In full: Hearts consortium statement

Published on Wednesday 14 November 2012 01:17

“WE have been working for the past two years to try to convince the current owners that a transition to proper fan ownership was the way forward.

At the weekend we did make an offer to the club. However, we have to announce that this initial offer, which included the Foundation paying the £450,000 bill to stop the winding-up order, has today been rejected by the current owners. We are now looking to continue our negotiations, which have always been constructive, with them.

We are of the clear opinion that the future of Heart of Midlothian is based not on the model of a single owner but on fan ownership. So our discussions with the current owners have been based on the vision of the fans - through the vehicle of the Foundation of Hearts - purchasing the club. What we aim to deliver is a structure whereby fans have majority control, not the minority percentage which is currently being proposed by the current owners, and are involved in the management and running of the club.

The Foundation was set up by a group of business people, all Hearts fans and all working in their own time and at their own expense, and we have the backing of the key Hearts supporters’ organisations for our plans.

The principal aim of the Foundation is to acquire Tynecastle Stadium, the Heart of Midlothian brand, and the football rights of HMFC, debt-free and liability-free, for the long-term benefit of Heart of Midlothian and its fans. We also aim to stabilise the club financially, but this is a huge challenge and one which can only be achieved if the fans give it their long-term backing.

We have examined rigorously the financial situation of the club and what it will take to move the club forward, and we have to make it absolutely clear that the future of Hearts depends on the fans making appropriate financial contributions. There is no ‘white knight’ in the Foundation’s proposition. It is all down to us, the fans. If Scottish football is to flourish in the future, a new operating model needs to be found and the Foundation is keen to prove that fan-supported ownership can succeed in Scotland. Like all Hearts fans, we are passionate about our club and passionate about ensuring it has a future. Quite simply, it is now fan ownership or nothing, and we are totally committed to try to deliver that.

“The fans and this great club deserve nothing less.”

Alex Mackie, 
chairman of Foundation of Hearts

Taken from the Scotsman