Hearts: SPFL defends late Tynecastle decision as Partick Thistle seek review

Hearts were granted a safety certificate for Tynecastle at 08:00 on Sunday morning

The Scottish Professional Football League has defended allowing Hearts until the morning of Sunday's game against Partick Thistle to receive a safety certificate for Tynecastle.

Thistle are writing to the governing body to call for a review of the process.

Hearts received a temporary occupation certificate at 08:00 GMT on Sunday.

"We give every possible opportunity for matches to proceed at their scheduled time," said a spokesman for the SPFL.

"That applies in cases of inclement weather, fogbound pitches, or, in this situation, to enable building works to be completed."

Building work continued into Saturday night to try to ensure that the game would go ahead, a situation that left Thistle "deeply unhappy".

Hearts chairwoman Ann Budge was delighted with the newly-opened Tynecastle main stand

The new main stand was originally scheduled to have been completed by September, but Hearts had to arrange for four games to be moved from their home ground to Murrayfield Stadium.

With Scotland hosting the All Blacks at the home of Scottish rugby on Saturday, Hearts either needed to receive the safety certificate to allow the game to go ahead at Tynecastle or postpone the fixture.

The game was able to kick off after Edinburgh City Council officials granted the temporary certificate and it ended in a 1-1 draw.

"Signs in the run-up to yesterday's game, as well as the very regular updates we received, all indicated that the match would be able to proceed as scheduled," added the SPFL spokesman.

"We are grateful for the patience and understanding shown by both sets of fans, as well as by the players and officials of each club.

"We congratulate Hearts on pulling out all the stops to have the stadium ready for yesterday's game.

"A congested fixture schedule always presents a challenge, so we will always do what we can to avoid the need to squeeze more matches into an already busy calendar.

"We note Partick Thistle's calls for a review into the events surrounding this game and will be in contact with them in due course to discuss their views.

"The new Tynecastle stand represents a very significant investment by Hearts and is an extremely welcome addition to the game in Scotland."

Two hours before kick-off, Thistle had issued a statement pointing out that, while they were pleased that the match had gone ahead, they would be writing to the SPFL to ask "why it was allowed to continue to such a late stage, damaging Scottish football at a time when we are all working hard to attract new fans".