Hearts paid Aidan Denholm's granny fuel money before he tried for a Tesco job - now he's on a three-year deal

The Tynecastle teenager is not short on motivation after a difficult start in football

No-one could accuse Aidan Denholm of failing to earn his new Hearts contract, or shirking the necessary hard graft to make the grade. He acutely recalls needing his grandmother to drive him to Riccarton whilst on a part-time agreement. Then there was the time he applied to work at Tesco during years of fighting for recognition in the Riccarton youth academy.

Edinburgh’s recent windy weather might well be attributed to the 19-year-old’s enormous sigh of relief at signing a three-year deal earlier this week. He still bears the proverbial cheesy grin meeting the media. For one so young, he is burning with enthusiasm for what he hopes is a long-term future with the club he has supported since childhood. His positivity is refreshing, his character infectious.

Denholm’s formative years were difficult at Hearts, contributing to his humility today. That’s partly why he won’t rest contentedly on the security of a long-term contract. Instead, he intends to increase his work rate to ensure he establishes himself as a first-team regular. He was released by the club in May this year, then offered a one-year deal by head coach Steven Naismith weeks later. It is hard to begrudge him his second Hearts contract in four months. He has been through the mill since leaving school with no football deal in place. The battling to this point has been fierce.

“At 16, you get told if you are getting a deal or not. They offered me part-time. It was something me and my family discussed. I said that I need to prove I am worth being here,” he said. “I just kept the head down and only got paid expenses. I was still at school at the time so doing football and school. They were asking me to come in a lot so I left school, my gamble really. Luckily it paid off. I got offered a year’s contract, then Covid hit. I just kept working through. Now, to have the deal until 2026, is something which is a bit surreal after that journey.

“During Covid I applied for a job at Tesco because I wasn't actually employed by anyone. I was trying to get some money in my back pocket but I've never had a part-time job. I couldn't drive at the time so it was my grandma who would drive me up and down [to training]. My grandma [Anne] got paid petrol money. Steven Naismith has been the biggest influence on me but also my family, I can't speak highly enough of them. My grandma taking me in when I was 16, it is something which sticks out.”

Other youngsters with less resilience and perseverance would have walked away from Hearts, if not football altogether. Denholm didn’t allow himself to think his future would not happen. “I wouldn't say not happen, but there were many times you see other boys doing well and you are just like: ‘Why can't that be me?’ When I was part-time, Aaron Hickey was coming through and you use him as an inspiration, thinking: ‘Wow, look at his career now.’

“I would never think it is not going to happen. It might not happen here, that's what I was thinking. It could be somewhere else but luckily enough it has been here and I am delighted I am still in the building. I'd have always played football and kept going if it wasn't here.”

Aidan Denholm has battled hard to earn a three-year contract at Hearts. Pic: SNS

School was never likely to offer a path to prosperity for the adolescent Denholm. “I enjoyed the social side, I didn't enjoy the academic side,” he laughed. “I was trying to do my Highers and do football. Because I was part-time, my mum and dad were saying: ‘You can't rely on part-time football. It's not really a job.’ I was with the under-18s at the time, coming in at night training with the under-16s but playing with the 18s on a Friday night when I could.

“I was saying to Hearts that I need to do school. I started doing really well when I turned 16 and started playing for the reserves under Andy Kirk, he was also really good with me. That was when I decided I was going to do football full-time because it was getting too much. Thankfully, it has paid off.”

Loans at Berwick Rangers and East Fife provided vital experience of senior football. Then came a lifetime achievement last month when Denholm made his European debut against Rosenborg in Trondheim. Much of his recent progress can be attributed to Naismith, who coached him at B-team level.

“I'd probably say Steven Naismith is the biggest influence on my career,” said the player. “There are others as well. John Rankin, I had him as a coach at under-18s, he was brilliant. With everything I have gone through, he knows I've not had an easy path.

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“I was offered part-time at the start of my journey when I was 16 so I didn't get offered any deal. It was part-time, coming in and not getting paid. Then it went to expenses and then I got offered a deal eventually but it was Covid time. It was a weird time, really. Steven Naismith has been brilliant with me. Now he is saying to me: ‘You need to be patient, your time will come again, it's more just keeping your body ready for when I need to rely on you to come on.’