Hearts and Minds - the Tynecastle Team Spirit

Hearts and minds - the Tynecastle team spirit

A memorial plaque on a stand at the Tynecastle home of Heart of Midlothian Football Club remembers those who died in the First World War.

Seven Hearts first-team players were killed in action during World War One

Time may have ticked on, but the example set by the Hearts team has never been forgotten - players who put their lives on the line.

In the 1914-15 season, the club topped the Scottish League and were on track for the title, but pressure was growing on footballers to volunteer for the wartime effort. Some players, despite being bound by contracts to their clubs, were accused of cowardice by not fighting for their country.

On Wednesday, 25 November 2014, 11 Hearts players signed up en masse - volunteering for the new 16th Royal Scots Battalion, unofficially known as McCrae's Own after its founder and chief recruiter Sir George McCrae.

A total of 16 Hearts players enlisted, the catalyst for others to join from clubs including Raith Rovers, Falkirk, Dunfermline, East Fife and Hibernian. Hundreds of supporters followed.

In England, players from Clapton Orient - the club which later became Leyton Orient - also signed up together.

Three Orient footballers lost their lives and seven Hearts first-team players were killed in action. Few of the remaining survivors ever wore the Scottish side's maroon jersey again, but their actions are still remembered.

"The bravery of these men is something we have always been proud of," Hearts historian David Speed told Britain's Great War programme earlier this year.

"Seven first-team players died during the war, including centre-forward Tom Gracie who hid a diagnosis of leukaemia so he could continue training for battle.

"The team took over two decades to recover, both emotionally and in terms of strength."

Mobbs & Tull - Northampton's finest

When Northampton rugby club take on the Barbarians in the annual Mobbs match, the players are honouring one of the town's most famous sons.

Standing at more than 6ft tall, Edgar Mobbs was the Saints skipper for six seasons. He showed his leadership qualities on the war front too.

Mobbs formed his own special corps and 400 men volunteered to join him for what became known as the Sportsman's Battalion, which formed part of the Northamptonshire Regiment.

Amid the chaotic mix of bullets, dust, smoke, and adrenaline, Lt Col Mobbs paid the ultimate price at the Battle of Passchendaele as he personally attacked a machine gun post.

He had already been wounded three times in the war, and finally went down after being shot through the neck. As he lay dying, he passed the map reference of the enemy to a runner.