Hearts Chairwomen Ann Budge this morning provided an update to supporters on when Hearts will release their season ticket campaign ahead of their return to the Premiership next season.
Their Edinburgh rivals Hibs have already sold over 7,000 season tickets, which led to many Jambos wondering when they’d have the opportunity to purchase theirs.
Photos by Ian Jacobs
Budge put supporters minds at ease however, revealing that the delay is solely down to the lack of clarity on the return of supporters to stadia in Scotland.
She said: “Given that we still don’t know when that will be allowed, we have held off putting season tickets on sale for next season. Our plan is to leave the launch until the last week in May in the hope that we may have some further clarity by then. That said, we have a full campaign ready to go and I am confident that you will appreciate the range and flexibility that we have built into our offerings”.
The statement also revealed a significant change in the hierarchy with James Anderson joining the clubs board and chief executive Andrew McKinlay taking charge of the day to day running of the club.
All of this is designed to allow owner Ann Budge more time to focus on her duties as chairwoman, as she prepares to hand the ownership of the club over to the Foundation of Hearts in the summer.
Budge went into great detail on the changes in the statement which is available to read on the club’s website:
She added: “After a hand-over period, made more difficult than usual by most of our staff either being furloughed or working from home and most of our operations being in lockdown, I am delighted to confirm that Andrew McKinlay, our CEO, has picked up the challenges brilliantly and is now fully in charge of running all aspects of the Club on a day-to-day basis.”
“For my part, I am now wholly focused on my role as Chairman, and in that capacity, I am delighted to announce that we will be further strengthening the Board when James Anderson joins us as an independent, non-executive director on 1st July 2021.”
“James is well known within Scottish football, having already significantly helped clubs at all levels to cope with the impact of the pandemic on their clubs and their communities. Hearts is incredibly fortunate to have James’ continued support. The value of his business acumen and his advice in driving forward the long-term ambitions of the Club cannot be over-stated.”
Budge also outlined that the club are spending ÂŁ400,000 upgrading Tynecastle ahead of the return of their supporters and to the top-flight of Scottish football.
A full refurbishment of the Tynecastle pitch heads the list of work which will be conducted over the summer, the floodlights are also being replaced, while some of the stadium’s interior is also being freshened up.
“Although fans have not been allowed in the stadium over the last year, our facilities team has worked throughout to ensure we are in the best possible shape to welcome fans back to Tynecastle, when restrictions are lifted.”
“Despite having to manage cash more tightly than ever, we are carrying out a number of sizeable infrastructure projects over the summer closedown period. These include the essential replacement of our floodlights, the long overdue repainting of the trusses in each of our three older stands and a full pitch refurbishment. We have almost £400k worth of essential and preventative work to be carried out before the start of next season.”
“On top of this, we are also implementing some new concourse facilities/ improvements to welcome you back. Hopefully, you will approve!”
