Spartans rejig Ainslie Park for Hearts Scottish Cup tie as Pilton gets set to go live to the nation

You simply won't find a more romantic Scottish Cup tie: The local club run by an army of volunteers opening their community ground to Premiership giants stacked with European and international experience. The Spartans v Heart of Midlothian is the proverbial early-round cup encounter full of intrigue.

Which is reflected in the number of locals helping to rejig Ainslie Park to host its most high-profile fixture since the complex opened in 2008. Tucked away in a corner of Pilton, north Edinburgh, this modest but modern venue has undergone adjustments in preparation for BBC Scotland broadcasting Saturday's visit of Hearts live to the nation.

It is not the Edinburgh derby we all know and love, but it is nonetheless a confrontation between two clubs just a few miles apart in the same city. Relations between the two are strong with Hearts renting Ainslie Park from Spartans for B team home matches in Scotland's Lowland League. Spartans were a Lowland League team themselves until a historic promotion to League Two last summer. Naturally, they are overwhelming underdogs for the weekend.

That won't stop them putting on the best show possible to showcase their facilities, infrastructure and can-do attitude to the entire country. They may be playing their trade in the fourth tier of the Scottish football pyramid, but Spartans lack nothing in ambition. Dugouts are moving, Turnstiles spruced up and LED screens installed. Extra hospitality venues have been sourced and more toilets brought in. Even the pie order has soared.

"The BBC will have 13 cameras, 40 staff, scaffolding and all the little units they need. They obviously get priority, so everyone else has to work around that," explains the Spartans chairman, Craig Graham. "We are also moving our dugouts back a few metres to help the camera towers and help with the view from the new stand we have up.

"We are doing a bit of polishing up of our turnstiles at the away end down the bottom. We have only used them maybe half a dozen times since we opened the ground because they haven't been needed. Like any big game, you then need additional catering units, toilets, far more security guys and all the infrastructure.

"What that then means is that we have to recruit an army of volunteers to make sure we are ready for the day. As an example, Tuesday's jobs included moving some of our perimeter adverts around because we are bringing in LED screens in front of the stand. A squad of people did that in the morning.

"We are producing paper tickets to help us ensure tickets get everywhere across the Spartans family. Our allocation is about 2,700, so those filter through our youth section, players and coaches, women's section, walking football, disability unit, community coaching, you name it.

"We had a meeting last night because, normally, manning turnstiles and selling programmes and raffle tickets can be done by four guys. For Saturday, we have 22 people involved in those tasks. So it's all the players from our under-20 squad and some guys from the para football who are helping with that.

"We have about 40 sponsors, we have hospitality running across five venues - three of which are outside the ground. There's a lot of work in that. You just need manpower. The nature of Spartans is that we have 150 volunteers in any normal week. A lot of them have been involved with the club for more than 15 years. Some have offered themselves this week, some might say I have volunteered them," he laughed.

"We have all acquired so many new friends, of course. I got an email on Saturday night, saying: 'Remember in 2019, you joined us for a meal watching Scotland play San Marino? I just wondered if you had any spare tickets?' There have been a lot of requests, but that's part of the fun."

Around 800 Hearts fans will attend in what is likely to be a record crowd at Ainslie Park, which holds 3,612 people. Spartans' current record attendance was set at their previous home, City Park, when 3,326 supporters watched the last-16 Scottish Cup tie against St Mirren in February 2006. A 0-0 draw that day forced a replay at Love Street, which Saints won 3-0. A repeat of that goalless scoreline and a subsequent replay across at Tynecastle Park would do Spartans nicely this time, but the chairman does not expect anything on Saturday.

"There is fantastic excitement around the club," adds Graham. "This is not the most important game we have ever played but it's certainly the biggest in terms of profile. It will be the biggest attendance we have had. It's a culmination of many years of effort to find a new ground, build it and create the infrastructure.

"It's a major milestone playing a really big club at home, hosting everyone and putting on the best show we can. We played Rangers B and Celtic B in the Lowland League and it really helped us. You know you are going into a game where you will have 40 per cent possession or less. It helps you learn how to defend in a game but, to beat these teams, you still need to score a goal. How do capitalise when you get opportunities?

"Earlier this season, we played Dundee United, Partick Thistle and Falkirk in the League Cup. I'm sure we will do ourselves proud again. Obviously, it's highly unlikely that we will win the game but I'm absolutely sure our players will perform well on the day. We have absolutely nothing to lose. It's the definition of a free hit, isn't it?"