Tynecastle - Meggetland

Tynecastle FC

Meggetland

4 Meggetland Wynd

Edinburgh

EH14 1XN

07889 931054

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Ground Number: 1154
Friday 17th March 2023

Tynecastle 2-3 Sauchie Juniors
East Of Scotland Premier

TYNECASTLE FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 2005 following a merger between Tynecastle Boys Club and Tollcross United. Tynecastle Boys Club can trace their history way back to 1928 and this date is reflected on the club's badge. Primarily a youth team, they produced many local footballers, most notably Darren Fletcher. The midfielder captained Scotland, made 223 appearances for Manchester United and also played for West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City. There was also Craig Gordon, the Scotland international keeper who the club received a £114k windfall for in 2007. Tollcross United played at the Fernieside Recreation Park in Edinburgh and existed from 1971 until 2005. Their best finish was 9th in the East of Scotland League in 1993 and 1999. They also won the Alex Jack Cup in 1998.

Their first game under the new name was a friendly against Hibs, with Tynecastle gaining a credible 2-2 draw. The club's positions in the league got better over the years and in 2009 they were East Of Scotland League 1st Division champions. Despite finishing bottom of the league in 2013, they were not relegated. A 3rd place finish in 2017 was the best in the club's history. Despite a 5th place finish the following year, they were demoted to the second tier. They returned to the top table of the East Of Scotland League in 2020 after winning the Conference 1B title in a curtailed season. Homes have included the Fernieside Recreation Ground, the original home of Tolcross where they played up until 2015. They then ground shared at Saughton Enclosure with Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale until 2018 before moving to the Meggetland Sports Complex in, where they share the main stadium grass pitch with Boroughmuir RFC. The club won the Albert Jack Cup and the South & East of Scotland Cup-Winners Shield in 2018.

 MY VISIT

This hop was arranged months in advance. Although I'd had rotten luck with other hops falling on the dates of Wycombe home games, this was one I was not going to miss, even if it meant missing Wycombe Wanderers v Barnsley. With the coach from a few miles away at Beaconsfield, it represented far better value than the other hops where you had to get to the locality. This was to be my fourth Scottish hop. I'd been on the inaugural one in 2015 where we visited East Kilbride, Vale Of Leithen, Dalbeattie Star, Gala Fairydean Rovers, Dalbeattie Star and Threave Rovers. I then missed a few, for reasons I can't remember. Next up was the 2019 offering at Dunipace, Camelon Juniors, Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts, Blackburn United, Linlithgow Rose and Peebles Rovers. Then, after a break due to the pandemic, last year saw us visit Caledonian Braves, Glenrothers, Cossgates Primrose, Hill Of Beath Hawthorn and Oakley United. All clubs had been brilliant hosts and with Scotland such a trek, I regretted not doing all of the hops.

This version was pad for back at the end of January, I'd persuaded fellow hopper Colin to come with me after there had been some danger that he might go with Dan. It saved me around £50 over the whole weekend, but I did have to spend the whole weekend with him. A heart of gold no doubt, but alcohol would be needed to stop me going mad. It was also the first time off work since early October, a whole 5 months of work without a proper break. It was a glorious feeling when I ladi down tools on Thursday, although there was still plenty of prep to do. Not least six clubs' history and recent form to research for my blogs, plus trying to remember what I needed to pack. I was bound to forget something, but it was not as if we were going to somewhere I couldn't buy stuff from. A few drinks were had to unwind and I spent the last part of the evening watching the Arsenal v Sporting Lisbon Europa League game. TV Football is usually something of a turnoff but social media drew me in. It turned out to be another penalty shoot-out after the two I've already seen this week. Though I have no affiliation to them, I was disappointed that Arsenal lost, mainly for mate Anwar who is a real Gooners fanatic.

I got to sleep the right side of midnight, waking at 5 a couple of hours before my 7.20 alarm. I killed time before getting up and ready. After some breakfast, I got my bits together and left to meet Colin. We were parked up by Beaconsfield Rugby Club, then it was a pleasant 10 minute walk to near Beaconsfield Town FC. We were there 35 minutes early along with two other hoppers. Back in 2019, the coach had arrived early, leading to me having to run the last bit, showing how unfit I was. This time, the coach was 20 minutes early and it was good to get going. We were well ahead, half an hour in fact but we ended up losing 45 minutes with stops at Birmingham International and Norton Canes The coach journey was dragging, at midday I had a cider which helped relax me. By the time we'd waited at Holmes Chapel, we were half an hour behind schedule. 

Eventually, we got to Charnock Richard services at 1.50. Although it was a better selection than our original intention of Knutsford, it was still a load of overpriced crap, like £7 for a sandwich from Subway. I wasn't that peckish anyway but the driver deserved his well-earned break. After which, I had, another pint to help me unwind. We had a good chat with a great fellow hopper called Peter about random stuff. Chris did a great game of True or False, I was joint winner with a guy called Martin Hayden with 15 out of 20. We had made up time and left a few minutes before our 3pm scheduled departure. The rest of the journey went great. We were at the ground by 6.30, and though we collected our programmes, our room key was missing. I bought a drawstring bag for £3 and headed to the food stall, Chris gave us our key as we waited. The chilli and rice were nothing special but we took a walk around the rest of the ground getting pictures.

Tynecastle were in 12th place, looking to avoid the one relegation spot that had not been taken up by whipping boys Vale Of Leithen and Oakley United. I'd been to both on previous hops and it was sad to see two decent clubs really struggling. Sauchie Juniors were in third but were some way off leaders Linlithgow Rose. After good form at the turn of the year, the hosts were in disappointing, only recording victory in a 4-1 win at Broxburn Athletic. They'd lost 1-0 to Haddington, 4-2 at Jeanfield Swifts and 3-1 to Dundonald Bluebell. The visitors were in better form. In the last six, they'd won all four home games - 1-0 against Broxburn Athletic, 3-0 against Blackburn United, 5-3 against Oakley United and 2-1 against Crossgates Primrose.  On the road, they had drawn 0-0 at Linlithgow Rose and lost 2-1 at Haddington Athletic.Sauchie Juniors made a flying start, making it 1-0 before the advertised kick off. Barry the Twat famously made a fool of himself by berating the officials for starting early at a Wokingham and Emmbrook game and although I'd missed the goal, it was on me. It also turned out the visitors had a man sent off amid the celebrations, it was certainly an eventful start. It went from bad to worse for Tynecastle, they had their #6 Jack Blaney sent off for an over-the-top tackle, making it ten a side. The game died down a bit after that but just before halftime, Tynecastle equalised, a shot rifled into the roof of the net from a few yards out. It was Tynecastle who were the better side at the start of the second period. However, Sauchie Juniors took the lead on the break on 63 minutes, a swift counter and a low finish. They came close to a repeat a couple of minutes after The game appeared safe when Sauchie added a third, a period of possession ending with a low shot. A great delivery from a corner and a header on 76 minutes and it was 3-2. Sauchie had the chance to seal it but it was skewed wide.

There had been a decent attendance of 448 watching the game. Typically, I came close to filming a couple of the goals, but no cigar. Perhaps Footy Adventures on YouTube, AKA Sam North caught them as he was in attendance. We made a hasty retreat back to the coach, leaving just after 9.45. It was around 50 minutes back to the hotel and the plan was to get some sort of takeaway delivery if I was still peckish. 

THE GROUND

MEGGETLAND is a smart and tidy sports complex. There's a decent sized stand, around 600 seated. There is then an elevated terrace behind one goal, capacity around 1,000. A further ground level terrace boosts the capacity by around 1,500. The other goal has no or little spectator admission as far as I can tell. There's an excellent club shop with a wide range of merchandise and the tea bar is pretty good too. The bar also looks smart and offers a reasonable range of drinks. There's a decent amount of parking, there is also a Tesco Express and a couple of takeaways nearby.