THEY may not have an app for solving their financial and sporting troubles but Hearts have become the first football club in the UK to offer their fans a mobile phone app they can use to order pies and Bovril.
From today's SPL encounter against Motherwell at Tynecastle, thousands of home supporters will be able to order their snacks using the new app and get the food delivered straight to their seats, the first time this has been done at a sporting event in the UK.
Initially, the service will be offered at 3000 seats in the Wheatfield Stand, before being rolled out across the whole stadium. All the fans need to do is download the QikServe App, which is free, and scan a barcode on their seat when they get to the stadium. They will then be offered a menu and can place orders throughout the first and second halves, paying by credit card or paypal.
The only downside is that the service will be suspended during half-time when the kiosks are at their busiest.
The introduction of the app might offer a bit of a boost for Hearts fans after their recent troubles.
The club is currently second bottom of the SPL and earlier this week parted company with manager John McGlynn, the 11th manager to be sacked during the reign of controversial owner Vladimir Romanov.
Hearts is launching the app through its catering company Saltire Hospitality, which has worked with the mobile technology firm QikServe.
At first, it will offer only a selection of the food and drink on offer at the kiosks although the plan is that in future it will be customised by Saltire to offer a wider range as well as non-food items such as programmes and memorabilia.
Dan Rodgers, the founder of QikServe, which has already introduced the app into hotels and cafes, said it was a way of combining football tradition with modern technology.
He added: "The classic pie and Bovril combination is a British football tradition and that will never change, but our goal is to use mobile technology to bring that tradition into the 21st century."
Hearts managing director David Southern said: "We're delighted to be the first football club in Britain to use mobile technology in this way to give our supporters more flexibility in the way they access concessions during a match."
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