Are there still any fans that follow both Hibs and Hearts?

[spike220]

I know that there were a few people that followed both in the past. But are there any still today?

[Keith_M]

I seriously doubt it.

[danhibees1875]

I follow hearts scores in the hope that they lose all the time.

[G B Young]

Not sure anyone actually 'supported' both clubs in the sense that they liked both equally. Most will have been Hibs or Hearts supporters, but I think it was more the case that travelling to away games was less common and that there was something of a tradition that pals would go together to Easter Road one week and Tynecastle the next.

Based on what my older relatives have told me (and we're talking about games back in the 1950s here) the big difference was that the hatred we have now didn't exist. Rivalry yes but there was no segregation and folk just enjoyed having a game of football to go to. Probably helped that both teams had some terrific players in that era.

As far as I'm aware the venom and fighting didn't come in until the 70s. Hibs utterly dominated the yams in that era mind you so maybe they couldn't hack it...

There was a cartoon which ran for many years in the Evening News called Fitba' Daft which featured a couple of old pals who went to ER one week and Tynecastle the next. It became Boolin' Green in the close season IIRC.

[Glory Lurker]

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Not sure anyone actually 'supported' both clubs in the sense that they liked both equally. Most will have been Hibs or Hearts supporters, but I think it was more the case that travelling to away games was less common and that there was something of a tradition that pals would go together to Easter Road one week and Tynecastle the next.

Based on what my older relatives have told me (and we're talking about games back in the 1950s here) the big difference was that the hatred we have now didn't exist. Rivalry yes but there was no segregation and folk just enjoyed having a game of football to go to. Probably helped that both teams had some terrific players in that era.

As far as I'm aware the venom and fighting didn't come in until the 70s. Hibs utterly dominated the yams in that era mind you so maybe they couldn't hack it...

There was a cartoon which ran for many years in the Evening News called Fitba' Daft which featured a couple of old pals who went to ER one week and Tynecastle the next. It became Boolin' Green in the close season IIRC.

All my older male relatives went week about. I wonder what it was that caused this to break down? The aggro that brought segregation in was pretty brutal. Where did it come from?

[hibsbollah]

An old guy who helped out my sons school team still goes ‘week about’. Hes Hibs fan but just likes football in general and doesn’t do away games. Also, I met a few older Newcastle fans also going to see the mackems alternate weeks.

[Antifa Hibs]

Wasn't some of the first recorded violence between Hibs and Hearts in the late 1800's? No doubt those pesky prods starting it* So perhaps not strictly a 1970's thing with regards to paggering.

Regarding the going to ER one week and Tynie the next, older guys i've spoken to say the numbers that did so were quite exaggerated when talked about today.

Also can you be a fan of either club if you're doing that? Going as a football fan - absolutely. Going as either a Hibby or Jambo to Easter Road and Tynie every other week..? If your a fan would you really want to financially contribute to them let alone sit in amongst them?






*I'm an atheist and taking the piss before someone calls me a bigot.

[Peevemor]

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All my older male relatives went week about. I wonder what it was that caused this to break down? The aggro that brought segregation in was pretty brutal. Where did it come from?

I think cost would have had an effect too.

At one time people didn't have to think twice about the price of entry to a match - now it's definitely a consideration.

[thorbs]

My father in law says when he was a boy his dad had season tickets at both Hibs & Hearts and took him to see whoever was at home or had the best game every weekend, so he supported both. He identifies as a Jambo now though, poor guy.

[James Stephen]

From what ive read, the 50s seems to have been the exception, and violence and antipathy were around in the decades prior.

I suspect it was all part of the post war boom, that groups of mates who had been through unimaginable horror together didnt put fitba rivalry above friendship and enjoying leisure time together. I suppose still a comradeship type thing.

No idea if this also happened in the 20s post WW1?

Certainly my grandfathers generation all did it apparently, with big groups of extended family. Probably to get away from tiny flats and houses packed full of screaming bairns!

[James Stephen]

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Wasn't some of the first recorded violence between Hibs and Hearts in the late 1800's? No doubt those pesky prods starting it* So perhaps not strictly a 1970's thing with regards to paggering.

Regarding the going to ER one week and Tynie the next, older guys i've spoken to say the numbers that did so were quite exaggerated when talked about today.

Also can you be a fan of either club if you're doing that? Going as a football fan - absolutely. Going as either a Hibby or Jambo to Easter Road and Tynie every other week..? If your a fan would you really want to financially contribute to them let alone sit in amongst them?






*I'm an atheist and taking the piss before someone calls me a bigot.

Almost from the outset i think, and the Hibs support were certainly willing and able to mix it!

[where'stheslope]

I have to say I was a fan of both teams up till segregation started and you could not stand next to you pals at games.
I also was partial to other teams games Dunfermline, Raith and East Fife in particular when visiting reletives in Leven.
I found the more you diverified who you watched, you would see good play from both sides and not just the green tinted variety.

[AltheHibby]

I sometimes went to Tiny in the 70s and would cheer Hearts from the Gorgie Road end terrace.

Although there was violence before that, it was Mercer that caused the bad blood when he tried the takeover, which when allied to segregation and the tribal feel that brought, has led to the bad blood today.

The internet hasn't helped. Calling us Hubs and them Hertz is fine in my book because they are nicknames. Even Soap Dodge City for Glasgow ( where my daughter was born) is fine, as is Edinbu**ers, which makes me laugh. However, nonsense like "vermin" is too far, and the appalling sectarian rubbish makes me despair.

And yes, I am aware that I said "the stupid is strong with this one" about Kiwidug. However, as that's been said about me many a time, it's just a fun insult . But maybe that's too far for some.

Anyway, lecture over and back on topic. Hibs good, Hearts bad!

[brog]

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Not sure anyone actually 'supported' both clubs in the sense that they liked both equally. Most will have been Hibs or Hearts supporters, but I think it was more the case that travelling to away games was less common and that there was something of a tradition that pals would go together to Easter Road one week and Tynecastle the next.

Based on what my older relatives have told me (and we're talking about games back in the 1950s here) the big difference was that the hatred we have now didn't exist. Rivalry yes but there was no segregation and folk just enjoyed having a game of football to go to. Probably helped that both teams had some terrific players in that era.

As far as I'm aware the venom and fighting didn't come in until the 70s. Hibs utterly dominated the yams in that era mind you so maybe they couldn't hack it...

There was a cartoon which ran for many years in the Evening News called Fitba' Daft which featured a couple of old pals who went to ER one week and Tynecastle the next. It became Boolin' Green in the close season IIRC.

Good summary. As others have said it was also very much a social thing at the time. Remember, in the late 40's many young men & women were returning home after being gone for maybe 5 or 6 years. Many didn't return home & so there was very much a feeling that every social outlet should be enjoyed. It's not a coincidence that in that period every team enjoyed a boom in attendances & in the 20 seasons after WW2 we saw the most equal period in Scottish football since the prior century. We won 3 titles, Hearts 2 & Dundee, Aberdeen, Killie & a wee team called Celtc 1 each! My family were 100% Hibs & only ventured to Tiny once a season but more middle class supporters often had a season ticket at both grounds. I was very young but even then my memory was that it was much more likely for a Hearts family to have a 2nd season ticket at ER than the other way around. It was also a bit reflective on one's social standing to have 2 seasons at a time when very few people could actually afford one! The 50's ( & early 60's) were probably the last old fashioned decade with men wearing suits, collar & ties to ER. I think the fighting, which was certainly around in mid 60's was more reflective of overall social changes than anything specific to Hibs & Hearts.

[SideBurns]

My dad and his mates used to get the train from Granton to Dalry in the 50s & 60s when Hibs weren't playing at ER. He was pretty clear that he didn't want Hearts to win, it was just a game to attend at a time when it was rarer to follow your team away from home (presumably for financial reasons, especially for young laddies). However, there wasn't the same animosity between the clubs back then and it would've been much easier to go along to Tynie as a Hibby.

I've posted before my dad's theory that the 7-0 game signalled a change in attitude from the Jambos and a deterioration in the relationship between the two supports; it was a really tough one for them to take. It got worse as the 70s progressed and fitba violence increased, and of course events since then probably mean the hatred is here to stay (sadly, in my view).

[SideBurns]

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Not sure anyone actually 'supported' both clubs in the sense that they liked both equally. Most will have been Hibs or Hearts supporters, but I think it was more the case that travelling to away games was less common and that there was something of a tradition that pals would go together to Easter Road one week and Tynecastle the next.

Based on what my older relatives have told me (and we're talking about games back in the 1950s here) the big difference was that the hatred we have now didn't exist. Rivalry yes but there was no segregation and folk just enjoyed having a game of football to go to. Probably helped that both teams had some terrific players in that era.

As far as I'm aware the venom and fighting didn't come in until the 70s. Hibs utterly dominated the yams in that era mind you so maybe they couldn't hack it...

There was a cartoon which ran for many years in the Evening News called Fitba' Daft which featured a couple of old pals who went to ER one week and Tynecastle the next. It became Boolin' Green in the close season IIRC.

Your post pretty much mirrors the one I've just left, sounds a good summary to me.

[IWasThere2016]

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I think cost would have had an effect too.

At one time people didn't have to think twice about the price of entry to a match - now it's definitely a consideration.

Stole my thunder - it will have been cost as well as 'entertainment' lacking and trouble.. not a mix conducive to going week in week out.

I visit many away games down here in Englandshire - but nothing would make me go to the Pink Piggery unless Hibs were there

[tamig]

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I sometimes went to Tiny in the 70s and would cheer Hearts from the Gorgie Road end terrace.

Although there was violence before that, it was Mercer that caused the bad blood when he tried the takeover, which when allied to segregation and the tribal feel that brought, has led to the bad blood today.

The internet hasn't helped. Calling us Hubs and them Hertz is fine in my book because they are nicknames. Even Soap Dodge City for Glasgow ( where my daughter was born) is fine, as is Edinbu**ers, which makes me laugh. However, nonsense like "vermin" is too far, and the appalling sectarian rubbish makes me despair.

And yes, I am aware that I said "the stupid is strong with this one" about Kiwidug. However, as that's been said about me many a time, it's just a fun insult . But maybe that's too far for some.

Anyway, lecture over and back on topic. Hibs good, Hearts bad!

I think it started with Mercer well before 1990. When they were a yoyo club late 70s early 80s thats when their support really changed. A lot of violence and smashing up of towns when they were in the First Division. But all this big team pish has certainly grown since that time and their generations of fans since the early 80s have been a different breed of arrogant no-marks full of deluded self-entitlement.

[SideBurns]

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Good summary. As others have said it was also very much a social thing at the time. Remember, in the late 40's many young men & women were returning home after being gone for maybe 5 or 6 years. Many didn't return home & so there was very much a feeling that every social outlet should be enjoyed. It's not a coincidence that in that period every team enjoyed a boom in attendances & in the 20 seasons after WW2 we saw the most equal period in Scottish football since the prior century. We won 3 titles, Hearts 2 & Dundee, Aberdeen, Killie & a wee team called Celtc 1 each! My family were 100% Hibs & only ventured to Tiny once a season but more middle class supporters often had a season ticket at both grounds. I was very young but even then my memory was that it was much more likely for a Hearts family to have a 2nd season ticket at ER than the other way around. It was also a bit reflective on one's social standing to have 2 seasons at a time when very few people could actually afford one! The 50's ( & early 60's) were probably the last old fashioned decade with men wearing suits, collar & ties to ER. I think the fighting, which was certainly around in mid 60's was more reflective of overall social changes than anything specific to Hibs & Hearts.

Brog, my auld man used to tell me that the fighting in the 60s only really got bad when the Huns came; especially if they tried to 'change ends at half time' and attempted to enter the Cave. The amount of cairry oots (and therefore a ready supply of weapons in the shape of empty beer bottles) could make it a dangerous situation, he would say!

[BILLYHIBS]

I would watch Hearts and HIBS but it was always Hibs never been back to Tiny since 1990

[H18S NX]

I think the "Mercer" incident put paid to that, it would never be the same again after that.

[oldbutdim]

One of my first derby games At Easter Road I travelled with a bunch of Hearts fans in the back of a furniture removal van from the Longstone Hearts Club where my much older brother was a member. All the other travellers were decked out in maroon scarves, whilst I wore my green and white one which I had woven at primary school.
As I remember it, Hearts won that day so I wasn’t thrown out of the back of a moving vehicle on the return journey.

[Liberal Hibby]

Agree with pretty much everything people have said further up - the social changes in the 60s plus also slightly paradoxically an increase in people's incomes didn't lead to more people going week about - the increase in other leisure activities meant other distractions (perhaps more family friendly - the first covered shopping centres are from the same era).

Also before 1975 league gates were shared 50:50 between both teams (like cup games still are) - that meant after then any Hibbee going to Tynecastle was simply putting money in their coffers. Mercer of course 14 years later hammered the final nail in the coffin of 'neutral' Hibs fans attending Tynecastle.

[G B Young]

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Brog, my auld man used to tell me that the fighting in the 60s only really got bad when the Huns came; especially if they tried to 'change ends at half time' and attempted to enter the Cave. The amount of cairry oots (and therefore a ready supply of weapons in the shape of empty beer bottles) could make it a dangerous situation, he would say!

Yes, I meant to add that to my earlier post. My dad and uncle always said it was Rangers who were seen as the big rivals back in the 50s, not Hearts. Celtic were a bit of an also-ran back then as they were going to through a very lean period by their standards. Rangers (like all teams I guess) were terrified of Gordon Smith and my dad recalls going to watch Hibs at Ibrox where Smith would get an especially vitriolic welcome. Apparently he just stood there in the warm-up playing keepie-uppie in front of the Rangers fans, cool as you like.

[Ray_]

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My dad and his mates used to get the train from Granton to Dalry in the 50s & 60s when Hibs weren't playing at ER. He was pretty clear that he didn't want Hearts to win, it was just a game to attend at a time when it was rarer to follow your team away from home (presumably for financial reasons, especially for young laddies). However, there wasn't the same animosity between the clubs back then and it would've been much easier to go along to Tynie as a Hibby.

I've posted before my dad's theory that the 7-0 game signalled a change in attitude from the Jambos and a deterioration in the relationship between the two supports; it was a really tough one for them to take. It got worse as the 70s progressed and fitba violence increased, and of course events since then probably mean the hatred is here to stay (sadly, in my view).

I recently posted about losing my hearts daft pal who I'd known for fifty odd years. We'd go to home and away to see our own team and go to any Hampden Internationals, be it Scottish League, U23 & full internationals, but if none of that was on, we'd go with each other to see the other Edinburgh team play.

Our motive was simply both played good football and it was territorial, with Edinburgh being our home city, we'd want both the teams to do well.

We didn't go to the 7-0 game together, when I saw him for the first time after the game, it was the holiday period and it was the Sunday, I hadn't said anything simply because Hibs had played the infamous East Fife game the day before, so the implications of that game [losing John Brownlie, Pat Stanton & Alex Edwards for different reasons] was uppermost in my mind, not a game played almost a week earlier. It was my pal who brought the game up by saying, "bloody hell, that was our biggest ever defeat" and that was it, forgotten there and then.

The game at the time was not what it went on to become, up to that point in the season, Hibs had beaten the current Cup Winners Cup holders, rangers, 3-0, which was part of beating them in three semi's out of three, putting six past sporting, seven past Besa and five past celtic and beating celtic in the drybrough & league cup final's, scoring six against Airdrie & Dundee Utd, seven past St Johnstone and eight past Ayr and we were regularly beating hearts, so it wasn't the big deal it became and the result certainly wasn't the major shift where hatred became part of the Edinburgh derby.

I moved south in July 73 but was frequently home, especially in the early years and the first time I noticed the major change was in the mid-eighties and now of course the keyboard worriers have taken it to new levels.

[AndyM_1875]

My late Dad was of the generation that went to Easter Road one week and Tynecastle the next. He wasn't what I'd call tribal about football the way I am.
The reason he did it was because he like many people in the 40s and 50s worked on a Saturday morning and didn't finish till 12.30 so it was easier to go to
a game at one of the Edinburgh grounds. He wasn't religious in the slightest so the whole Proddy/Kafflik thing bemused him as it does me but he had a lifelong dislike of Rangers
and loved it if the Forces of Darkness were beaten by either Hibs or Hearts.

[Billy Whizz]

I take 2 young lads, both were Hibs and Hearts season ticket holders at the same time. Initially were Hearts due to family connections
For the last 3 years they have only been Hibs season ticket holders only, and both have renewed

[G B Young]

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All my older male relatives went week about. I wonder what it was that caused this to break down? The aggro that brought segregation in was pretty brutal. Where did it come from?

Did the 'cairry-oot' start to become more of a thing post-1950s maybe? I might be completely wrong but in my mind's eye I see fans in the 50s as more likely to be carrying a wee whisky flask in their pockets to the game than cases of beer cans and bottles. You'd also be less likely to use your own flask as a missile!

Segregation, while designed to limit trouble, ultimately helped to fuel the tribal hatred IMHO. Nothing worse than seeing a stand full of yams/huns etc celebrating. It used to be even worse when it was terracing as there were more of them and the celebration looked much wilder. I don't mind admitting that in my younger days I'd imagine hurling a hand grenade into the midst of them!

I'd be interested to see how we'd all get on with each other now if segregation was scrapped.

[FilipinoHibs]

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From what ive read, the 50s seems to have been the exception, and violence and antipathy were around in the decades prior.

I suspect it was all part of the post war boom, that groups of mates who had been through unimaginable horror together didnt put fitba rivalry above friendship and enjoying leisure time together. I suppose still a comradeship type thing.

No idea if this also happened in the 20s post WW1?

Certainly my grandfathers generation all did it apparently, with big groups of extended family. Probably to get away from tiny flats and houses packed full of screaming bairns!

Both clubs had good teams in the 50s. Knew a few old boys who watched both teams - some Hibs fans and some Hearts fans.

[SideBurns]

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Yes, I meant to add that to my earlier post. My dad and uncle always said it was Rangers who were seen as the big rivals back in the 50s, not Hearts. Celtic were a bit of an also-ran back then as they were going to through a very lean period by their standards. Rangers (like all teams I guess) were terrified of Gordon Smith and my dad recalls going to watch Hibs at Ibrox where Smith would get an especially vitriolic welcome. Apparently he just stood there in the warm-up playing keepie-uppie in front of the Rangers fans, cool as you like.

Another story my dad told me was about a trip to Ibrox in the late 50s. He went with his wee brother, and as naive schoolboys wore green and white scarves. As they walked up the terracing, men were spitting on them - grown men spitting on wee boys. One decent Rangers fan grabbed them and said, "You're in a bad part of the ground lads" and directed them towards a safer area.

Catholic laddies, but with lots of pals from different persuasions, my dad and uncle had been brought up in a house devoid of bigotry or hatred. But it was certainly a memory that stayed with him throughout his life, and he detested the Huns. As for Hearts, they were just our local rivals and he loved a derby win. But any win over the Huns was a different, special kind of victory.