Jambo Seagull
Well-known member
As some of you will no doubt be aware, as well as being a Brighton Fan, I am a Hearts Supporter. This famous old club was established in1874 and for the last 100 years or so has been based at Tynecastle Park, a stadium on the West Side of Edinburgh, in the district of Gorgie. Hearts have traditionally drawn their bedrock support from this area and the surrounding districts and West Edinburgh in general whilst Hibs draw a bigger support from East Edinburgh and Leith as that is where they have been based for the last 100 years or so.
The club was taken over by a local catering "magnate" Chris Robinson known to everyone as the Pieman about 10 years ago. One of the first things Robinson did was build three new stands to replace the old shed and open terracing. Of the Old Tynecastle, only the old Main Stand remains. It is wooden uncomfortable and not particularly user-friendly but OK. The other three stands are quite steep making it quite an atmospheric and intimidating ground. With a capacity of 18,000 it is widely regarded as being the best non OF club ground for atmosphere in Scotland.
In 1998 this club won its first trophy of any description for 36 years, a long time for a club which along with Aberdeen has the largest following in Scotland outside the OF. About six months later Scottish Media Group ploughed some £8million into the club, £4m for new signings and supposedly £4m for a new Soccer Academy. The investment was in the form of a loan which would then convert into shares at a later date. Needless to say that hasn't happened. They now don't want to convert the loan to shares. The money for the players was squandered on ridiculous signing-on fees and wages for some of the top players of betwee £5k and £8k a week. The former manager Jim Jeffries who won us the cup and produced a fantastic team in 1997-98 finishing only 7 points behind the league champions that year was partly to blame for some poor transfer business. The lion's share of the blame must fall to the Chief Executive, the Pieman. When he took over the club it had debts of the c£2m. It now has to service a £17.6m debt with a turnover of £6m. The Bank of Scotland have started calling in the debt.
The Pieman's idea to get us out of this mess is to sell Tynecastle and then relocate to Murrayfield (the Scotland Rugby teams ground) which is only half a mile away but is the football equivalent of Brentford selling up and moving to Twickenham. Murrayfield has a capacity of 67,000. Hearts have an average gate of about 11-15,000. Go figure. Robinson came up with this edict at the end of November 2003. He is the biggest single shareholder and his vote along with the SMG block vote amount to 51% of the club. To cap it all SMG, as well as being shareholders in HMFC are major shareholders in the SRU. By voting to sell off Tynecastle, and move to the SRU, one institiution in which they have a stake will have significantly reduced its debts thereby hopefully improving its share price, whilst the other institution will be given a big financial shot in the arm by all the rental income it will receive! Just fancy that!
He has given the fans three months to come up with an alternative. Personally, I think the die is cast. It will happen. because he wants it to happen. Unfortunately the fans are divided as well there as many as four different interest groups none of whom can agree on very much. Some even think Robinson is doing a good job! In my view Robinson wants out but he wants a return on his investment. He's not going to do that until the debt is reduced. Selling Tynecastle will probably reduce the debt by some £10-12 million. He says that he has already turned down £12million for the land. I would not believe a word he says until it happens. At the start of the season there was a proposed joint venture to build a new ground with Hibs. Some Hearts fans objected and suggested Murrayfield. He said it was a complete non-starter. 3 months later it's our salvation!
I am sorry for the length of this post. I discussed this with Fatbadger and other member of BHALba on Saturday night. I was extremely impressed with the way this messageboard dealt with Asda. I think Brighton are probably the blue print for Hearts. If Falmer comes off at least one of my clubs will have a new home. Does anyone have any ideas re a protest, advice etc. Do you think our situation would merit a Fans United day as per the Donny game? Any advice or views would be gratefully received.
The club was taken over by a local catering "magnate" Chris Robinson known to everyone as the Pieman about 10 years ago. One of the first things Robinson did was build three new stands to replace the old shed and open terracing. Of the Old Tynecastle, only the old Main Stand remains. It is wooden uncomfortable and not particularly user-friendly but OK. The other three stands are quite steep making it quite an atmospheric and intimidating ground. With a capacity of 18,000 it is widely regarded as being the best non OF club ground for atmosphere in Scotland.
In 1998 this club won its first trophy of any description for 36 years, a long time for a club which along with Aberdeen has the largest following in Scotland outside the OF. About six months later Scottish Media Group ploughed some £8million into the club, £4m for new signings and supposedly £4m for a new Soccer Academy. The investment was in the form of a loan which would then convert into shares at a later date. Needless to say that hasn't happened. They now don't want to convert the loan to shares. The money for the players was squandered on ridiculous signing-on fees and wages for some of the top players of betwee £5k and £8k a week. The former manager Jim Jeffries who won us the cup and produced a fantastic team in 1997-98 finishing only 7 points behind the league champions that year was partly to blame for some poor transfer business. The lion's share of the blame must fall to the Chief Executive, the Pieman. When he took over the club it had debts of the c£2m. It now has to service a £17.6m debt with a turnover of £6m. The Bank of Scotland have started calling in the debt.
The Pieman's idea to get us out of this mess is to sell Tynecastle and then relocate to Murrayfield (the Scotland Rugby teams ground) which is only half a mile away but is the football equivalent of Brentford selling up and moving to Twickenham. Murrayfield has a capacity of 67,000. Hearts have an average gate of about 11-15,000. Go figure. Robinson came up with this edict at the end of November 2003. He is the biggest single shareholder and his vote along with the SMG block vote amount to 51% of the club. To cap it all SMG, as well as being shareholders in HMFC are major shareholders in the SRU. By voting to sell off Tynecastle, and move to the SRU, one institiution in which they have a stake will have significantly reduced its debts thereby hopefully improving its share price, whilst the other institution will be given a big financial shot in the arm by all the rental income it will receive! Just fancy that!
He has given the fans three months to come up with an alternative. Personally, I think the die is cast. It will happen. because he wants it to happen. Unfortunately the fans are divided as well there as many as four different interest groups none of whom can agree on very much. Some even think Robinson is doing a good job! In my view Robinson wants out but he wants a return on his investment. He's not going to do that until the debt is reduced. Selling Tynecastle will probably reduce the debt by some £10-12 million. He says that he has already turned down £12million for the land. I would not believe a word he says until it happens. At the start of the season there was a proposed joint venture to build a new ground with Hibs. Some Hearts fans objected and suggested Murrayfield. He said it was a complete non-starter. 3 months later it's our salvation!
I am sorry for the length of this post. I discussed this with Fatbadger and other member of BHALba on Saturday night. I was extremely impressed with the way this messageboard dealt with Asda. I think Brighton are probably the blue print for Hearts. If Falmer comes off at least one of my clubs will have a new home. Does anyone have any ideas re a protest, advice etc. Do you think our situation would merit a Fans United day as per the Donny game? Any advice or views would be gratefully received.
