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Stages of Being a Jambo
1. Going to the games with your Dad
4. The Depression Sets In ........
1. Going to the games with your Dad
For me this was when I was first allowed to go to the games, I had to go with my dad and we went to the enclosure. I used to look over longingly at the shed and all the atmosphere that came from there. One time we went into the ground but stood behind the goals, but I was nearer that mad, mass of people jumping up and down and swaying. That was were I wanted to be. The good parts about going to the games with my dad were that he bought my programme and half time pie, also he would often slip me a few pound as silence money so I wouldn't tell my mum that he was really drunk when he came out of the Tynie Arms before the game (or that he left me standing outside the pub for hours on my own).
It is a great moment when you are finally allowed to go to games with your pals, (especially if you are a female). Except in my case the first games I attended without the company of my dad were Hibs and Rangers at the start of season 83/84 and these were games I was specifically NOT ALLOWED to go to because there was too much trouble. Em, well dad, I am just going to the shops - I'll be back at 5:15pm, yes I always wear my Hearts scarf, Hearts sweat band and 'I Love Gary Mackay' badge to the shops (oops, giving a wee bit too much away there). The 3-2 game against Hibs we sat on the benches next to the shed because we were just a little too scared to let our first game in the shed be the first derby game for a few years. It was still pretty scary stuff after the match.
The worst time I got caught was the 2-2 game with Rangers in 1984, it was when were 2-0 down until two minutes to go and then equalised. I was told not to go near Tynecastle that day, I wasn't 'allowed' to go to Celtic or Rangers matches unless with my dad (I've never missed one yet ...) but as usual I sneaked to the game. There were mass celebrations after it and I got really crushed and broke my watch, ripped my trousers and had to get sheltered in a door way on Gorgie Road by an older guy to stop getting hit by bottles etc, there were quite bad riots after the game. I got home at 5:20-ish with my scarf on and my dad didn't suspect a thing .. but on the infamous Sportscene that night my uncle spotted me in the crowd celebrating Hearts 2nd goal and happened to mention this to my dad, oops. However, he then conceded that I could go tot home games against the soap dodgers but not to Ibrox or Parkhead, again too late as I had never missed a game at either ground since I started going to the matches. Oh well, he meant well.
I think one of the first times I was drinking before a Hearts game was a trip to Aberdeen with McKenzies Hearts Supporters Club. One of the guys had a 2 litre bottle of coke half full of vodka and they asked me if I wanted to have a drink, I don't think I was really used to drinking, certainly not vodka then (I was 15/16). But just to act 'hard' I accepted - anyway I think I ended up drinking the whole lot myself and I was very, very drunk. I can't remember anything about the game (or even if I went to the game) but I remember we stopped at Montrose on the way back and when I got off the bus I had to hold on to the wall to walk, some of my dad's pals were on the bus and they were disgusted that someone had let me get in that state. Anyway, we got in a pub and someone got me a vodka and coke so I downed it in one and demanded another one. I remember the looks of astonishment on the guys faces. Next thing I went to the loo and then next thing I knew I was sitting on the toilet floor greeting, apologising to a woman who was clearing up some vomit ....... argghhhh.
Not looking so 'hard' now eh. I sat on the bus puking into a black bin liner all the way back to Edinburgh. Needless to say I declined to go to the pub when we got back. So, that's a warning against teenager consumption of vodka !! It was years before the guys stopped slagging me about that one. Funnily enough, previous to this my dad had joined the 'Ace of Hearts' supporters club and urged me to do the same shortly after this Aberdeen trip (like the 'Ace' trips involved less alcohol - ha ha).
This put me off drinking for quite a while actually, then I started going to the pub for one drink before away games with the boys from the Ace of Hearts bus, these are still the hard core of the crowd I go to the pub/games with now. Then I started going for a few drinks after away games, then home games until now it is an integral part of the 'match day' experience. It is not all about drinking and trying to get drunk, it is a very social thing, like the build up to big games, working out what scores would be best for us/other teams playing and the best part is after the game hearing all the different view points on the match. There are some people who just like and dislike certain players and are so biased in their comments, I always find it interesting that so many different opinions come about the same game 'X was crap', 'No he wasnae what game were you at, X was brilliant' (lots of laughter all round) etc..
4. The Depression Sets In ........
This describes periods when you go to places like Hamilton, Motherwell when it is freezing, snowing etc. Like going to Dens Park in '86 ..... Dens Park in 87, Dens Park in '98, Dens Park in '99 - need I go on ?
This is when you reliase that you are hooked on being a Jambo and there is nothign you can do about it, you will spend the rest of your life following the Boys in Maroon, great isn't it.
These are all pretty well documented for me in the European trips section. Basically go abroad, get very drunk, speak to every Jambo you see, sing 'We'll Support You Evermore' when they get knocked out .....
Not a lot needed to be said about this really ! It makes it all worth it and keeps us going for another 40-odd years. I'm not for one second saying I am content with just seeing Hearts win one trophy, but it was so good and I have such brilliant memories that if the worst were to happen and that is all I ever see then at least I know what it was like.
