Advertisement

Baningime credits Everton for his winning mentality at Hearts

Academy graduate Beni Baningime believes Everton's focus on developing character and a winning mentality has helped him take the Scottish Premiership by storm – and now he’s even targeting Hollywood.

After a 14-year association with the Toffees, the 23-year-old moved from Goodison to Hearts, immediately winning man-of-the-match in a 2-1 win against Celtic.

The Everton Reserves and Academy Player of the Year for the 2016/17 season has played every game of the Jam Tarts' unbeaten start to the season and credits his education at Everton with helping him settle in quickly.

Baningime said, speaking to promote Succession Season 3, which is available to stream on NOW from 18th October with a new episode being released each week: "I think Everton's a club that's pretty like Hearts.

"It's about working hard and having that character, and I think that's probably why I've fitted in so well here because what you get taught about at Everton is having character.

"Of course, you've got to have the ability, and they teach you how to develop that ability, but it's more about that winning mentality that a lot of the boys from there have.

"Even when I came here, the gaffer said the same thing to me, he said it's about winning, it's about becoming a man and understanding who you are, so I think that's one of the biggest things we get taught at Everton.

"We get taught how to win and how to develop character, and I hope that's something I've brought to Hearts."

Hollywood has hit the streets of Edinburgh, with Baningime’s Hearts playing the most unlikely of starring roles.

To celebrate the return of season 3 of hit-show Succession, streaming service NOW is bringing a slice of the Roy family’s dysfunctionality to the UK, with a Succession-inspired football ‘takeover’ in Edinburgh.

In season two of the hit show, Roman Roy (played by Kieran Culkin) buys the Scottish football club Hearts to impress his father Logan (Brian Cox), only to awkwardly discover that his billionaire dad is a fan of Edinburgh-rivals Hibernian.

A fan of Succession; Baningime was thrilled when fiction became reality last week, with HBO and streaming service NOW reaching out to Hearts to see if they could collaborate.

NOW and Hearts were celebrating Roman Roy’s fictional takeover of the team, with the name of the family’s infamous company Waystar Royco added to the front of Hearts’ iconic maroon home shirts as well as on branding within the club’s Tynecastle stadium.

The limited-edition Succession-inspired shirts were unveiled at Tynecastle by Robbie Neilson and players John Souttar, Ben Woodburn, Stephen Kingsley, and Baningime.

"I'm 100% going to check out the show now that there's a link between it and the club," said Baningime.

"I actually went on google, and I've checked it out, and one of the boys said they'd seen the trailer and it was awesome – I can’t wait to watch it from the beginning.

"It looked pretty decent, so I will definitely have to give it a go.

"I've watched this show called Empire, and it sounds very similar; I like those types of shows, so it's definitely something I'll check out.

"With Hearts, you know that if you're not on it, those fans are going to be on you, so it boosts up your game."

Manager Robbie Neilson (centre) with players, (left to right) Cammy Devlin, Ben Woodburn, Beni Baningime, Josh Ginnelly, Stephen Kingsley and John Souttar wearing Waystar Royco sponsored shirts
Manager Robbie Neilson (centre) with players, (left to right) Cammy Devlin, Ben Woodburn, Beni Baningime, Josh Ginnelly, Stephen Kingsley and John Souttar wearing Waystar Royco sponsored shirts (Sportsbeat)

The partnership with Hearts stands out as a world-first – the first-time ever that the front of a major professional football shirt has been sponsored by a fictional company.

In keeping with the Roy family’s love of all things exclusive, only 100 of the Waystar-branded shirts have been created meaning the only way to join the exclusive ownership club is by entering a special giveaway on NOW’s Instagram page.

Jamie Schwartz, Director of Brand, Marketing and Merchandising at NOW said: “We want as many people as possible to enjoy amazing, critically-acclaimed shows like the Succession on NOW and this partnership with Hearts F.C. is a great way of celebrating the show in a way that fans will love and that also raises awareness of this must-watch content among a completely new audience.”

Chief Executive of Hearts Andrew McKinley commented: “As huge fans of the show, we’re really excited to be working with NOW to bring this Succession takeover to Tynecastle. We love watching the Hearts-related storylines in the show, although we’re quite thankful not to have any members of the Roy family running the club in real life.”

Succession Season 3 is available to stream on NOW from 18th October with a new episode being released each week. You can watch the new season and catch up on Seasons 1 and 2 of Succession on the NOW Entertainment Membership and for your chance to win one of these highly sought-after Hearts shirts, keep your eyes peeled to NOW’s Instagram page today.