Hearts players to get shirty as tribute to Selkirk singer-songwriter Scott Hutchison

Heart of Midlothian’s matchday squad will warm up on the pitch at Glasgow’s Hampden Park before their Scottish Cup semi-final match against Edinburgh rivals Hibernian wearing football shirts bearing the name of Tiny Changes, a mental health charity set up in memory of Borders singer-songwriter Scott Hutchison.

The shirts, produced by Stockport firm Bands FC, were originally put on sale for only 24 hours in June but still managed to raise more than £34,000 for the charity.

That total is now set to be given a boost as the shirts being worn by Robbie Neilson’s side tomorrow will be auctioned off at a later date, yet to be announced, to raise further funds.

Frightened Rabbit frontman Hutchison, born in Edinburgh but brought up in Selkirk, was a life-long supporter of the Scottish Championship team and performed Hector Nicol’s Hearts Song at the opening of the new main stand at their Tynecastle Park home ground in 2017.

His elder brother Neil, a trustee of the charity, said: “We were so excited when Bands FC decided to produce the Hearts/Tiny Changes shirt and absolutely blown away by the number of people that bought one.

“The money raised will make a huge difference to our charity and the work we are doing for young people in Scotland.

“We were over the moon when Robbie Neilson got in touch with his idea for the players to wear the shirt in their warm-up at Hampden.

“We are just so grateful that the club is helping Tiny Changes to raise awareness of young people’s mental health.

“Young people in Scotland need our support now more than ever, so we hope that this amazing gesture will help keep the conversation going and inspire change.

“Thank you so much to Robbie, the players and everyone at Hearts for making this happen, and good luck in the semi-final.”

Tiny Changes, named after a line from the 2008 Frightened Rabbit song Heads Roll Off, was launched last year by the singer’s family to enable his legacy to live on following his death in May 2018 at the age of 36 and help others, like him, troubled by mental health issues.

Tomorrow’s game kicks off at 5pm.