ALTHOUGH he won't celebrate his 28th birthday until next month, Hearts' longest serving player, Robbie Neilson, will celebrate 12 years on the books at Tynecastle with a testimonial match on Sunday between the current team and former players who picked up medals in the 1998 and 2006 Scottish Cup winning sides.
Only David Weir, who has a prior engagement in Europe next week, and full-back Gary Naysmith from the side which defeated Rangers 2-1 at Celtic Park ten years ago, have indicated they won't be able to play on Neilson's big day. Weir, though, is keen
to put in a brief appearance beforehand.
With stalwarts from two years past such as Rudi Skacel, now playing for Hertha Berlin, popular ball winner Julien Brellier ( FC Sion), striker Roman Bednar (West Brom) and former captain Steven Pressley (Celtic) also coming back to support the defender, Neilson is looking forward to meeting up with old friends and colleagues.
"Not everyone got a chance to say goodbye to the Hearts' supporters when they moved on, so, hopefully, this match will give a few players the opportunity of a last hurrah," said Neilson.
A reliable and consistent right-back who is one of the fittest players on the staff at Tynecastle, a stomach injury, ironically, is likely to restrict the contribution Neilson is able to make in either of Hearts' remaining SPL fixtures against Kilmarnock and Gretna. However, he will play in his own match.
One of Hearts' most stalwart servants, Neilson has been a force for good off the football field as well as on it. On Monday he travels to Downing Street to meet the Prime Minister after being inducted to the hall of fame organised by Show Racism The Red Card for his work in supporting the charity.
Advance tickets are still available for Neilson's testimonial match which kicks off at Tynecastle on Sunday at 2pm. Briefs have been priced at £8 for adults and £4 for concessions. There will also be cash turnstiles on the day at £10 and £5.
Meanwhile, Hearts have declared an interest in luring Dundee United's Mark Kerr to Tynecastle in time for next season, but face competition from five other clubs.
The midfielder is available on a free transfer after informing United he will not extend his current contract when it expires at the end of the season.
Preliminary discussions have taken place between Kerr's agent and Hearts officials, however Aberdeen, Preston North End and Nottingham Forest are among those also interested.
"I've spoken with Hearts about Mark and I'm still speaking with them. No deal has been done as yet," said Kerr's agent, Scott Hume. "Mark has six teams in total interested in him from England, Scotland and the continent. Hearts have yet to discuss figures in detail with us."
Caretaker manager Stephen Frail has meanwhile confirmed that the bulk of the team's pre-season preparations will take place at Riccarton this summer in a change from recent years.
"The places we've gone to in the past have been fine but we know everything is at our fingertips at Riccarton," said Frail.
"But we should be going to Germany later in July for around a week or so."
The full article contains 544 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
