Toepoker

47 years ago today. Wednesday 6th April 1977. Heart of Midlothian 1 Ayr United 2 Tynecastle was the venue for this midweek Scottish Premier Division relegation decider. There were 2 automatic relegation places in the 10 team top flight league. Going into this vital game Ayr were sitting in 8th place and Hearts were just 4 points behind them in 9th place. With 5 games to go after this only a win for Hearts would give them a chance of avoiding relegation for the first time in their history. 11,000 fans turned out for this Wednesday night match and it was Ayr who took an early lead in the 5th minute with a goal from Cramond. This was cancelled out with a Hearts goal just before half time. In a tense second half Ayr regained the lead in the 56th minute with a strike from McCall. Then as time began to run out the atmosphere in the ground began to change as the first boos began to ring out round the ground from the large Hearts support. A few fans began to move towards the exit, and the first Hearts scarf was thrown onto the pitch by a disappointed fan leaving the ground. Malcolm Robertson was playing for Hearts that day. He had been an Ayr United player only a few weeks before and had been their top scorer that season. He was was then transferred from Ayr to Hearts, the club he had supported as a boy, in a £10k deal. As the final whistle approached the playing surface was covered with a sprinkling of maroon and white scarfs discarded by Hearts fans. Ayr's Jim McSherry then picked up a Hearts scarf and handed it to Malcolm Robertson his team mate only a few weeks before. Words were exchanged, a punch was thrown and McSherry was laid out flat on the ground. The referee had his back to the incident, but the far side linesman had seen everything and raised his flag to attract the referees attention. Robertson was sent off and soon after the final whistle blew. Both Hearts and Kilmarnock were relegated and Ayr were safe in the top flight of Scottish football for another season. And every word of this is true. I know, because I was there. 1977-04-06 Wed Hearts 1 Ayr United 2 (londonhearts.com)

Yellow cards started now.

Yas.

Attendance 43,454 ching ching

Thank you Davie White. Your contribution is valued and appreciated.

Match attendance 1,115.

Scott Brown named Ayr manager as Celtic hero returns to the dugout with Rangers date set (msn.com)

Brown shortening to 4/6 favourite is a significant move at this stage, but not over yet.

McBookie now up. Bowyer 5/2; Mulgrew 3/1; Brown 3/1; Young 6/1; 10/1 bar - no Davie White still.

Ticket prices vary depending on your seat inside Ibrox. Usually, tickets are priced from £30 for adults, £21 for concessions and £10 for Juniors

No significant betting moves today at McBookie but I did notice that Davie White has been removed from the list. He was 6/1 3rd favourite this morning and is the one that I would back at this stage. If he delivers two wins for the club tomorrow and Tuesday he will have a 80% win record over his 5 games in charge and it would be difficult then not to offer him the job till the end of the season. McBookie could have taken some money on him today or maybe they just don't want any more money on him at this stage incase he delivers results over the next four days.

Andy Murdoch is back running.

Your £10 on Courts and Brown seems to have been enough to lower their price as well. It doesn't take much in a small betting market to lower prices.

Gary Bowyer now backed into 2/1.

In January 2017 Ayr United were 7th in the Championship and 13 points clear of St Mirren who had been rooted to the bottom since the start of the season. Ayr appeared safe from relegation and manager Ian McCall decided to save money for the club by not spending in the January transfer window. But it was St Mirren that ended the season in 7th place with Ayr bottom and relegated after a 19 point turnaround with St Mirren from January. McCall accepted the blame for his decisions, kept his job and Ayr returned to the Chamionship the next season. The lesson to be learnt is that we have to invest in players in the January transfer window if we want to be safe. Ayr are only 5 points off the bottom just now which is no cushion to be complacent about. 2016–17 Scottish Championship - Wikipedia

Great win.

Shankland now valued at £4 million. They should have bought from us.

And Ayr now one up.

Shankland puts Hearts one up against Celtic, brilliant header.

Disallowed goal?

Rose scores after being on for 5 minutes.

Tomi Adeloye on as a sub for Partick Thistle.

Aiden McGeady has played 185 times for Celtic and 93 times for the Republic of Ireland. Two years ago he was said to be Sunderland's highest paid player on £13k per week. He is said to have a net worth of $12M primarily from playing football. He now has chosen to join Ayr United as he sees them as a club that is going places and he wants to be a part of that. Respect.

Aiden McGeady takes on dual role as player and technical director at Ayr United (thetimes.co.uk) 'Aiden McGeady is hoping to make an impact on and off the pitch at Ayr United after joining the club in a dual player/technical director role. My fitness is in a good place. I was training at Hibs right through the summer and I’m sure I can come here and make an impact. Ayr are clearly a modern forward-thinking club and I want to be part of that now.'