McKie identified as a name Hearts supporters can trust

Graeme Macpherson
Football Writer
Monday 24 June 2013

IAN MURRAY MP, the chairman of the Foundation of Hearts, believes any consortium led by Gordon McKie could be considered both "credible and reliable".

The former chief executive of the Scottish Rugby Union revealed yesterday he was fronting a group of investors looking to acquire a controlling stake in the Tynecastle club that went into administration last week with more than £25m of debt.

McKie has been working on the bid since February when he met with Sergejus Fedotovas, the former Hearts director, to reveal his consortium's interest. His group is thought to comprise around five or six individuals, some of whom are based in Edinburgh with the rest in London, and has the support of Brian Kennedy, the owner of Sale Sharks. McKie, who also had a short spell as the chief executive of the Hong Kong Football Association, insisted the group's intentions are pure, and Murray, whose fans-led group could yet work together with that consortium to submit a joint bid, believes McKie is a name the Hearts fans can trust.

"Gordon is certainly credible and certainly reliable," Murray told Herald Sport. "The very fact that his group have done their dealings privately and behind the scenes with the administrators and the club shows their credibility is a lot greater than some others.

"They released details of their intentions [yesterday] because the administrators [BDO] are now asking for formal expressions of interest, so that will come into the public domain of which the Foundation are one and Gordon's consortium is another."

McKie also insisted there were no ulterior motives in his group wanting to save the club from liquidation. "We're not a bunch of spivs," he said. "The people around me are reputable, credible and individually wealthy and have Hearts' best interests at heart. I don't know them all, but I know some of them. They haven't enjoyed reading and hearing about what has happened at Tynecastle in recent times.

"They are not in it for the money. I know that sounds twee, but they're not. I would hope that, in the next two or three weeks, we will have clarity as to the process. BDO will know then what level of interest they've got and, hopefully, they'll have eye-balled people and they will know who is serious and who is not."

The Foundation believe they are serious players in the process, Murray confirming they had converted 2500 pledges of support into finance in the space of just 72 hours. "We will have something in place next week for overseas conversions as well and we think there are around 1000 of those waiting," he added. "If we can convert the 6000 pledges we had initially into hard cash direct debits then we are certainly in the game."

The message last week from the administrators Bryan Jackson and Trevor Birch that the situation was as desperate as they have ever seen has sparked a remarkable show of support from Hearts fans who, as well as pledging to the Foundation, have bought season tickets in sizeable numbers and raised funds through a number of other activities. "It's been phenomenal," added Murray. "If there was a potential buyer out there who was wary of whether the fans could rally again they just have to look at some of the online forums to see what the fans are doing.

"They raised more than £20,000 on the Kickback forum in 48 hours, they've bought more than 800 season tickets and I believe there were queues around the block today at the stadium. The fans have rallied more than could have been expected and we need to get this situation sorted out as soon as possible for them."

Several of the Hearts players have done their bit too, with Jamie MacDonald and Ryan Stevenson agreeing to a 50% wage cut and Jamie Hamill and Kevin McHattie expected to follow suit. "We are nearly there but are meeting on Monday to finalise things," said Gary Locke, the Hearts manager. "It's not the sort of thing a snap decision can be made on but the signs are encouraging. Fair play to Jamie Mac and Ryan – these are the types of guys you want in your team and hopefully we'll have more positive developments on Monday."

McHattie, not thought to be one of the higher earners at the club, explained the thinking behind his agreement to cut his salary. "I am happy to do whatever I can to stay at this club," said the 19-year-old defender. "I was speaking to my agent and he asked if I would be happy taking a cut and I said 'yeah, definitely'. I am lucky enough to have some savings.

"I've done it for everything Hearts have done for me. They brought me up as a young kid to where I am now. The backroom staff have been magnificent."

Taken from the Herald