Hearts aim to get fans into Tynecastle in July with 16,500 crowd set for Murrayfield

Competitive football returns to Gorgie on the weekend of July 10/11 in the Premier Sports Cup, and Hearts officials are aiming to have as many supporters present as is legally safe.

With Government permission, Murrayfield will operate at almost 25 per cent of its 67,144 capacity when the British & Irish Lions face Japan on June 26.

It will be the biggest attendance for a rugby match in the United Kingdom for 16 months since the Covid 19 pandemic struck.

With Tynecastle situated on the other side of Edinburgh’s West Approach Road, Hearts believe they should be able to host a similarly-reduced crowd just two weeks later.

“You would hope that's an indication,” manager Robbie Neilson told the Evening News. “Tynecastle is less than a mile from Murrayfield, so you would like to think if there's 16,500 at Murrayfield then we could get some fans into Tynecastle.

“We are going to be back playing competitive games the following month and we are under a mile up the road. We will need to wait and see.”

Hearts last played in front of a home crowd more than 14 months ago. A total of 17,339 people watched the 1-1 draw with Motherwell at Tynecastle on March 7 last year.

Since then, Scottish football has almost entirely been played behind closed doors due to safety concerns related to the pandemic.

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