Toby Sibbick was left sick as a dog after his pet pooch chewed his passport, robbing him of a holiday to Ibiza.
And the defender faced a race against time to replace it in order to make Hearts ’ pre-season training camp in Spain.Miniature dachshund Rio was in the dog house after Sibbick discovered him ripping the travel document to bits.
Despite frantic attempts to secure a new one, a trip to the White Isle had to be shelved. Sibbick was then in a sweat ahead of jetting out with the Jambos on Friday, with the squad waiting nervously on his new passport arriving in time for them to be checked in on their flight to Malaga. The former Barnsley man insists he was chilled out about the situation, but admitted it was a different story behind the scenes at Tynecastle. “Unfortunately, my dog chewed my passport, so I wasn’t happy with him!” He told MailSport .
“My new passport literally came on Thursday, the day before we flew out here.
“I’d booked and paid to go to Ibiza with my friends. I was at home and went upstairs and found him chewing on my passport. I was fuming and could have killed him! But he knew he was in the bad books and he made it up to me so he’s alright.
“I went to the passport office but trying to actually get an appointment is tough. It was impossible. I had to follow some Twitter page which was just tweeting when they were available, and luckily I got one for the following Friday.
“It was a fast-track appointment and I told them the situation I was in, that I needed it for the next Friday. They told me it would definitely come by Friday, but it might come on the Thursday and luckily it did.
“I was quite relaxed to be fair but Clare [Cowan, head of football operations] was panicking! She said she couldn’t check anyone in until my passport came.
“It then arrived in London, so I had to put my friend on a flight up to Edinburgh to give it to me, so we got it sorted.
“But the summer was alright. I spent my time in London back home with friends and family.”
Having safely got on the plane, Sibbick is now setting about his first pre-season as a Hearts player.
He initially arrived on loan from Barnsley under Daniel Stendel in January 2020.
An impressive debut against Rangers was followed up by an injury against St Johnstone before glandular fever struck, ending his loan spell early having made just two outings.
Sibbick returned to the capital on a permanent basis last January, and admits he featured more than was planned as injuries bit Robbie Neilson’s backline hard.
But he’s now ready to really show what he can do in the Spanish sunshine sessions.
“I feel that when you move in January, it’s not hard to settle in, but the team is settled. Now, I can have a full pre-season and season here,” Sibbick explained.
“As players, you want a strong pre-season and put it in the gaffer’s mind that you’re ready and he can rely on you.
“When I came in, I wasn’t expecting to play as soon as I did.
“But because of injuries, I had to and it’s hard because the gaffer can tell you the style of play, if you haven’t been playing it’s hard to pick it up.
Barnsley played in a different way to Hearts, but I still enjoyed playing last season and now I just want to rack up as many games as I can this season as well.”
After John Souttar ’s departure to Rangers Sibbick is eyeing a regular spot on the right-hand side of the back three.
He added: “Everyone wants to cement their place but the good thing about here is that everyone is good friends and it;s a good group.
“Whoever’s playing, everyone has their back which makes the competition healthy. We’re in a good place, the changing room is good.
“I’m rooming with Beni [Baningime] and Hals [ Craig Halkett ], the injured boys and they’re working hard to get back fit.”
