'Time to let Hearts fans into Tynecastle - and other supporters into grounds across Scotland'

I don’t know why there is a negativity about football when it comes to allowing fans back into stadiums.

Hearts fans must wait to return to Tynecastle as football fans are still not allowed in stadiums.

There is a contradiction in terms regarding football and the general restrictions on what we can do indoors and outdoors at the moment. It is impossible to fathom.

I can't understand why the Scottish Government won't, for example, allow even 1000 fans into grounds. Getting 1000 people into Tynecastle would be easily manageable.

Everybody would be at a distance, probably with masks on if need be, and there would be plenty space around the place. That is the case with the vast majority of senior grounds in Scotland.

If supporters were allowed back in, the one difficulty Hearts would have is how to facilitate it. The club has so many season ticket holders that there would need to be a way of deciding which ones got to attend. Some other clubs would be in the same position, obviously.

I certainly have no fears that Hearts supporters would feel privileged getting back into Tynecastle and would fully respect all of the rules and regulations.

They would represent the club accordingly and it would be a massive help to the players even just to have 1000 people backing them. I feel for them right now.

I played at Airdrie in front of around 1500 fans and that was difficult enough having been used to big crowds at Tynecastle for years.

The stadiums are all empty so you get that horrible, soulless echo around and it doesn’t make for a great ambience. Still, having matches at all is at least a crumb of comfort to football supporters during this global pandemic.

For now, we have to stick to the Government guidelines. All we can do is make sure that, if we are involved in a test event at any point, we run it with the kind of professionalism that a club of Hearts standing should.

Until fans are back in, there needs to be a lot of self-motivation. Individuals need to get themselves fired up for the occasion, and the coaching staff have to instil that motivation in them.

It can't be easy but it's nice to say that it looked fairly straightforward for Hearts in the 6-2 victory against Dundee.

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