Die-hard Jambo Claire Delworth vows to keep tweeting as she thanks loyal Hearts fans for support

Hearts full-back and die-hard supporter Claire Delworth vows to continue her enthusiasm for social media as long as the club are content to allow her doing so.
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The 21-year-old is fond of the occasional tweet, the majority of which revolve around the sport she’s devoted to playing by training on a near full-time basis despite juggling university, placement and two jobs.

In particular, she isn’t shy about stating her love for the Jambos, or about teasing Hibs supporters about their team’s shortcomings.

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It’s helped her establish quite a loyal following about Hearts fans who’ve taken a serious interest in the women’s team. Left on the bench for the first 55 minutes of Sunday’s 5-0 defeat to Rangers, there were a stream of fans tagging the official club Twitter account to let their frustration be known.

Hearts full-back Claire Delworth, nicknamed "Dele", is a presence on Twitter among the fanbase. Picture: David MollisonHearts full-back Claire Delworth, nicknamed "Dele", is a presence on Twitter among the fanbase. Picture: David Mollison
Hearts full-back Claire Delworth, nicknamed "Dele", is a presence on Twitter among the fanbase. Picture: David Mollison

“No I didn't see that,” when asked about it by the Evening News. “Sometimes I see people tweeting but usually it's just my dad, though his account is private so it won't have been him.

“It's really nice and it's great to have those people backing me. Even though I respect Eva's decision it would be nice to play and it's good that I have people who think that I am a good player, because it means a lot to me personally.

“I think it helps that I'm a big Jambo, especially when I'm tweeting and winding up Hibs fans. But it's all in good nature, just some light-hearted jokes. It winds them up but I get it back as well and I think that's noted on some of my tweets.

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“I'll never tweet anything disrespectful towards Hibs as a club. It's a professional sport, after all. But I still like to have a laugh and a joke. There's fans who will tweet or DM me after we get beat. It's just taking a joke, it's not malicious or anything.

"I'm not planning on stopping but also I'm not saying anything that I think is disrespectful to either football club. Unless Ann [Budge] or any of the team here have an issue then I would stop, of course. It's not really anything which I think is troublesome.”

Waiting patiently on the bench isn’t exactly suited to Delworth’s personality, so it was a big relief when she was called to replace winger Aimee Anderson – who was struggling after recently returning from illness – shortly into the second half.

"Every footballer is the same. Nobody likes sitting on the bench, especially in big games where you want to challenge yourself against the big players. I was getting a bit anxious that I wasn't going to get on but thankfully I did,” Delworth said.

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“I'll play anywhere as long as I'm getting a game. Obviously right-midfield is not all that different to right-back, especially as [manager] Eva [Olid] wants the full-backs to be attacking. It's just another position under my belt and the more positions I play the more chance I've got of playing, I suppose.

“As a team we can play football when we want to play it and when we choose to play it. It's just about getting it into our game more and more.”

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