Brave little Lewis inspires dad’s big goal

By Michael MacLeod

A BIG hearted dad is gearing up to run around every football ground in Scotland in just one weekend to help his son battle blood cancer.

Hearts fan Campbell Blair’s world was turned upside down when his four year-old boy Lewis was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).

Now, two years on, Lewis has responded well to treatment so his 35 year-old dad is planning a unique half-marathon challenge to raise money as a “thank you” to the medics who helped him.

Lewis’ courageous battle with AML has also inspired 50 of his dad’s friends who will run with him around all 12 Scottish Premier League grounds.

Hearts and Hibs pair team up for Blood Donor campaign push

By Rory Reynolds

TWO of the Scotland’s top football clubs have teamed up to boost the number of people giving blood over the October half-term break.

Hibs captain Chris Hogg and Hearts centre-back Marius Zaliukas appeared at the Edinburgh Blood Donor Centre to draw awareness to the 20 per cent drop in bloodstocks that the NHS suffers over the holiday period.

The footballers urged fans to give blood, and highlighted that they could save a lives with a simple gesture.

Hibs captain Chris Hogg said that every donor could make a difference to someone’s life.

Blood

He said: “It’s important that all football fans come forward and help the Service at this time and I would add my encouragement to them to come along and give blood.

“We just want to try and help highlight the need for new donors today and if we can do that, maybe it will help save or improve someone’s life.”

Hearts FC unveil new signings despite financial woes

By Alexander Lawrie

HEARTS FC unveiled its latest bid for footballing glory – a women’s team.

But the news was overshadowed by reports that owner Vladimir Romanov’s bank has seen its own fortunes plunge – with a 91 per cent drop in profits.

Ukio Bankas saw its profits all but wiped out by the global recession.

The Lithuanian bank – of which Vladmir Romanov is a major shareholder – only just stayed in the black by recording a net profit of £1.1 million.

But, despite its plummeting profits, a spokesperson for the bank claimed the start of the year had been “positive”.

Arnas Zalys, head of the firm’s finance office, said: “Taken into consideration current market situation we view the first half-year results of Ukio Bankas positively.

Jam Tarts need new coach after getting jammed under a bridge

By Michael MacLeod

HEARTS’ footballers tackled an unexpected opponent on Saturday – when their team bus got wedged under a bridge.

The Jam Tarts lived up to their nickname when the coach became jammed on the last leg of their German tour.

The Edinburgh squad were just 100 metres from their hotel in Aachen after a gruelling four hour journey from Barsinghausen, in the north of Germany, when they came unstuck.

The team had just suffered an embarrassing 2-0 defeat at the hands of German Bundesliga Two outfit St Pauli.

Hearts trading with the devil, says Salmond

 

 

By Alexander Lawrie

FIRST MINISTER Alex Salmond has accused his beloved Hearts of striking a “devil’s bargain” with its controversial owner Vladimir Romanov.

The lifelong Hearts supporter claims the club is in “unsafe hands” after succumbing to the “Chelsea syndrome”.

And the politician has riled the Hearts loyal support by comparing Romanov to the late former chairman Wallace Mercer – who famously tried to merge the club with bitter rivals Hibernian in the 1990’s.

But the club’s supporters have rounded on the First Minister’s contentious remarks claiming he is rarely seen at the Tynecastle ground.

Mr Salmond’s comments come just days after the club’s former chief executive Phil Anderton branded Romanov “an idiot” and an “egomaniac”.

Return to old-fashioned values

In a recent interview, Salmond admitted he would welcome a return to the old-fashioned stewardship of the club.

He said: “I still believe there is a general problem in football which involves a kind of devil’s bargain.

“If you get a club sold to a very rich foreign guy – often a Russian oligarch or somebody like that – then I suppose you enter into a devil’s bargain, whereby you hope the guy is rich enough to buy you success.

“It’s the Chelsea syndrome – now that is a devil’s bargain there. But, I think, in Hearts case with Romanov, we’ve entered a devil’s bargain without getting the bargain.”

But, George Foulkes, a Labour MSP and ex-chairman of the Edinburgh club, questioned Salmond’s right to interfere in the club’s affairs saying he rarely saw him at any of the club’s matches.

He said: “He doesn’t know what the financial situation at Hearts was like when Romanov came in.

“He would be better employed solving the many problems which Scotland is facing without pontificating on a club that he knows nothing about.”

Supporters hit back

And Alex Gowans, chairman of the Heart of Midlothian Shareholders Association, also attacked the First Minister’s comments.

He said: “Mr Romanov has at least provided a measure of financial resource for the club.

“There is no doubting his commitment. Tynecastle Stadium would have been leveled and houses built on the site with Mr Romanov’s intervention.”

During his rant, Mr Salmond also compared the present owner to the club’s former chairman Wallace Mercer.

He said: “Vladimir Romanov, for me, is a kind of Baltic states Wallace Mercer – he is unsafe hands.

“I’m not saying that Romanov is some sort of dreadful person. All I’m saying is that, if we’re going to be taken over by a rich guy from the Baltic states, then it’s just a pity he wasn’t a bit richer.”

Romanov recently made a bid to become Lithuania’s new President, but was knocked back after the country’s Chief Election Commission decided to deny the Hearts owner the chance to run as a candidate – because he was born in Russia.

 

Hearts Legend’s Cheeky Move

By Alexander Lawrie

ONE of Scotland’s top football bosses has bared all in an online film to raise awareness for a cancer charity.

Dundee Utd manager Craig Levein’s cheeky move came as he appeared in a five-minute charity film for Prostate Scotland.

During the spoof sports-show ad Levein is seen being interviewed by radio personality Grant Stott before turning on his heels and showing off his bare backside.

The hilarious advert is currently the talk of football forums up and down the country.

Hearts legend Levein is joined in light-hearted charity promo by Stott and former Scotland rugby captain Chris Patterson.

The film coincides with the launch of the website for Edinburgh-based charity Prostate Scotland, an organisation which hopes to raise awareness of the disease and to encourage men to discuss their own health.

It is estimated that almost half (43%) of Scottish men will be affected by prostate cancer sometime in their lives, and between 2000-06 a massive 5457 men died in Scotland from the disease.

The charity has recruited Levein, Stott and Patterson to help persuade Scots men that visiting their GP need not be embarrassing.

Former Scottish-internationalist Levein has a personal interest in the cause after close friend and Dundee Utd chairman Eddie Thomson died from the disease last year.

In the five minute clip – available from today on the charity’s website – Levein and Patterson recreate a sports show format and give spoof after-match interviews on the subject of prostate cancer with presenter Stott.

The hilarious clip then ends with Levein walking away from the camera in a hospital gown revealing his bare behind.

Describing the operation Levein says: “The thing was – I just didn’t know what to expect.

“I just had to get in there, do what needed to be done and, hopefully, get a good result.”

Recent research shows a massive 89 per cent did not know the function the prostate, while two thirds (66%) don’t know where the prostate is located.

Survival rates are around 80 per cent, but early detection is key to this statistic.

Robert Wilson, chairman of Prostate Scotland, said: “The research proved there is a lack of awareness, with only 28 per cent of people surveyed being close to aware of the prevalence of prostate disease.

“The website contains some important awareness materials to help reverse this gap in information.”

Presenter Grant Stott admitted he “couldn’t believe the figures of people at risk were so high”.

He said: “I just had to help raise awareness of this common but often unspoken disease and, hopefully, encourage more people to talk openly about a subject which shouldn’t be taboo.”