Scottish Championship side Heart of Midlothian Owner Ann Budge has told supporters the club is “financially reliant” on the £1.4M ($2.2M) annual donations they make, according to Jamie Borthwick of STV. Around 8,000 fans make monthly donations to the Foundation of Hearts, the “vehicle that plans to take eventual ownership” from Budge through a staged repayment of the £2.5M she “shelled out to buy the club out of administration.” The FoH will also contribute £1.4M a year in working capital to Hearts until ‘16, and the FoH Chair told an “AGM of Foundation members on Thursday that the football club would still be running a loss if that cash was not sent to the Tynecastle coffers.” Budge said, “There is a great deal to be done and without the continued support of the fans it will be very hard.” The Foundation, led by Ian Murray MP, has set itself a 12 month target to produce a plan for running Hearts which can meet Budge’s approval. The Edinburgh businesswoman said the club must first work to stabilize itself financially again, and that the blueprint must be “watertight and involve a smooth transition of ownership in order for it to happen within the five year timeframe” that is planned (STV, 12/11).
