The Big Trip - latest news

Plans are coming together for The Great Expedition to Gorgie, our ambitious plan to get as many England-based Jambos to Tynecastle as possible.

If you don't know the background, then click here to catch-up....

Basically, we are holding a Burns Night party in York on Friday 25 January, and will then be travelling en masse to Tynecastle the next day for Hearts v Motherwell.

Many have already signed up but it would be great to add to that total. We hope to book train tickets on Saturday or Monday (Nov 3 or 5), to get the maximum group discount, so let us know ASAP on yorkhearts@yahoo.co.uk if you want us to add you to the list.

Not convinced yet? Here goes.... Hearts have very generously agreed to give us 10% of our ticket order free - IF we book more than 20 tickets. That discount will be shared between everyone who commits to the trip early, so let us know now to guarantee 10% off your match ticket.

And for the Burns Night? We will be heading over to North Riding Brew Pub in Scarborough in early January to brew our very own beer for the event - brewed to a strength of 5.1% ABV, in honour of the cup-final score!

So celebrate Burns Night, get behind the Jambos, and sign up for a great event to blow away the winter blues fo January! email yorkhearts@yahoo.co.uk

Hearts on TV again

Dundee Utd v Hearts in the League Cup will be shown live in the White Horse this Wednesday. Kick-off is 7.15pm. Please do try to come along. If the match alone doesn't inspire you, then it's a way to avoid all the trick-or-treaters!

Notice of Special General Meeting and 2011 & 2012 Annual General Meeting

This year's York Hearts AGM will be held in the White Horse on Bootham at 12.10pm on Saturday 24 November. Hearts play Motherwell at Fir Park that day, with a 12.45pm kick-off, and we hope that this will enable members to attend the meeting and to watch the match.

The AGM includes the setting of membership fees for the year; the election of a committee for the coming year; and a report on the club accounts and activities for the past year. Any proposed changes to our constitution must also be made at the AGM.

Please note, the constitution currently on the website is slightly out-of-date, following minor amendments made at the 2009 and 2010 AGMs. An updated copy will be uploaded to the website shortly and copies will also be available on the day.

The committee do not currently intend to increase membership fees, which have always been deemed fair at £10 a year for adults, £5 for children and £20 for families.

If anyone is interested in joining the committee, please contact one of the existing members (Gav, Ian, Cliff or Brian) to discuss this. We do feel it would be good for the club to have some change here, and Gav and Ian in particular have said they would welcome a chance to step back at least temporarily, after six years.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Many members will recall that no AGM was held in 2011. The committee members were extremely busy with other commitments this time last year and, very regrettably, the meeting was not held. This does fall foul of our constitution. Therefore, this year's AGM will be the AGM for 2011 and 2012. In addition, a Special General Meeting (SGM) will be held immediately prior to this year's meeting (at 12 noon), when we will ask members to vote to excuse this as a one-off shortcoming and to go-ahead with the meeting as planned.

There will be one motion at the SGM, namely: "That this club notes the apologies of the committee for the failure to hold an AGM in 2011, excuses this as a one-off short-coming, and votes that the joint AGM for 2011 & 2012 go-ahead as scheduled today."

Hearts on TV

Hearts are live on TV five times in the next few weeks, beginning this weekend. We'll be in the White Horse in Bootham for all matches and it would be great to have as many members as possible in the pub, if you're not actually at the match.

On Sunday, Hearts v Motherwell in the SPL kicks off at 12.45pm.

On October 31, Dundee Utd v Hearts in the League Cup kicks off at 7.15pm.

On November 10, Inverness v Hearts in the SPL kicks off at 12 noon.

On November 24, Motherwell v Hearts in the SPL kicks off at 12.45pm.

On November 28, Hearts v Celtic in the SPL kicks off at 7.30pm.

The big trip: A brief further update

Interest is continuing to grow for our big trip to Tynecastle in January.

Here's brief update for those wh ohave already expressed an interest. If you don't know the background, see the main blog page for previous articles on this, click on the tag at the foot of this post, or click here: Original article.

We have about 20-25 confirmed names so far, and about ten or so possibles. Please keep spreading the word, to help boost numbers yet further. The Burns Night bash will be at Brigantes in Micklegate. It's £8 a head for the haggis, neeps and tatties meal, complete with the traditional Address to the Haggis.

Some people have asked if there is a non-haggis option, and whether children are welcome in the pub. The answer to both questions is 'yes'.

We also now hope to have our own Hearts-themed beer on the bar for the occasion, produced by Stuart Neilson, a Hearts fan in Scarborough who runs The North Riding Brew Pub.

We have heard back from East Coast. We will be making a block booking through them as soon as tickets become available, which should be at the start of November. We can expect about 10 or 11 per cent off the usual advanced purchase price if we book en masse, which we think should bring the cost to about £40 return for a full adult fare.

East Coast will invoice us and give us two weeks to pay in full, so it would be very helpful if people could let us know if they definitely want to go, and then get money to us either before we book, or very soon afterwards.

For those looking to stay in York, you may want to see the accommodation section of the Visit York website.

We plan to place a notice about this in a forthcoming Hearts home programme, and will post a further update around the end of September.

The big trip north: an update

PLANS are coming together for The Great Expedition To Gorgie in January.

We are hosting a Burns Night party in York on Friday 25 January, and then coordinating a trip to Tynecastle the next day, for Hearts v Motherwell, with the aim of getting as many England-based Jambos as possible to travel north together for the match.

If you missed the original story on this, you can catch up here: Original article.

We've had a great response to our original plans, so here's an update....

We have now booked Brigantes in Micklegate for the Burns Night party, at a price of £8 a head for the haggis, neeps and tatties meal, complete with the traditional Address to the Haggis.

For those coming from outside York, Brigantes is only five minutes' walk from York Station and is a fantastic pub, which has won a number of awards in recent years. It's run by a member of York Hearts, which helps ensure we will get great service. We are likely to have most of the downstairs area.

The majority of people have said they would prefer to travel by train, and we've been in touch with East Coast to use their advanced group discount offer. They sell tickets up to 12 weeks in advance, which means our tickets will go on sale on or around November 3.

We are waiting to hear from them whether we need to book the tickets all at once. Our preference would be that they give us a customised discount code, so people can book and pay for their own tickets, while still benefiting from the group discount and hopefully ensuring we are all in the same carriage. We'll update on this as soon as we hear back from East Coast.

For those looking to stay in York, you may want to see the accommodation section of the Visit York website.

So near and yet so far....

FOUR members of York Hearts made it to Anfield, as Hearts came agonisingly close to a sensational victory over Liverpool. Few gave Hearts much hope after the unfortunate 1-0 defeat at Tynecastle last week, but Hearts held on for 83 minutes, before taking the lead through David Templeton. Sadly, the hosts levelled 4 minutes later, to deny Hearts the chance of extra-time. Well done to those who made the trip, or gathered in the White Horse to watch on TV. The next official club trip is on September 29 to Hearts v Kilmarnock.

The great expedition to Gorgie...

Are you a Hearts fan marooned in England? Then sign up now for the trip of the season!

This year, as well as organising monthly trips to Tynecastle, York Hearts want to meet other Jambos from around England and organise one great expedition north to Tynecastle.

Dozens of us travel up individually or in small groups week in week out - now let's do it as one. We are encouraging as many Jambos and Jambo sympathisers as possible to make the trip, from wherever you may be in England. Bring your friends, your kids, your wives, your husbands, your boyfriends, your girlfriends, your neighbours and your colleagues - the more the merrier. Whether you're a member of York Hearts, or a Jambo elsewhere in England, come along!

All the doom-mongers and nay-sayers claim that the death of Rangers will kill Scottish football and ruin crowds. We want to prove them wrong.

So on January 26, we will travel en masse to Tynecastle to watch Hearts take on Motherwell in the SPL. We considered choosing a derby game or a match against Celtic, but felt it was better to choose a typical SPL game, where our support would be more significant.

To add to the event, we will be organising a Burns Night event in York on Friday 25 January, for any Jambos elsewhere in England who want to break their trip north. Details will depend on numbers, but you can guarantee beer, haggis, whisky and a good laugh among fellow marooned Jambos.

Once we have an idea of numbers, we will make a block booking for tickets through Hearts. We will either hire a coach or make advanced bookings on the train, which would allow those further north to join us at Darlington, Newcastle, Durham or Berwick.

If you are interested, please email yorkhearts@yahoo.co.uk with a note of where you are, how you'd prefer to travel (bus or train), whether you'd be up for the Burns Night do in York on the Friday, and with contact details.

If you know someone else who might be interested, please spread the word.

Make a noise, the Gorgie Boys, are going to... Gorgie!