Even if the permanent media tower which looms over the two dugouts is deemed insufficient for a game that will be beamed across the UK on TV and the world online.
“There’s going to be 13 cameras – five more than we would usually have with BBC Scotland or Alba – and 40 BBC staff on site on the day,” reveals Graham, who has been juggling preparations for arguably the biggest – but not the most important – competitive game in the club’s history, with interviews for a new women’s head coach, thinning out applicants for the vacant commercial manager position and January transfer business. It adds up to 12 hour days, seven days a week. Not that Graham would ever make it all about him. No-one at this club does. Everyone is grafting for everyone else. Depending on who is talking, it is for the fans, for the community, the players, the gaffer, the chairman, the people who work at the club or the youngsters who aspire to rise through the ranks.
Assistant operations manager Naomi Hume is a shining example of that. Someone who used to pop along early for games at City Park as a kid to help hang the perimeter advertising boards, she became a regular at Ainslie Park, playing football and volunteering, before being taken on as staff. Now she is worrying about pie orders and ensuring she sources enough plates for the 110 people who have bought hospitality packages for the big day.
“It will be the first time we have sold out a match like this. We sold out Man United and Liverpool friendlies but this is different.”
Different in the fact that they have been told they need to have a plumber and electrician on standby to deal with toilets and floodlights. They have also sourced ground covers to combat the predicted cold weather and enough salt to prepare the ground and offer the game the best chance of beating adverse conditions.
“I am looking forward to it. It will be an interesting day. It will be great for the players as well. There are a few Hearts and Hibs fans in there. Some of the Hibs ones said we should paint the away changing room green!”
They won’t be doing that but Hume says the facilities are getting a wee lick of paint. Just like when royalty visit? “Well, we did have Prince William here last year,” she laughs.
“Hopefully the lads can put on a good show. I know they are looking forward to it. But a quarter past 12 kick off is harsh on us. I think we are all having to be down here at 6.30am. So, please, no extra time, it’s going to be a long enough day!”
She says that but if it means seeing the club progress she, like everyone else at Spartans, would go the extra mile or extra half an hour or so.
“When we got promoted I didn’t think I’d cry but I was greetin’ my eyes out,” she admits. “So I know it will be hard work but I’m looking forward to this. It’s going to be a great day for the club and a wee upset would be even better,” she ventures tentatively.
But this club is all about dreaming big. While they made their name with some impressive Scottish Cup showings, they were also major players in the introduction of the pyramid system, which allows non-league clubs to strive for a place in the SPFL. And, after years of trying they came through the play-offs last term and have made a solid start to life in League Two.
“Nothing will ever be that big,” said manager Dougie Samuel. “But I think the timing of this is almost perfect. It feels like a reward for a lot of hard work over a long period of time.
“The players have earned that for what they have done on the pitch over the last year to 18 months. There have been so many games where they knew what was on the line and they embraced that responsibility and they wanted to be the players that delivered the holy grail.
“Now, going out there against Hearts is going to be amazing. It’s a historic occasion for the football club. It’s going to be a full house, we’re going to be live on national television, it’s a day to be enjoyed and celebrated and not one to be weighed down by worry or fear over what the result will be.
“We need to make sure we give it our all on the park and I’m pretty sure the club will do itself proud off the park.”
The addition of Callum Booth, a former Hibs and St Johnstone left back, has improved their chances. Blair Henderson, Lawrence Shankland, and an excellent striker lead their attack.
Booth emphasizes, “I can’t take any credit for getting us here; the boys got us through the previous two rounds.” Booth and St Johnstone won the League Cup and Scottish Cup together in 2021. However, these are the games you ought to play. Although hearts are a great favorite, odd things happen in the cup every year. On my Hibs debut, we went down to Ayr and lost badly. Thus, the possibility of an upset exists at all times.
On Saturday, life within the constrained boundaries of Ainslie Park might get intriguing because to those Hibs links. “There will undoubtedly be a few amusing yells. However, it’s been about eight years since my last derby, so I doubt they will recall me. It’s not as though they would be vying for someone like Leigh Griffiths.
There has been no shortage of Hibs influence on the team, as evidenced by the addition of Scott Brown and Marc McNulty to the squad for training sessions this season (Brown’s children are in the youth section, and McNulty is the spouse of Samuel’s daughter). Henderson, however, doesn’t give a damn about the rivals as he competes for League Two’s top scorer title. The 29-year-old accountant opened his account this season with the victor over Dundee United in the Viaplay Cup, proving he was a man for the big stage by scoring significant goals in the play-off games the previous season.
“Since I support Hibs, I would adore scoring against Hearts, but it wouldn’t matter if we were playing Hibs; my goal is to always find the scoresheet.”
Having represented prior clubs in games against Rangers and Hibs, he said this is the next big thing he wants to cross off his list. Knowing they won’t have many opportunities, he emphasizes that any success they do have will always come from working together.
“We are improving our defense and scoring a lot of goals.” We went through a little rough patch early on when we might have been losing goals, but we worked on it and currently have four straight clean sheets [amidst a five-game winning streak]. The game appears to be coming together as we work on both sides of it.
The team’s five-game winning streak came to an end on Saturday when they lost to League Two leaders Stenhousemuir. Despite this setback, they are still third in the division after games remaining against the clubs in their immediate vicinity.
While certain members of the squad have a stronger affinity towards their Gorgie enemies, others have a more green tint. Regarding the personnel and assistance, everything remain the same in the capital. Nonetheless, Spartans’ strong sense of community draws people in quite strongly.
“It’s very thrilling, but it’s a strange one because I love Spartans but I’m a Hearts fan,” acknowledges veteran youth work manager for the Spartans Community Foundation and frequent Hearts player Kenny Cameron. “I’ve given it some thought, and the way I see it, if I were a Spartan player, we would all be playing for the win, so for ninety minutes, I want the Spartans to win. Just knowing how much it would mean to everyone here makes me think that they deserve it.
Now, like with most things at the club, staff has found a way to assist the once disorganized group of local teenagers who have united their efforts to become the enthusiastic Spartans Ultras.
“They just want to support their local team and bring noise and colour,” explains Cameron. “They want it to be an interactive experience and to show that young people can be valuable to clubs and the players love it. On Saturday, there were roughly 100 of them instead of only three children and a drum.
Even their new tifo, which placed second in the world’s top five tifos on Copa Italia’s Instagram, is amazing since they created it themselves, put it together, raised money for supplies, and included songs about the players.
In addition, they have asked for the song A Child’s Dream in hopes of having a piper at the game on Saturday. Cameron says, “It all ties in with that because at Spartans we always tell them to dream big and what kid doesn’t grow up dreaming about playing in the Scottish Cup.”
Spartans have achieved their current status via great dreams and a great deal of hard work, and those engaged in all facets of the club, both on and off the field, say they have no intention of lowering their goals anytime soon.
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