Hamill takes wage cut to stay at Hearts

Stewart Fisher
Sports Writer
Sunday 23 June 2013

JAMIE Hamill last night became the third Hearts player to accept a cut in wages to stay at financially stricken Hearts.

It also emerged that captain Marius Zaliukas and winger Andrew Driver are the two previously unnamed senior players who will definitely be leaving the club.

Hamill, who missed most of last season due to a serious knee injury but is under contract for another season, joins Ryan Stevenson and goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald in accepting a drop in salary of around 50% following the appointment of administrators BDO on Thursday.

Driver, who has spent the last six months on loan at MLS outfit Houston Dynamo, and Zaliukas are both out of contract, the former at the end of this month and the latter in August, and will be let go.

It is understood John Sutton, who is also out of contract, has been offered a two-year deal elsewhere and is considering his options.

Administrator Bryan Jackson met officials from the Scottish Premier League on Friday to assure them Hearts were confident of fulfilling their fixtures for next season and to open discussions about the possibility of advancing some of next season's TV money.

The administrators are also keen to address a debt to Heriot-Watt University, where Hearts train, although the club have not been denied access to the facilities.

Hearts owe £15 million to UKIO Bankas, which is also in administration, with that debt secured against Tynecastle. A further £10m is owed to investment group UBIG.

However, the administrators feel a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) is achievable as long as the club continues to sell season tickets.

Jackson said the full process of entering administration is likely to take three months, a scenario which will almost certainly mean Hearts are banned from registering any new players until January.

While there are three or four other parties interested in taking over the club, the administrators met the Foundation of Hearts (FoH) bid team on Thursday night to discuss ways of keeping Hearts afloat in the short term.

"Pars United want to buy Dunfermline but at the beginning they helped me with my funding because I had no money," Jackson said. "They advanced me some of that money. I would imagine if we were about to run out we could go to the foundation and ask them to help us."

Driver, who has spent the last six months on loan at MLS outfit Houston Dynamo, and Zaliukas are both out of contract, the former at the end of this month and the latter in August, and will be let go.

It is understood John Sutton, who is also out of contract, has been offered a two-year deal elsewhere and is considering his options.

Administrator Bryan Jackson met officials from the Scottish Premier League on Friday to assure them Hearts were confident of fulfilling their fixtures for next season and to open discussions about the possibility of advancing some of next season's TV money.

The administrators are also keen to address a debt to Heriot-Watt University, where Hearts train, although the club have not been denied access to the facilities.

Hearts owe £15 million to UKIO Bankas, which is also in administration, with that debt secured against Tynecastle. A further £10m is owed to investment group UBIG.

However, the administrators feel a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) is achievable as long as the club continues to sell season tickets.

Jackson said the full process of entering administration is likely to take three months, a scenario which will almost certainly mean Hearts are banned from registering any new players until January.

While there are three or four other parties interested in taking over the club, the administrators met the Foundation of Hearts (FoH) bid team on Thursday night to discuss ways of keeping Hearts afloat in the short term.

"Pars United want to buy Dunfermline but at the beginning they helped me with my funding because I had no money," Jackson said. "They advanced me some of that money. I would imagine if we were about to run out we could go to the foundation and ask them to help us."

Taken from the Herald