Gordon Waddell: Altruistic Ann Budge puts money-grabbing Green and Whyte to shame

[ian1964 10,409]

GORDON backs Hearts' incoming chairwoman to revive the club while lamenting the damage done by the would-be saviours at Ibrox.

 

 

 

THE definition of altruism: When the answer to the question “What’s in it for you?” is “Nothing”.

 

That’s Ann Budge for you.

 

Sixty-five years old, self-made multi-millionaire, family woman, treasures her privacy and relative anonymity, sees her Saturday afternoons as sacred time with her daughter and grand-daughter in Section D of the Wheatfield.

 

What could possibly be in it for her to commit herself to four or five years inside the washing machine of Scottish football?

 

Nothing. Not a single thing.

 

Which is why Hearts fans should be eternally grateful that she has. And, as I wrote back in September, Rangers fans should be peering east, mournfully lamenting what they could have had.

 

The deal to take Hearts out of administration and forward is the result of months of good

leadership, good governance, good PR, good organisation and, most of all, good intentions.

 

And what they’ve emerged with is the perfect template for the handover from tyranny to the

terraces. Make no mistake, Budge’s role will not be passive. She’s no figurehead. She’s real.

 

Incongruously, for fan ownership to succeed in the long run, they’re going to need her to be a strong individual, making hard-headed decisions that would be impossible to arrive at if the club were being run by committee.

 

Her job is to hand Hearts over in the best financial health she can create in as short a time as possible. And the only way that won’t happen is if Jambos fail to live up to their end of the bargain.

 

That’s why they’re lucky to have her. She’s the anti-Craig Whyte, the anti-Charles Green.

 

As executive chair, she’ll be working five days a week pro bono. She’ll be arriving at conclusions plenty may disagree with but the one thing no one can dispute is that she’s doing it for anyone’s benefit other than Hearts.

 

There’s a legal agreement that she has to hand the club over to the Foundation as and when they hit their pre-agreed targets.

 

She can’t change her mind, can’t flog them to a predator who fancies the place for himself when they’re back on an even keel.

 

What that means is the fans have to create the bank of last resort for the club with their membership scheme, the financial cushion for the months where there’s a shortfall, where the season ticket money has run dry and the commercial income is a struggle.

 

All they have to be able to do is prove that in the absence of support from an actual bank, they will never get back to the day when the wages won’t be in the bank.

 

And there’s no reason they can’t. At the moment the Foundation of Hearts bring in £130,000 a month in direct debits.

 

That’s £1.5million a year as your slush fund.

 

The season tickets, corporate and commercial income, sponsorship, catering and anything else they can raise funds from provides their working capital.

 

If they do all that? If they create a model that washes its face? There’s no reason why a club of their stature, with their support, can’t be golden in four years’ time.

 

And in the meantime? What a Championship it’s going to be next year. A tale of two clubs from two cities whose stories over the past two years may as well have come from two different planets.

 

The team who’ve done everything right to get out of administration against the team who’ve had every wrong imaginable done to them.

 

Rangers will be looking at Hearts and thinking, “If only...”

 

To be fair, their Supporters’ Trust still have faith they can make it happen. But when they needed the kind of altruism Budge offered Hearts, they got shafted. Twice.

 

When they needed a Jim McColl, he ran shy. And when they needed unity of purpose,

they fragmented.

 

Even now, their intentions may be there. But neither the Easdales nor Dave King as a potential investor seems prepared to engage in the idea that the club need a move towards fan membership and ownership for the long-term good.

 

They’re still saddled by the “What’s in it for me?” brigade and as long as the answer is “plenty”, they’re fighting a losing battle.

 

But you know what? Despite the fact that Hearts’ total budget next year will probably be around the £1million mark, less than 20 per cent of Rangers’, if it’s spent well, they could challenge the assumption the Ibrox club will stroll through that league the way they’ve strolled through the last two.

 

If they can get 16,000 inside Tynecastle every week, create a cause the way Hibs did when they went down in 1998, the way Rangers’ fans did when they went into the bottom tier?

 

Keep the best of their kids, get a few course and distance guys in to help them when the embargo goes? Get a little momentum going?

 

It’s going to be a hell of a race.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gordon-waddell-altruistic-ann-budge-3151057

[der Berliner 3,231]

A serious question: can we expect Hearts selling as many season tickets as required or get their stadium even half-full every Saturday, should they get relegated?

[the gunslinger 3,366]

I think they will yes db

[Hildy 0]

If Hearts can get through this, they may emerge as a bigger club - and certainly a better club - than the one that got into trouble.

 

I do respect the lady behind this. She is doing it for club - not herself.

 

In years to come, there may be a stand named after her.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Hildy

[bluebear54 0]

From talking to a few Hearts supporters they seem to be pretty motivated. I'm pretty sure they will get good crowds next season.

By the way, those I have talked to still see us as sinners and themselves as victims, which I can't quite get my head round.

[pete 2,494]

If Hearts can get through this, they may emerge as a bigger club - and certainly a better club - than the one that got into trouble.

I do respect the lady behind this. She is doing it for club - not herself.

 

In years to come, there may be a stand named after her.

 

I remember a lot of people though that about SDM.

[andy steel 0]

Pfffft. If there was as much money to be made out of Hearts as there is out of Rangers, they too would be in the clutches of your capitalist parasite types.

[bluebear54 0]

Pfffft. If there was as much money to be made out of Hearts as there is out of Rangers, they too would be in the clutches of your capitalist parasite types.

 

Too true. Well said Andy.

[Hildy 0]

Pfffft. If there was as much money to be made out of Hearts as there is out of Rangers, they too would be in the clutches of your capitalist parasite types.

 

What a powerful statement in favour of Rangers being a fan-owned club.

 

So if we want to keep 'capitalist parasite types' away from Rangers, we know what to do - work towards making the club fan-owned.

[gisabeer 409]

the clear advantage that Hearts have over us is that no one other than the fans of the club are interested in investing in their club. we on the other hand have been hijacked by a a band of ruthless profiteers who dont give a toss about the club.

 

I dont see the comparison between the two. Just another poor attempt by a member of the journalistic underclass to undermine our club.