Hearts WFC - Oriam

Hearts WFC

Oriam

Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh Campus

1 Riccarton Mains Road

Currie

Edinburgh

EH14 4AR

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1528

Sunday 15th March 2026

Hearts WFC 3-2 Rangers WFC

SWPL 1

HEARTS WFC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 2009, when they took over Musselburgh Windsor LFC, changing their name to Hearts LFC. That club was established in 1953 and is still going to this day, mainly for youngsters. The name was changed once again in 2018, when the club became known as Hearts WFC. Hearts Women hosted two games at Tynecastle in 2019 and clinched the SWPL 2 title with a 3–0 win against Partick Thistle on the final day of the season, gaining promotion to SWPL 1. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the SWPL 2020 season was declared null and void. The league reverted to winter football in the 2020–21 season. They've continued to be around the top of the table in the past few seasons.

MY VISIT

As with life generally, Sunday was proving to be the worst day of the hop in terms of game choice. There were two great options, Dundee v Dundee United would have been a great game to go to. I emailed the ticket office, but they informed me that you had to have a previous purchase history. At least they were responsive and apologetic when they got back to me. Not so St Mirren for their game against Rangers as they totally ignored my enquiry. That would have been my preference, as Paisley looked like a decent place to visit. As a result, we booked our coach home from Edinburgh, minded to visit Edinburgh South. It could have been a double, but the groundhop game at Covedenbeath Central meant it was impossible to do the two without the use of a car and a bit of luck with traffic. Instead, I spotted a double at Spartans Women & Hearts Women, the former a SPL ground and the latter in the top tier of the women's game in Scotland.

From our frozen and dull game at Spartans, we made our way to the leisure centre. Given the unpredictable prices and reliability of the buses, £14 or £7 each was a fair price for a taxi. There was a bit of confusion as the driver went around the back of the leisure centre, but we found each other eventually. It was a slow journey through the city, even on a quiet Sunday. Colin fell asleep in the car, but we were there well in time for kickoff. This was just as well as the stadium was well tucked away at the back of the complex with limited signposting. We eventually got there, getting a ticket online for £8.50. It was another functional ground which was uninspiring, but it did the job.

 

Hearts were 3rd in the table, but they had lost their last couple, including a 5-3 defeat at Celtic in their last game. Rangers were in 4th and were unbeaten in 11 games. Last time out, they beat Montrose 2-0. There was noticeably more quality in the play compared to the previous game. Hearts were the better side, and they took the lead on 7 minutes through Georgia Timms, who followed up following a goalkeeper parry. It was all square a minute later, Wilkinson equalising for Rangers with a low shot from the edge of the area. The game died down after that, and so I was glad to go in the warm briefly at halftime. The second half saw Hearts similarly retake the lead to the first; this time, the scorer was Hutchison. The hosts came close again a minute after that, after a shot was tipped onto the bar. The game looked to have been sealed on 65 minutes, Hutchison again, this time heading home a cross. Rangers pulled it back to 3-2 on 82 minutes, Berry poking the ball home from close range.

After the game, I had hoped to taxi it up to the White Lady Wetherspoons in Costmorphine. The Bolt would have been a very reasonable £6, but there were no drivers biting. I looked at Freenow, but they were asking £25. I am a completionist, but that was too rich for me, and I will almost certainly be back in Edinburgh one day. Instead, it was a bus back into the centre. It was a 20-minute wait for the 25, which dropped us at Haymarket. I stopped at the Wee Vault Taproom. Having enjoyed their Iron Brew Beer on more than one occasion, I fancied the turbocharged one. I got a Buckie Bomb to take away, which was Iron Brew, Buckfast and Caffeine. All for the rather high price of £8.10, but you only live once. It wasn't as if I was going to get it elsewhere. From there, it was a ten-minute walk to the Caley Picture House, the only Edinburgh centre Spoons I'd not visited. It was a wonderful building, a cinema conversion done well. £9.49 got me a haggis and cheddar panini with a bottle of Aspalls. From there, I put Colin in charge of navigation, which is perhaps why our walking time doubled. Edinburgh was a lovely, atmospheric city, even with the schizophrenic rain. Last stop of the night at the behest of Colin was the Booking Office Wetherspoons, where I enjoyed three pints and some chicken wings before what was bound to be a testing night on the Flixbus.

THE GROUND

For supporters, ORIAM was a rather uninspiring venue. One-sided and with three seated stands holding around 300, it does the job with little fanfare. There are a couple of portaloos in the cage area, but nothing else. The wider area is great for participants with plentiful facilities for all sports. Most impressive is the indoor area for football and rugby with around 600 seats and standing room behind. There is also a cafe, which is fairly priced and was busy. Parking is plentiful and lots of bus routes nearby. 

Spartans - Ainslie Park

The Spartans FC

Van Loq Community Stadium

Ainslie Park

92 Pilton Drive

Edinburgh 

EH5 2HF

Official Website

Spartans FC Twitter

Spartans WFC Twitter

Ground Number: 1527

Sunday 15th March 2025

Spartans WFC 1-0 Boroughmuir Thistle

SWPL 2

SPARTANS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

THE SPARTANS were established in 1951 by ex-players of Edinburgh University, the original intention being that the squad would consist exclusively of the university's graduates. However, the club is now open to players of any background. They played in local and college leagues up until 1980, when they joined the East of Scotland League. Two 3rd place finishes were achieved before a title win in 1985. When the league was expanded in 1987, the Spartans would remain in the top tier, winning the title on seven more occasions. They joined the newly established Lowland League in 2013, which was formed along with the Highland League to attempt to break into the SPL. They were highly successful here, winning the title on three occasions. The SPL were not going to give up a place easily, though, and it would take them until the second title to even earn a playoff place. In 2018, they lost to the Highland League champions Cove Rangers over two legs. They put that right in 2023, beating Brechin City and Albion Rovers in playoff games to reach the SPL League 2. They've been there ever since, always finishing in the top half.

The Spartans have been regular participants in the Scottish Cup. Their best run came in 2014 when they beat East Kilbride, Clyde and Greenock Morton before losing to Berwick Rangers in a 5th Round replay. Local cup wins include four SFA South Region Challenge Cups, ten East of Scotland Qualifying Cups, three East of Scotland City Cups, twelve King Cups, two Ronnie Swan Challenge Cups and the Lowland League Cup in 2016. They are based in North Edinburgh, in the Pilton area.

The Women's team was established in 1985, the club was known as Hailes United, Edinburgh Star, Tynecastle, Bonnyrigg Rose and Whitehill Welfare over the first twenty years of its existence. While operating as Whitehill Welfare, the club was promoted to the Scottish Women's Premier League in 2004. After two seasons as Edinburgh Ladies in 2006–07 and 2007–08, the club was taken over by Spartans in 2008 and adopted their current name. Having won the Scottish Women's Premier League Cup as Edinburgh Ladies in 2006–07, Spartans lost a further five League Cup finals in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 as well as the final of the 2014 Scottish Women's Cup, all by heavy margins and at the hands of Glasgow City on four of the six occasions. They finished as Premier League runners-up behind Glasgow City in 2008–09 and 2011. The club's 21-year spell in the top division ended in the 2024–25 season when they finished 10th of 12 teams, with three relegated as the league was restructured.

MY VISIT

From our game at Kilmarnock, it was a brisk 45-minute walk to the room with Kilmarnock fans in a jubilant mood. At the hotel, Richard and I were disappointed to see that the garage was not selling booze due to licensing laws, but to be honest, it'll do me no harm. No such rules for porkers, though, as Colin, whose diet is not the greatest to say the least, got a big bag of food from McDonald's. Everyone was back by 11, but my blog photos were painfully slow to upload, even after paying extra for fast WiFi. Around half an hour to upload photos that usually take a couple of minutes was frustrating. Eventually, I got everything uploaded at around 11.30 and went to bed. It was another short night's sleep, although, as usual, I felt fine. I awoke around 5 to the good news that we'd got a full refund for the difficult trip up on Sunday.

We left our hotel at 8.30 and walked the 40 minutes to Kilmarnock. The streets were rubbish-strewn, as the council were not great at emptying the bins. We stopped at Greggs for a scotch pie and a bottle of Irn Bru before getting to the bus station. There was a huge queue for the bus, owing to the lack of trains. It took a while to get on as the driver had not allowed time to load everyone. As a result, we were ten minutes late leaving, making our train connection dicey. That turned out to be the case, and we were half an hour behind. It wasn't a disaster as I'd factored in a delay, knowing how unreliable public transport had been recently. We hung around in the station for 25 minutes with the announcement of which platform we needed to take, which was taking forever. It was eventually announced six minutes before departure, leading to a massive rush on a busy train. We got to Edinburgh Waverley, and power walked the 50 minutes to the ground via a shop for a drink. We were there 10 minutes before kickoff, paying £8 to get in. I also got a superb Doner Kebab pie for £3.50, not quite Killie pie standards but close. And far better than the one at Greenock Morton on Friday. That said, the second one wasn't nearly as good at halftime, probably due to the extra time in the hot cabinet.

 

Spartans WFC were 2nd in the SWPL 2, some distance behind leaders Kilmarnock. They had won their last three, thumping East Fife 5-0 in their last game. Boroughmuir Thistle were in good form too, but had lost 2-0 to Dundee United in their last game. It was a drab first half; the Spartans were the better side, and this continued in the second half. It was a truly terrible game, settled in the last minute by a penalty for the hosts scored by Natalie Bandura. We had seen Everton fan and hopper Sean at the game; he had enjoyed a productive weekend of hopping, getting in plenty of games and being equally unimpressed with this one.

THE GROUND

AINSLIE PARK is a smart and functional stadium without much character. There are two seated stands which hold around 600 between them, according to official figures. The rest of the ground is open hard standing. The bar, merchandise and food all offer a reasonable range at reasonable prices. There is plenty of parking and the ground is less than an hour's walk from either Haymarket or Waverley stations. Buses will probably take 20 minutes off the journey time. 

Kilmarnock - Rugby Park

Kilmarnock FC

Rugby Park

Rugby Road

Kilmarnock 

Ayrshire

KA1 2DP

01563 545310

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1526

Saturday 14th March 2026

Kilmarnock 1-0 Hearts

Scottish Premiership

KILMARNOCK FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

KILLMARNOCK are one of the oldest clubs in Scotland, having been established as far back as 1869. Despite the Scottish Football League being established in 1890, they'd have to wait another five years for admittance to Division 2. Kilmarnock would win the title in 1898 and would be promoted to Division 1 the following year after another title. They would have a good spell in the top tier, finishing 3rd in 1918 before being relegated in 1947. The team would remain in the Scottish Division B until 1954, when they were promoted after finishing as runners-up to Motherwell. Twenty years were spent in the top flight before a singular season in Scottish Division 2 saw them bounce back as runners-up to Airdrieonians. The early 80s saw them alternate between the top two divisions, but by 1989, Kilmarnock found themselves in the third tier. They stayed for one season, winning promotion back after finishing behind Brechin City. Since 1993, Kilmarnock have remained in the top tier for all but one season, following their promotion from Division 1 as runners-up to Raith Rovers. The exception was when they went down to the Championship in 2021, but they bounced back as champions the following year.

Kilmarnock have won the Scottish Cup on three occasions, the latest coming in 1997 as they beat Falkirk 1-0 in the final at Ibrox. They've also been runners-up five times. They also won the Scottish League Cup in 2012, beating Celtic 1-0 at Hampden. The club has had eleven seasons in European football. Kilmarnock’s greatest European achievement remains their march to the Semi-finals of the 1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. In an era when Scottish football was at its absolute zenith (the same year Celtic won the European Cup), "Killie" proved they could compete with the best in Europe. In the 1st Round they thrashed Royal Antwerp 8–2 on aggregate, including a 7–2 demolition at Rugby Park.

They then overcame Belgian side La Gantoise (Gent) 3–1 on aggregate. In the Quarter-final, they faced Lokomotive Leipzig. After losing 1–0 in East Germany, they produced a gritty 2–0 win at home to progress. They were eventually halted by Don Revie's Leeds United. After a 4–2 loss at Elland Road and a 0–0 draw in Ayrshire, Killie bowed out, just one step away from a major European final.

Player links between Wycombe Wanderers and Kilmarnock include the current Killie keeper, Max Stryjek. He played 82 times for Wycombe between 2022 and 2024 before a bad error against Barnsley (ironically, the same club and ground he made his debut at) saw him displaced by Franco Ravazolli. He went on loan via Crewe and then had a spell back in his native Poland before joining Kilmarnock this season. The other is Nathan Tyson, who had a very successful spell at Wycombe between 2004 & 2006, scoring 39 goals in 67 games. In 2017, he joined Kilmarnock but had a barren spell, playing 17 games without finding the net. He then returned to Wycombe, scoring 8 times in 33 games. The town of Kilmarnock is located in the Southwest of Scotland in Ayrshire. It has a population of just under 47,000. The first passenger conveying railway in Scotland originated in Kilmarnock in 1812 as a horse-drawn four-foot-gauge (1.2 m) plateway and became known as the Kilmarnock and Troon Railway. Famous people from include John 'Johnnie' Walker, the founder of the famous whisky brand and the footballer Billy Gilmour.

MY VISIT

This game was to be the centrepiece of the weekend, and the game being moved to 8 PM on a Saturday night meant that a double was easily doable. It wasn't so good for the regular fans, though, although it goes on all of the time, thanks to the TV companies. My prior research told me that former Wycombe man Max Stryjek was now at the club; he had left Wycombe under a cloud after faking a foul and dropping the ball in the last minute at Barnsley a couple of years ago. The referee was having none of it, allowing a very silly-looking goal to stand and probably rightly so. I also looked at the club shop, eyeing up some mini eggs with a nice souvenir tin.

We headed back to the hotel via Co Op, a 20-minute walk. We already knew Wycombe were 2-0 down; eventually, they lost 2-1. We were surprised to see fellow hoppers Richard and Anwar at our hotel entrance. They had left Aylesbury at 5 am to make the game at Pollok, had booked in the same hotel as us and were going to Kilmarnock. Colin, being Colin, wanted to go with them, and so we ended up leaving for the game at 5.30. I had a bottle of strong cider in my hand. The blog would have to wait. Just as well, as with his navigation skills, it added 30 minutes to the 40-minute journey. Nevertheless, we had left plenty of time. We stopped at the club shop where I got a tin of mini eggs and a stadium magnet for £4 each. Both are good bargains. It was then to a fancy hotel bar for a pint of Aspalls for the reasonable price of £5.50. This tasted good after a lot of sweet stuff, and it was a convivial and friendly atmosphere. We then went in, salt and chilli fries with curry sauce were a novel choice and very tasty. Then, later, an excellent Kilmarnock pie and some Irn Bru for £7.25. The former was delicious and helped break up the booze; the latter had similar powers, although it must have had a huge profit margin. Nevertheless, I was in good form for kickoff.

 

Kilmarnock were in 11th place and staring potential relegation in the face. They were on mixed form and had lost 5-1 at Falkirk in their latest game. Hearts were the surprise leaders, sitting five points clear at the top. They'd had two 1-0 wins in their latest two games, the most recent against Aberdeen. It was even early on, Kilmarnock hitting the right-hand post with a shot. Hearts brought impressive support, selling out the away end. Despite me being on the side of Killie, they missed a trick as the other three stands had bags of space. The game saw Hearts dominate, much to Colin's delight. I'd like to see an alternate winner to the SPL as much as anyone, but I was in the Killie zone. They had a chance, they took it. Michael Schjønning-Larsen, a cut-and-paste job if there ever was one, finished well, driving low through the box to give the hosts the lead. The second half saw Kilmarnock defend their lead, very boring to watch. Hearts were very flat and offered nothing at all. Not what you'd expect from potential title winners.

THE GROUND

RUGBY PARK is an excellent all-seater venue. Four large stands, all with perfect views, the official capacity is 15,000. Food includes the excellent Killie pie, and drinks are a wide range at a local hotel, very reasonably priced. Merch is a great range, all well priced with many innovative products. The ground is a bit isolated, but it is walkable from town if you are willing to put in the effort.