Hearts legend Donald Ford insists club being saved means more to him than place in Scotland's '74 World Cup squad

15 Nov 2012 00:01

THE striker, who scored a treble for the Jambos to secure his spot in the Finals side, is now looking at helping Hearts fans take ownership of the club he loves.
Hearts hero Donald Ford Hearts hero Donald Ford

DONALD FORD scored a hat-trick for Hearts in front of Scotland boss Willie Ormond to book himself a place at the 1974 World Cup Finals.

He netted over 100 goals for his boyhood heroes having been a dyed-in-the-wool Jambo since first walking through the turnstiles of Tynecastle as a seven-year-old.

But Ford knows he could emulate those magical achievements if he helps the Hearts fans to their greatest victory – ownership of the club.

Ford is a key member of the Foundation of Hearts group which is trying to buy out Vladimir Romanov and turn Hearts into a fan-owned club. Having spent two years speaking privately to Romanov and his people alongside fellow members Alex Mackie, Brian Cormack and Jim Bryant, Ford helped to launch their bid last weekend with the club facing a winding-up order.

However, just minutes before reaching an agreement with HMRC on Tuesday on a payment plan, the Tynecastle hierarchy released a stinging statement as they savagely booted out the Foundation bid.

Leader Mackie responded by insisting the battle has just started and Ford remains hopeful a solution can be found.

Given the heights he reached as a Hearts player between 1964 and 1976, you couldn’t rule it out.

Ford said: “If you ask supporters of any club who the best team in the world are, they are all biased.

“Well I have been biased towards Hearts since the age of seven. I remember my dad taking me to Tynecastle for the first time and I was there every second week after that.

“To play for the club was wonderful and I was so lucky. I have three favourite games and two of them were against Rangers.

“I scored at Ibrox once when Tony Murray sat on the ball beforehand.

“No one remembers my header at the end of it – they just recall Tony sitting on the ball!

“I also have fond memories of a cup tie against Rangers at Tynecastle when we knocked them out but my favourite memory was a game against Partick Thistle at Firhill.

“It was a cup replay, I scored a hat-trick and the game was just before the World Cup squad was announced in 1974. Willie Ormond was there and that was special.

“It’s hard to make comparisons as feelings as a player are irreplaceable. You can’t compare it to the feeling that might come around if the Foundation is eventually successful.

“But it would be a pleasure of seeing the club getting a chance to move forward without a crisis every other year. First of all it means everything to me as a Hearts supporter to get the club back on its feet and then, secondly, to realise it is owned by the most important people at Tynecastle. The supporters ARE the club.”

Hearts’ owners claimed Sunday’s offer was “opportunistic” and “an attempt to exploit what is a difficult financial situation at the club”.

However, Mackie described that as “just the beginning” and the Foundation have since been strengthened by one of Scotland’s top businesswomen joining up.

Multi-millionaire Ann Budge, who made a reported £40million when she sold off her stake in the IT
consultancy she helped to found, has signed up and Ford hopes the Hearts fans will buy into their vision.

He said: “We’ve always intended for it to be through a membership fee. There are 300,000 members at Barcelona and they are all paying a small membership fee.

“If we could harness 25,000 Hearts fans, and we think we can, paying £10 a month then that’s £250,000 a month. The fans should know that would be used legitimately.”

The Foundation is working beside Supporters Direct and Mackie has confirmed that the Hearts Federation, the Shareholders Association and the Hearts Trust are being kept up to speed with plans.

Ford believes more disclosure will aid their cause and added: “I’m half-joking but everyone who goes to watch football these days thinks they have the answer to the game’s problems or their club’s problems.

“Look at the websites now, they are packed. From the moment news came out about the Foundation, it was packed with people saying don’t touch them with a bargepole, or this is what Hearts need.

“It’s wonderful because it touches the heart of the fans.

“A huge amount of stuff has been done. We’ll have a website soon and there are some terrific ideas.

“When they read the stuff, if we have done the job right, then it should make the fans think this is the vehicle to take Hearts into the next 10 years or more.“

Taken from the Daily Record