Hearts star’s pregnant girlfriend blasts Jambos fan who abused her at Tynecastle

THE pregnant partner of Hearts star Jake Mulraney has blasted a Jambos fan who abused her at Tynecastle Park.
Hearts player Jake Mulraney tweeted that he was appalled at the comments directed at his pregnant girlfriend, Aoife Mcdonagh, at the Hearts V Aberdeen game on Saturday.Hearts player Jake Mulraney tweeted that he was appalled at the comments directed at his pregnant girlfriend, Aoife Mcdonagh, at the Hearts V Aberdeen game on Saturday.
Hearts player Jake Mulraney tweeted that he was appalled at the comments directed at his pregnant girlfriend, Aoife Mcdonagh, at the Hearts V Aberdeen game on Saturday.

Aoife McDonagh - who is due to give birth to the couple’s first child in September - was targeted in the stand during Saturday’s SPFL Premiership win over Aberdeen.

After suffering verbal abuse, Aoife took to twitter to reveal the impact of her ordeal, writing: “Go to watch my boyfriend’s game and get abused off one of the ‘fans’. Just because you buy a ticket doesn’t mean you’ve the right to shout at me and have me sit there anxious for 90 mins while I’m almost 4 months pregnant. Absolute disgrace I am disgusted.”

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Winger Mulraney, 22, yesterday admitted his own anger over the incident.

Hearts' Jake MulraneyHearts' Jake Mulraney
Hearts' Jake Mulraney

The Irishman, who joined Hearts from Inverness Caledonian Thistle last summer, criticised the unacceptable behaviour.

He said: “It is something that comes with football and it wasn’t a massive issue but the fact my girlfriend is pregnant, that got my back up. After an hour or so, I calmed down. As long as she is aright, that’s all that really bothers me.

“She is quite sensitive and she is not really used to it. She was used to coming to Inverness and there’s maybe a 1000 or 2000 people at a game. Here, there’s 18,000 people screaming. She is from an area where, if someone says something, her back usually goes up and she is used to speaking up and defending herself. She has that in her. So it is hard for her to hear that and not say something back.”

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Mulraney insisted he will not accept Aoife being abused, adding: “This is the first time involving her. I get stick all the time and that comes with football. Me personally, I don’t care but when it involves her then it is a bit different.”

Aoife plans to continue attending Hearts matches as Mulraney strives to help the club qualify for Europe and win the Scottish Cup this season.

“Maybe she will just wear earplugs. I actually think she has done that before, just stuck the headphones in,” said Mulraney. “She can give as good as she gets. I was only worried because she is pregnant.

“Me and her spoke about it. If one person says something stupid, we can’t really hold that against all the fans. I know for a fact that not all the fans are like that. I would say that it is only a small percentage that are like that.”

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The couple will learn the sex of their baby later this month after Hearts play Mulraney’s former club in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park.

He added: “I can’t wait. I am really excited and we find out what we are having the day after the semi final, so it could be a good weekend.”

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