One of the great things about being a football fan is nostalgia. If things are not going well in the present day, as is the case with Heart of Midlothian, nostalgia allows you to find comfort in the past.

Whether it be results, performances, managers, or players.

A week today, fans attending the Big Hearts Gala will be hit with a whole host of nostalgia in the shape of two Scottish Cup winners and a Cult Hero. 

As well as Saulius Mikoliunas and Juanjo, the evening will also see the return of Bruno Aguiar. 

"I think the last time I was back was 2015 but I am very excited because I can see the new renovations to the stadium," he told Hearts Standard. 

"I was also take my wife and daughter. And getting to see Miko. I like him a lot. We had a very good partnership during the time we played together."

Buy tickets for the Hearts Gala which is being held at Tynecastle Park on Friday, September 6 HERE

Speaking to the Portuguese midfield star provides a snapshot into a fascinating time at Tynecastle Park. Arriving at Hearts midway through that 2005/06 season, contract discussions with Vladimir Romanov, managerial changes and ultimately Scottish Cup success and splitting the Old Firm.

Yet, it is digging into his final season at the club which is perhaps most interesting.

As someone who had experienced the club and team battling with the Old Firm in 05/06, he felt in Csaba Laszlo and the squad at his disposal, there was an opportunity to kick on after a third-place finish in 2008/09. If the manager was backed.

Instead, after heavy investment in those first few seasons, the same money was no longer there. A key reason for his departure to Omonia Nicosia, the Cypriot side Hearts will face in the Conference League.

"I was available for free," Aguiar said. "I didn’t want to leave. I was 28, 29, a family so I must look to the future.

"At that moment at Hearts, it was a very difficult situation. The president didn’t give me an offer because they didn’t have a lot of money so the decision was to get a better contract not a better club.

"I enjoyed playing and living in Edinburgh. My decision at the time was to take more money for my family to have a better life."

He added: "I don’t know if we could be the champion but we could fight with Celtic for sure. If we could get a little bit more money to keep me and [Christos] Karipidis... We had very good players. If we had two, three players to give more power to the team we could minimum fight for second place.

"And you never know, we did very well against Celtic and Rangers. It was a little bit frustrating for me also."

Aguiar enjoyed working under Laszlo. (Image: SNS Group Bill Murray)

The appointment of Laszlo was heralded in Gorgie. And understandably so.

Hearts fans had to endure two seasons where it was far from clear who was the manager. Supporters on Jambos Kickback would plead for one during the disastrous 2007/08 season as part of their profiles on the fan forum.

After the 2006/07 campaign fizzled out following a promising start, the team dropped into the bottom six the following season, summed up by losing to rock-bottom Gretna on the final day of the season in front of a small crowd gathered on a midweek evening. All in the Fir Park Main Stand.

Aguiar missed that whole season due to an ankle issue. He revealed he picked up the injury originally in a game before a challenge in training by Julien Brellier would result in an absence of 18 months.

It was so severe that there were doubts about whether he would play football again.

"It was unlucky by him [Brellier] and unlucky for me," he said of the incident in training. "I had a very bad time because when you don’t do what you want to do… We love to play football and it is very difficult to pass the time.

"Every week you see the team playing and you can’t do anything. It’s not your mistake. It was a very bad injury.

"I went to Portugal to ask a doctor what he thought. I had three doctors, the best was in London. He saved my career because he made a very good strategy. He told me, ‘Bruno, I don’t promise that you continue to play football but I will do my best and I hope you get well and come back’.

"It was very disappointing to me but I didn’t listen. I said, ‘No, I will continue’. I start to train slowly and come back.

"In my first game back I score against Hibs…"

Aguiar celebrated scoring on his return v Hibs (Image: SNS Group Alan Harvey)

A goal down at Easter Road. Three minutes from half time. Standing over a free-kick on the edge of the Hibs box. Nearly 550 days since his last appearance. Aguiar had a look of concentration. Of determination. 

He slid the perfect effort into the far bottom corner past Yves Ma-Kalambay. Then it was a beeline to physio Rob Marshall, followed by all his team mates, led by Karipdis.

"Rob spent a lot of time with me," Aguiar said. "He worked very hard and pushed me to get back. I just ran to him to say thanks for everything he did for me.

"God gave me this present but also I worked really hard to give this to the fans. When you don’t play for one year or a year and a half people think, ‘He doesn’t work and gets money’. I’m not like this, I want to play but injury stopped me.

"I worked very hard and in the end I think the fans can say I was a good player, I worked for the team and gave everything for the club."

Aguiar returned from injury to play a key role in the team's third-place finish. It was almost as if the team was built for him to step into the No.10 role with Michael Stewart and Karipidis the platform behind him.

"The team was very good," he said. "The system was good for me. I was very near the box, I can shoot, I can score, also the free-kicks. 

"Csaba did a very good job with us. How he set up the team was very clever. Unfortunately, we didn’t keep everyone together because if we kept the team together another season with another two or three players maybe, we never know…"

'We never know...' may well have been the mantra for larger parts of the Romanov era in general. From that first season when George Burley was sacked to that Champions League qualifier and Aguiar's red card. A refereeing decision he still disagrees with.

"The red card was unfair," he said. "I didn’t do anything special. I took the ball and gave it back normally. I don’t understand why the referee gave me a second yellow.

"But AEK were a very good time. We lost over there 3-0."

Not reaching the Champions League group stage may well have been the catalyst for further dysfunction, Aguiar reasons.

 "I think there was frustration from the president not qualifying for the Champions League," he explained. "When you put a lot of money in to get the money from the Champions League and you don’t reach the group stage he maybe takes money back and maybe starts a lot of problems with a lot of players.

"[That season] was a bit strange. Sometimes we didn’t know who chose the team, if it was the president, if it was the coach. We got a lot of coaches. It was very, very difficult."

It wasn't, however, difficult choosing to come to Tynecastle Park.

Aguiar's time at Benfica had come to an end and a deal was worked out to allow him to leave to join Hearts via FBK Kaunas. He arrived in the middle of January, when it felt like night time at 2.30pm he remembered, but he saw a familiar face from his time at the Portuguese giants to help him settle.

And he was taken by the fans.

Aguiar was the most successful of the signings in January 2006.Aguiar was the most successful of the signings in January 2006. (Image: SNS Group Alan Harvey)

"It was a very good decision for myself," he said. "I started very well, the beginning was very good. The country was a little bit different, I didn’t speak English but over time I started to speak so it was easier to meet the people, know how the club was and I liked the club from the moment I arrived.

"I was lucky because Takis Fyssas was there and he played with me in Benifca. Him, [Edgaras] Jankauskas also, they spoke a little Portuguese so they translated all the time for me.

"After three or four months I learned English and understood better.

"Hearts were playing good football, it wasn’t just putting the ball back to front, we tried to play good football. There were wee differences for me but I adapted very well. After two months I was completely okay with Scottish football."

He added: "When I saw the first game at Tynecastle I understood Hearts were a big club in Scotland. With the fans, how the fans were in the stadium, was something unbelievable. It is something I will remember forever.

"I like how the Scottish people are. They respect the players. It’s not always about the football. That’s what I miss most from British football. How you see football is perfect. Unlike Europe, if you don’t play well they say bullshit about you all the time. They don’t respect the person, they just see the player.

"In Scotland it was different, I liked this a lot."

Aguiar wouldn't make his debut until after the closure of one of the most infamous January transfer windows by a Scottish club. The Portuguese midfielder was part of that famous unveiling alongside Jose Goncalves, Juho Makela, Chris Hackett and Mirsad Beslija.

He admitted there was some "confusion" with reports of Romanov forcing the team line-up on Graham Rix before Valdas Ivanauskas took over. Yet, by the end of the season, Aguiar was the January recruit who had the biggest impact.

Starting against Aberdeen when Hearts clinched second and the Scottish Cup final win over Gretna. His medal sits in his museum of trophies back home.

"Paul was very good at scoring penalties," he said. "We were calm because Paul never misses the penalties.

"The party at Tynecastle when we got second place was amazing with the fans. It was something new for the fans. It was fantastic.

"To win the cup was the most important thing. When you win a trophy the party in the city with the fans… it is something I will remember for the rest of my life."

Big Hearts Gala is set in the Gorgie Suite at Tynecastle Park and the event will celebrate the incredible power of football to create positive change, with a host of Hearts Legends in attendance.

Bruno Aguiar, Juanjo and Saulius Mikoliūnas are the VIP guests supporting this year's Gala fundraiser.

The guests will get to hear powerful stories from the people we support across the community.

Each ticket includes:
- Free drink on arrival
- 3-course meal
- Drink package
- Live entertainment
- Hearts Legends in attendance
- Prizes to be won
- Access to raffle & live auction
- DJ to close the night 

PURCHASE YOUR TICKET HERE