Gary Mackay: Hearts should be applauded for their away allocation decision

Hearts made the decision earlier this week to cut the away allocation for every Scottish Premiership opponent except one.

Due to a tremendous demand for tickets from Hearts fans, the Roseburn Stand will now house only 650 visiting supporters in a single section closest to the main stand at Tynecastle.

This caused a bit of a furore among opposition fans, especially those who follow Celtic and Rangers who were used to getting the entire stand not too long ago.

I applaud the club and it’s a decision which I’m sure they didn’t take lightly given the time they’ve been mulling over it. But I think it’s the correct decision.

Aberdeen fans within the single section away end at Tynecastle Park during the last meeting between the clubs in May. Picture: SNS

In a roundabout way, it’s something which puts demands and increased pressure on the club, but in a good way. There’s additional pressure because we’re expected to fill another part of our stadium now with our own supporters. The only way that will happen is if Hearts continue to produce positive results and performances on the pitch. If we continually sell enough seats to our own fans so that the away section stays at this number, then it’ll mean we’ll have consolidated third or fourth over the coming years.

Fans don’t care about potentially a wee bit more money coming in from away fans, they want there to be as many Hearts fans there as possible, and so do I. Hopefully it’s vindicated by results over the coming season.

No disrespect to the Glasgow clubs, but they’ve been making decisions ad hoc with each other and about other clubs over the years, and so have the SFA when it comes to semi finals and finals. And it’s not just been Hearts on the receiving end of that.

If we can get more maroon and white scarves in the stadium then I’m more than happy.

It enthuses me even more that we’re keeping the arrangement with Hibs where they still get our entire away stand and we get theirs. I always liked going to Easter Road as a player and I still enjoy it as a supporter and I want as many of our fans there as possible. The more down there celebrating Hearts victories, the better.