In a somewhat depressing week for Scottish football, there was some good news for Hearts supporters at least today when the City of Edinburgh Council approved plans by the Gorgie club to redevelop the old main stand at Tynecastle.
The ambitious project, two years in the making, will cost £11m and work on turning Tynecastle into a 20,000 capacity stadium fit for the 21st century will begin as early as next month – with completion expected in September 2017.
Hearts owner Ann Budge was delighted that approval had finally been granted. “It’s been a long hard road to get here” she told STV News, “so to get unanimous approval this morning was fantastic.”
She added “Inevitably there will be a bit of disruption because it is a big building programme but we absolutely keep that to a minimum and the supporters who still want to come and sit in the old stand will do so.”
Hearts have come a long way since the dark days of administration three years ago and it wasn’t that long ago that former Hearts chief executive Chris Robinson was prepared to sell Tynecastle Stadium for property development and move the club to Murrayfield.
Now, Hearts supporters can look forward to a brand new stand holding 7,000 people – and a bright future for a club that was on its knees not so long ago.
Author of The Team for Me - 50 Years of Following Hearts. Runs Mind Generating Success, a successful therapy practice in Edinburgh. Contact me if you want rid of any unwanted habits. Twitter @Mike1874
