Hearts at right angles

By Ewan Murray

Vladimir Romanov is poised to ensure Hearts’ future at Tynecastle by buying land surrounding the ground and rotating their traditional home 90 degrees.

The club confirmed last night that “turning round” Tynecastle is on the agenda, with a view to realising Romanov’s dream of building a 37,000-seater stadium. And in a further boost to the club’s plans, the Lithuanian is also set to fund the purchase of the land required to facilitate the expansion.

The proposals are set to receive a significant boost, too, with Sainsbury’s being granted planning permission to build a superstore on the former North British Distillery warehouse at Westfield.

That move will alleviate fears, alluded to by former chief executive Chris Robinson, that regulations relating to the nearby Macfarlan Smith chemical plant would prevent any significant expansion of the Gorgie club’s home on health and safety grounds. A source close to the Sainsbury’s deal has confirmed that these are “not expected to present any major problem” to the superstore’s plans – a move which Hearts have confirmed will present a major boost to their hopes of redevelopment.

Any deal to purchase land – which includes offices owned by former chairman Wallace Mercer – will either be carried out directly by Romanov or by a new consortium funded by the Lithuanian banker. Further moves to purchase the entire Tynecastle site have been mooted by Romanov, but are yet to be fully considered by the Hearts board.

Speaking ahead of a vital four-week spell, which will see Hearts choose an architect for the project and attempt to safely negotiate planning committees, club chairman George Foulkes said: “Our immediate aim is to press ahead and gain consensus from all the relevant local bodies, who to date have been fantastic in their dealings with us.

“Only after planning has been granted, in the name of the football club, can we really start to move forward. The acquisition of any necessary land comes next, but primarily we must ensure we satisfy the relevant authorities and local businesses.”

Hearts’ plans to incorporate shops and a hotel in a new main stand will be dependant on a joint venture between the club and a building company, possibly together with the city council, but this is something Romanov is practised in. He is involved in a consortium which will build a new stadium in Vilnius within the next four years, under the guidance of world renowned architect Massimiliano Fuksas – who has also been linked to the Tynecastle development.

Leslie Deans, who was club chairman when Tynecastle’s previous redevelopment was completed in 1997, maintains strong links to the board. Last night, he voiced his support for Romanov’s plans, and issued a thinly-veiled broadside at his former business partner, Robinson.

He said: “Under these plans, Edinburgh would have a great international stadium, which could be used for international and European matches and there would be corporate and community facilities to a standard which the city deserves.”

“It sticks in my throat that a mere 18 months ago, there was desperation and despair around what was going on at Tynecastle. Mr Romanov has shown that people were right to question Robinson’s reasons for the stadium being redundant, and this move further illustrates the previous chief executive’s loss of credibility. Slowly but surely, the reasons that Tynecastle was ‘not fit for purpose’, in Robinson’s words, have been dismantled.

“It would be my preference that ownership of the stadium would remain in the name of Heart of Midlothian, but if certain safeguards were put in place, then other proposals could be looked into.”

09 October 2005

Taken from the Sunday Herald