Leader: ‘Hearts fans should not give up hope yet’

Published on the 30 July
2013

Being a Hearts supporter must be the sporting equivalent of living life on a roller coaster.

The last 24 hours are typical of the highs and lows that now come with following the team.

First, the threat of liquidation loomed large over the club, as the administrators warned it might be the end of the road after 139 years.

Then came the suggestion that £1 million was all that stood between the club securing its future, a relatively small amount when you consider Hearts owe £25m.

What is clear today is that we are in the middle of a bidding process which is the equivalent of a high stakes poker game. It’s a tough game to play for an organisation like the Foundation of Hearts which does not have bottomless pockets and relies on fans for its funding. One thing that stands in favour of the Foundation and its remaining rival bidder is that the prospect of liquidation will be relished by the administrators about as much as it is by the fans.

The current economic climate means it will be difficult to make quick money from the sale of the club’s only significant asset, Tynecastle Stadium. That will focus the minds of the administrators on striking a deal with bidders who can put cash on the table today.

The Jambos are undoubtedly teetering on the brink, but those fans who have kept the faith so far in this journey don’t have reason to give up just yet.

Taken from the Scotsman