In darkest of times, clubs have just one place to turn

In a time of crisis, football clubs have nowhere to turn other than to their supporters.

The situation at Hearts is a stark illustration, since a six-figure shortfall needs to be made up just for them to survive to the beginning of next season. Some of the language in the statement the club issued on Thursday was blunt but it was designed to emphasise a point: without the backing of the fans, Hearts will be on the brink.

Kilmarnock are not currently in the same kind of peril, but a movement is building among their fans. A mood of insurrection is growing, a rallying to the cause of trying to oust Michael Johnston, the chairman and majority shareholder. Hearts fans gathered at Tynecastle last night, while followers of the Ayrshire side will meet today at the Kilmarnock Football Club Supporters Association's annual meeting.

The circumstances are different, but the ambitions are the same: activists among the supporters are trying to increase support for their cause, which is to take ownership of their club. Hearts need immediate action, and part of the financial crisis affecting the club is caused by fans not renewing their season tickets.

This is understandable, since all the money collected so far has already been accounted for by the debts and commitments the club have, but also because there is a balance between putting money directly in the club – which desperately needs the cash-flow – and using it to fund the Foundation of Hearts' bid to buy the stricken Tynecastle outfit.

The FoH is a coalition of the various different Hearts supporters groups, and has found a unity of purpose that has been missing during the past few years. That kind of collaboration is critical, as shown when Rangers supporters were unable to rouse themselves into a coherent bid to buy their club out of administration last year.

In the end, the Rangers Supporters Trust had to buy shares during the initial public offering when the company that owns the club was launched on the Alternative Investment Market last December. The organisation has a long-term aim of gaining a majority stake.

Pars United, another coalition of fans' groups, hopes to make a successful bid to take Dunfermline Athletic Football Club plc out of administration and turn it into a community enterprise owned by the supporters.

Other high-profile clubs, such as Motherwell and St Mirren, have attempted to introduce similar fan ownership schemes, with varying degrees of success, while at lower levels the model is working well. The initiatives are all based on the same premise: without the commitment of the fans, the club is nothing. That can be measured in terms of emotional or financial backing, but both are crucial.

At Tynecastle last night, the process of turning more than 4000 pledges made to FoH into hard cash was begun. The hope is to generate enough momentum to give FoH the financial strength to make a successful bid for Hearts next month.

A Scandinavian consortium have talked of an interest in buying Hearts Football Club plc, and have met Ian Murray, the independent chairman of FoH who is also the Labour MP for Edinburgh South. Another meeting is likely to be arranged. Given the complexities of Hearts' situation – £15m is owed to Ukio Bankas, who own the stadium, and £10m to UBIG – the sale of the club will attract only supporters since there is little financial return to be made.

"[The cash crisis at the club] sharpens minds, but I don't think any Hearts fan was under any illusions about the fact the club has been in trouble for a considerable period of time," Murray said. "The positive that might come out of last Thursday's statement was that people now realise the gravity of the situation, which is pretty stark.

"If there's somebody out there who wants to buy the club and can pass the litmus test of wanting to do it for the best interests of the club, we'd be happy for that to happen. Beyond that, we could introduce fan ownership alongside and have a hybrid solution."

At Kilmarnock, a general disquiet about the way Johnston runs the club has been bolstered by a genuine frustration over Kenny Shiels' sacking as manager. That has caused fans who have not paid much attention to the ownership and debt situation – Kilmarnock owe £9.8m – to become engaged. There has been talk of a season-ticket boycott, and sponsors are threatening to withdraw. That might provoke a change in ownership, although an interested party has to be in place to make a bid, but it will also push the club to the brink of administration since cash flow is often tight at Rugby Park.

"Community ownership is a long-term aim," said Barry Richmond, chairman of the Killie Trust. "In the meantime we want to work with an investor who is prepared to have an exit strategy that allows fan ownership. There is at least one interested party, but there are other businesses who are also showing an interest. They don't want a war for control but will be involved.

"As a Trust, we're saying it's up to individual fans on the boycott, but in saying that all of our board members are on board with it. The situation needs to be brought to a head, and sponsors are doing the same. I believe Young Killie are considering withdrawing their support, which would be a huge blow for Michael Johnston. That's a lot of support, but also ticks a lot of the boxes for the club's youth development and community obligations."

Taken from the Herald