Andy Irving has not hidden his love of Hearts south of the border as he relives a memorable day in Gorgie history.
The midfielder is now in the Premier League with West Ham United, following spells abroad in Germany and Austria. He has featured in pre-season plans for the Hammers ahead of the new season down south but his career started at Hearts, before leaving in 2021.
A boyhood Jambo, Irving has been asked about his firsts in football by the West Ham United website, and he opted for a stroll down memory lane at Hearts. He said: “Hearts – they’re the only team I’ve supported. My Dad was taking me to games when I was two years old, so it’s always been Hearts. My whole family on my Dad’s side are Hearts fans, and so is my uncle on my Mum’s side, so it was an obvious choice!
“I was only two, so I can’t remember it (his first game), but my Dad told me it was a Wednesday night game, so it wasn’t that responsible from my Dad, taking a two-year-old on what was probably a freezing Wednesday night in Edinburgh! The first one I can remember was on my sixth birthday, the 13th of May 2006, when Hearts played against Gretna in the Scottish Cup final and we won on penalties.
“Then after there was a parade through Edinburgh to celebrate, so that was an incredible day! I actually went on to play with two of the team, Craig Gordon and Christophe Berra, at Hearts, then played under Paul Hartley at Falkirk and Robbie Neilson was my manager at Hearts as well!”
