Dig deep and don't ask any questions .

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JAMES TRAYNOR

10 Oct 1994

HEARTS and Celtic are asking their supporters to hand over more of their money, and in return they will receive shares in the clubs in which they have already invested fortunes in terms of both finance and belief.

Always the fans, the most loyal people at any club, are asked to provide more.

It doesn't matter how shares issues are described, they are not a means of allowing the fans a greater say in the running of their club.

Shares are offered only when clubs need money, and Celtic and Hearts require lots of it.

If they didn't, they would never entertain the notion of inviting the masses to hold shares.

Supporters should be sure of exactly what they are getting in return for their money.

It isn't instant wealth, that's for certain.

In most cases the financial return is nil.

Rangers, now a multi-million-pound organisation, still don't pay a dividend to their shareholders.

In fact, they haven't paid out for around 10 years.

Only last week Hearts released details of their scheme to raise money and they are asking their supporters to buy blocks of shares at £250 each.

The idea is to generate at least £2m, and, after administration costs, something like £1.5m would be given to manager Tommy McLean to buy players.

Given the club's financial problems, which are severe, it is a bold move by chairman Chris Robinson, who has inherited heavy debts -- thought to be around £4.5m -- and who must realise the banks will not be too happy to see any money raised through a share issue go to anyone other than themselves.

Put like that, some fans may feel a certain pressure to invest.

Some might even be left with a sense of guilt if they don't buy shares, but they shouldn't fret too much.

Loyal fans of most clubs have done enough to assist the operations and should not search their souls if there are other, perhaps more demanding, ways to spend their money.

If a supporter can afford a minimum outlay of £250 on this exercise they should help the cause, and hopefully there will be thousands trekking towards the front door with their cash.

However, it is unlikely anyone will be trampled in a stampede.

Hearts want their fans to buy the shares, but are offering them no say in the running of the club.

The shares do not come with voting rights, and although the club say the fans can appoint two directors to the board, that is hardly a prospect which will make the investors feel happier.

There are directors in football club boardrooms all over the country who turn up for meetings and do little more than pour the tea and nod their heads when the chairmen or club owners look their way.

Would the representatives of the people from the streets around Gorgie be much different? Sorry, but I don't think so.

Celtic's chief executive and majority shareholder, Fergus McCann, is finalising the prospectus for his issue, and his club's fans will be expected to pay £62 for blocks of 10 shares with the target almost £5.5m.

I suspect McCann is aiming too high.

It had been indicated to him during his time as one of the leaders of the group which eventually engineered the downfall of the old regime that enough people would put their hands in their pockets and fork out for the shares, but what people say and what they do can be two different things.

Talk is cheap and when it comes to actually handing over pictures of Her Majesty, many develop impediments in their reach.

Celtic might manage to raise £3m from their ordinary fans -- and that would be no mean achievement in such austere times, although the supporters would be in a better mood to buy if their team were to win the Coca-Cola Cup, thereby breaking a barren run of five years without a trophy -- and the shortfall will have to be made up by the more wealthy followers.

However, the latter might wish to have some kind of say in the club.

If the mechanics of the prospectus have not altered greatly from what was being put forward towards the end of last year, the object is to raise £17.9m, and with McCann's own investment and the additional money from John Kean (£1m), Willie Haughey, and Mike McDonald (£500,000 each), the total invested just now would be around £12.5m.

However, debts of around £5m had to be paid and there are outgoings to Bolton Wanderers and Motherwell respectively for Andy Walker and Phil O'Donnell.

Also, the Scottish League have imposed a fine of 100,000, and the former manager, Lou Macari, has threatened litigation.

Macari's managerial entourage also are looking for pay-offs.

Then there is the costly business of reconstructing Celtic Park and it could be that rebuilding the Jungle Stand alone will cost in the region of £13m.

Clever management, and McCann is extremely capable of that, would make it work, just, even though the capacity of a half-built Celtic Park would not be what was originally anticipated and unlikely to meet the weekly running costs, which are probably around £140,000.

McCann could make it happen none the less, but what of the money for the remainder of the stadium?

Clearly, McCann will have to find more, and memories remain too vivid of what happened last time the club became involved in heavy borrowing.

Cracks appeared within the fortress and eventually the empire crumbled with the directors bickering.

It would be a crime if that part of the club's history were allowed to repeat itself.

Still, we are talking about Celtic, a business close to the hearts of many, and passion can be the most powerful force of all.

It can subdue all logic.

So if anyone wishes to help the old club, best not to think about it too much.

The same applies to Hearts fans.

Just dig deep and hope for the best.

Taken from the Herald