me? That I support a team that hardly ever wins anything and is run by a guy who everyone else thinks is a lunatic? Choosing Hearts is bit like trying to find a taxi in the Cowgate when all the pubs have just closed on a Saturday night. We put up with all sorts of hassles, disappointments and waiting, but eventually, one taxi appears and it has its light on. When we celebrated on Gorgie Road in 1998 and 2006, at that very same moment, in supermarkets all over Scotland, there were hideous looking Old Firm fans going about their daily grind.
If you could devise a rough five year plan for Hearts what would it comprise?
You know what? I would just build the bloody stand. It’s a structure made from steel, concrete and glass. How difficult can it be? That would of course, further increase the debt, but if debt is owed to UBIG then it at least it is covered and the stadium issue is resolved. Until we build the stand, it will always be a conundrum pitched against the debt. For me, I would rather increase the debt and then concentrate solely on that, over five, ten or twenty years. I would certainly say goodbye to big-earning foreign payers who earn plenty but offer little in return. To be fair, that seems to be the plan anyway, with emphasis on the academy and buying Scots. I’d build the stand and keep the wage bill down; gnawing away at the debt.
Since meeting your wife you've managed to do a fair bit of travelling. If you could pick the ultimate destination in which to watch Hearts, what would it be?
A May trip to the Nou Camp, Barcelona would suggest a rather important European tie in a beautiful city that I’ve yet to visit. Another good game anywhere down south would be our first ever English opposition in Europe, something that every other leading Scottish club has managed to be involved in at some point in the last 50 years. However, nothing really beats a good win over Hibs, Celtic or Rangers at Tynecastle on a fine day in Gorgie followed by many pints in the Diggers. When that happens, there’s no other place I yearn for.
Your book suggests that music has always been massively import to you and has almost punctuated your life thus far. If you could pick five songs to define your support for hearts (or memorable games) what would you choose?
What I would say that certain songs remind me of certain times with Hearts; even if they were songs that just happened to be in the charts or were everywhere at that time. The terrible ‘Perfect Day’ re-hash was always being played in The Wheatsheaf around the time we won the cup in 1998. Likewise, the Seven Nation Army song was everywhere in 2006, even though I hated that tune too. So I won’t pick either of those! Instead, I’ll pick music personal to me. Radiohead’s Everything in its Right Place, reminds me of the struggling autumn of season 2000/01, and Wolf at the Door, again by Radiohead takes me back to October, November 2003 around the time we played Bordeaux and I hated both my jobs from those two times. Things that happen in autumn always stay with me more vividly for some reason and so football and music are so inextricably linked that way. I’m a fan of Suede too, and The Chemistry Between Us was always blaring out in my flat when we were top of the league in 1997/98. When I first started drinking before games I was listening to the Happy Mondays on my Walkman and Wrote For Luck reminds me of the end of season 90/91; a miserable time for me. My favourite song just before we blew the league at Dens in ’86, was Happy Hour by the Housemartins - ironic or what?
Around the time of the Scottish cup win (2006 version) there were a group of fans calling themselves the Sweet and Tender Hooligan Galacticos, of which I’ve deduced you were part (my tenuous claim to fame is that I was the person to suggest this name during my more regular kickback posting days). Do these guys still meet up?
For me, The Galacticos was really just meant to be a laugh but it kind of back-fired a bit because it caused a bit of resentment from outside. There was a really good scene for a while, where a small group of people with the same sense of humour, and a love of drink, football and music got together at a time when Hearts were flying. The problem was when it spilled onto the net it got too big and people started to become a bit hostile. The highlights though were post-match Burley-era piss-ups and our two coach trips to Hampden. Not long after that, one or two dropped out of the pub scene, and others had career changes and other commitments etc. I still keep in touch with the all the guys but things have moved on a little bit now and for me, I now have two kids plus I don’t live in Edinburgh anymore. It was good fun though.
Personally speaking I loved your book, how was it generally received? Did your family take any offence at any minor discretions you revealed? Surely your brother wasn’t happy about the picture on the front cover of him looking like a young Susan Boyle?
People got in touch with me or approached me because they had enjoyed the book which was fantastic; really humbling. It was those instances which really hit home to me that people had read the book and shared much of the feelings that I had experienced. The book was also well received critically but it was people who grew up near to me, around my time, or had gone to games that I attended whose opinion I really coveted. My family situation was a little complicated. On one sense, some members of the family were pleased for me, but others were less than happy with some of the content. My brother, Bobby was fine though, but I don’t think he ever really believed me when I told him I had written the book and had secured the publishing deal. Yet his ridiculous hairstyle on the cover was only the beginning of my revenge for years of his anti-social behaviour.
Do you have any plans to continue your writing and compose another book?
I’m about a third of the way through the first draft of a novel that I have all mapped out. Unfortunately, I have little time to work on it just now due to the time I spend on my degree. Plus, the arrival of a new baby, and the fact that I’ve just moved house makes it difficult, but I will re-start work on the book later this year. It’s a dark comedy, about the strange life of a television presenter. It’s mostly set in London, but there’s a segment where I bring my protagonist to Edinburgh. I have high hopes for it.
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment