Hearts fears for future as it is hit by huge tax bill
Source: Agencies |
November 9, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SCOTTISH Cup holder Hearts can be saved, a director said yesterday, after the Edinburgh club issued an appeal to supporters for emergency financial backing.
"I don't believe that this is the end of Hearts. I am confident a solution will be found," Sergejus Fedotovas said after arriving in Edinburgh to try to broker a rescue for the Scottish Premier League club.
Money has long been tight in Scottish soccer and Rangers, champion a record 54 times, was demoted to the fourth tier this year after collapsing under the weight of its debts.
Hearts, founded in 1874, warned that it could go out of business this month after being issued with a winding-up order over a tax bill for almost 450,000 pounds (US$719,400).
The club, owned by Lithuanian businessman Vladimir Romanov, is urging fans to support a share issue that aims to raise 1.795 million pounds and to ensure the club's Tynecastle stadium is sold out for forthcoming games.
In a statement the Hearts board said: "Without the support of fans there is, as we issue this note, a real risk that Heart of Midlothian Football Club could possibly play its last game next Saturday, 17 November, against St. Mirren.
"This isn't a bluff, this isn't scaremongering, this is reality. Without your help now, we could be entering the final days of the club's existence."
Tynecastle has a capacity of just over 17,000. Hearts has average attendances of around 12,000 - modest by most standards but the third highest in Scotland where Glasgow rivals Celtic and Rangers have long been dominant.
The Scottish government said yesterday it would try to help Hearts find a way through the club's cash crisis.
One in five clubs in the top three divisions are showing signs of financial distress, according to a survey released yesterday by business rescue and restructuring specialists Begbies Traynor.
"The relegation of Rangers has had some impact but lower attendances and falling revenues, especially reducing TV money, has given rise to the distress that has spread across the SPL and divisions one and two," said Ken Pattullo of Begbies Traynor in Scotland.
"I don't believe that this is the end of Hearts. I am confident a solution will be found," Sergejus Fedotovas said after arriving in Edinburgh to try to broker a rescue for the Scottish Premier League club.
Money has long been tight in Scottish soccer and Rangers, champion a record 54 times, was demoted to the fourth tier this year after collapsing under the weight of its debts.
Hearts, founded in 1874, warned that it could go out of business this month after being issued with a winding-up order over a tax bill for almost 450,000 pounds (US$719,400).
The club, owned by Lithuanian businessman Vladimir Romanov, is urging fans to support a share issue that aims to raise 1.795 million pounds and to ensure the club's Tynecastle stadium is sold out for forthcoming games.
In a statement the Hearts board said: "Without the support of fans there is, as we issue this note, a real risk that Heart of Midlothian Football Club could possibly play its last game next Saturday, 17 November, against St. Mirren.
"This isn't a bluff, this isn't scaremongering, this is reality. Without your help now, we could be entering the final days of the club's existence."
Tynecastle has a capacity of just over 17,000. Hearts has average attendances of around 12,000 - modest by most standards but the third highest in Scotland where Glasgow rivals Celtic and Rangers have long been dominant.
The Scottish government said yesterday it would try to help Hearts find a way through the club's cash crisis.
One in five clubs in the top three divisions are showing signs of financial distress, according to a survey released yesterday by business rescue and restructuring specialists Begbies Traynor.
"The relegation of Rangers has had some impact but lower attendances and falling revenues, especially reducing TV money, has given rise to the distress that has spread across the SPL and divisions one and two," said Ken Pattullo of Begbies Traynor in Scotland.
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