Stuart Wallace recalls a conversation in Hearts ’ darkest hours in which the prospect of becoming “the next Third Lanark” was very real.
Having plunged into administration with debts of £25m and a former owner who had used the club as a plaything and left them in the deepest of mires, the outlook was bleak.
The Foundation of Hearts was in its infancy but there was a very real prospect back in that summer of 2013 that there would be no club left to support.
Fast forward eight years and there’s no more talk of Third Lanark. Now it’s all about being third force in Scottish football.
No wonder the chairman of the foundation - and board member of the football club - was grinning from ear to ear as the seal was put on the transfer of majority shareholding to the fans’ group yesterday.
Together with Ann Budge ’s financial backing and leadership the foundation, which has pledged an incredible £12m in those eight years, has helped wipe the debts, oversee the reconstruction of the main stand and returned the team to a point where they currently sit joint top of the Premiership.
The foundation will continue to pump in £1.6m a year boosted by the club’s man benefactors including philanthropist James Anderson.
The memory of Vladimir Romanov can almost be wiped from Tynecastle as the Jambos look forward to a bright new era as Britain’s largest fan-owned club.
Wallace reckons it’s one of the greatest examples of fan power football has ever known.
And he says never again will the Jambos be allowed to fall into the hands of anyone only interested in playing a game.
To make sure of that the fans have voting power on four key issues - if anyone proposed to change the colours, the name of the team, to move away from Tynecastle or to sell the shares.
Hearts people now run every aspect of the club.
Wallace said: “The feeling is enormous pride.
“It's been a long road, we have come through some dark days.
“We were saying could we become the next Third Lanark? It was that bad at one point.
“We feared we would vanish and to pull it from there, with the fans, and Ann, we are here eight years later.
“I was a partner with PWC, I was the tax guy, some of my best mates were involved in insolvencies.
“I went to one of my mates with the accounts and said to him what did he think.
“He said ‘get yourself ready for bad news’. That’s when you think this is real and we are in such a bad place.
“When an expert says it looks bleak it’s bad.
“We had no money in the bank, season tickets sold but the money gone with a team to pay for the season, so I don’t think it could get any worse.
“We had a few diversions along the way with the new stand and the pandemic, but £12million has been raised and I think it is incredible testimony the love the fans have for the club.
“Away at the start when the club was in a really dark place you had the stories of cake sales, kids bringing piggy banks into the stadium. It seems a long time ago.
“Here we are £12m later. It’s jaw dropping to get to that number and there’s no sign of it stopping.
“It’s got to be up there as one of the greatest examples of fan power.
“But I always remember Robbie saying when he came back to the club that the Foundation of Hearts IS Hearts.
“That’s a very good summary of it. The strapline has always been by the fans for the fans.
“If a football fan feels more engaged by its club then surely that’s a happy marriage.
“Maybe this is a momentum that’s going to gather now - to say we want a bit of a voice, we want involvement and to make sure our club is safe in the long term.
“That’s what this has always been about - protecting the Hearts supporters’ long term interest.
“Having seen the club become a plaything of some overseas oligarch. We will never allow ourselves to go back there again.
“I have always grown up believing we are the third force.
“I would dearly love for us to be up there showing we are the third force and challenging in cup competitions.”
The difference in ownership models between Hearts and rivals Hibs and Aberdeen - where wealthy backers are front and centre of operations - could hardly be more stark.
Wallace is convinced what has happened in the boardroom at Tynecastle in the last eight years will be an inspiration for clubs across the footballing world.
He said: “I have a great friend that’s a Hibs fan. He said to me one day that it’s two teams from the same city, broadly the same size of stadium and arguably the same support - if those things are relatively equal and you both have benefactors then a group of supporters putting £1.6m a year into the club can’t help but make a difference.
“Other clubs’ fans have asked how we have achieved this, especially Newcastle United fans.
“They want to do something on the same scale as we have.
“Maybe we are just made of different metal.
“I hope it inspires clubs. There’s many examples of fan involvement outside the UK - in the Bundesliga and Barcelona being good examples of it. We get approached a lot but ours isn’t the only model. Ours has been inspirational but others like Motherwell and St Mirren, we are in touch with people from Newcastle United, Northampton Town and there’s other groups who ask how we have managed to pull this off and can they learn from us to get an element of community involvement. That has to be a good thing.
“We are handing the club back to the fans. After the tumultuous end to the previous owner’s era, Ann coming in with the Foundation, it almost feels like handing the club back to the supporters. We have always said they are the one true constant. The only people that really ever truly own the club are the fans.
“Directors of the foundation will come and go, players will come and go but the fans will always be there.”
