Hearts and minds

As he rightly states, the recent events surrounding the apparent demise of his beloved Heart of Midlothian Football Club (HMFC) have indeed “generated a great deal of hyperbole” yet I fear that Mr Alexander and his colleagues are themselves exponents of such hyperbole at best and at worst of a gross misinterpretation of historical facts.

Firstly, his contention that HMFC “remain the only football team in Great Britain whose fame is not solely founded on honours won on the sporting field” beggars belief.

Others, including but not  restricted to Celtic (seven deaths); Brechin (six); Bradford (nine); Newcastle (seven) and West Ham (five) also made the ultimate sacrifice for a cause they believed in.

Other sporting institutions in Edinburgh and beyond suffered the same fate; the majority of the Edinburgh Academy Rugby championship-winning team of a few years prior to 1914 lost their lives.

The war affected everyone, some more than others, and certainly others more than Hearts.

M McBrierty

Leith

Edinburgh

May I thank Jack Alexander of McCrae’s Battalion Trust for reminding us of the magnificent example set by Hearts FC at the outbreak of the First World War.

At that time Hearts were leading the Scottish League but, in response to Sir John McCrae’s appeal, they enlisted en bloc, and, as Jack Alexander reminds us, they lost their lives at the Somme.

A few years ago I was privileged to join the trust’s annual visit to Contalmaison where a memorial commemorates their sacrifice and that of the Falkirk players who also joined the Footballers Battalion.

It would be a tragedy if this great club did not overcome their current problems.

Gilbert Peddie

Falkirk Senior Bairns

Saltcoats Drive

Grangemouth