Hearts - the Diary of an Incredible Season

Mike Smith

Category Non-fiction/Sport
Pub Date May 2006
ISBN 1 84502 087 1
Extent 192 pp. + 8pp photographs
Price 7.99
Format 198mm x 129mm, paperback
Plates 8pp black and white photographs



Read an Interview with the Author

The inside story of an incredible season at Heart of Midlothian football club

By any standards, Season 2005/06 at Tynecastle has been incredible. After a promising start to the season, manager George Burley had his talented team playing well and Hearts were top of the league. Behind the scenes all seemed well with majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov and Chief Executive Phil Anderton taking control of the club's previously rocky finances. But just as the fans had started to relax and enjoy one of the best winning runs in Hearts' history George Burley sensationally left the club, followed soon afterwards by Phil Anderton and George Foulkes, the architect of the Romanov revolution. And the controversy didn't end there. With many names touted for the manager's job, including Sir Bobby Robson and Claudio Ranieri, the eventual successor was Graham Rix, a man whose personal life was immediately under media scrutiny. On the pitch, the team faltered briefly but recovered to continue their challenge to league leaders Celtic. But what twists and turns does the rest of the season hold? And can Hearts recover their form and fulfill their early season promise?

With unprecedented access to the key figures at the club, including Vladimir Romanov, manager Graham Rix and leading players, Hearts &emdash; the Diary of an Incredible Season will be a unique insight into an amazing year and will be published to coincide with the end of one of the most incredible seasons in the club's long and distinguished history.

AUTHOR INFORMATION Mike Smith is a Hearts fanatic who attended his first Hearts game in 1968 and has never been the same since. A Hearts season ticket holder for more years than he cares to remember, Smith writes for the Hearts matchday programme as well as the club website and the Hearts fans website jambos.net