Stuart Wallace, who stands down from the Foundation of Hearts board in December, has sent a message to pledgers out there: “Rather than sitting on the outside throwing rocks, come and join us.”
He would love to see more diversity on the board in the way of age profile, ethnicity, minority groups and gender.
And the former chairman declared: “My main focus for the future is how do we help the Foundation continue to support the club as it moves forward.”
Wallace has spent more than five years on the front line and was the joint signatory of the Heart and Soul Day document in August 2021.
And he said it was important to maintain what he called “the financial health of the club” and added: “How do we offer our support around such issues such as the Academy, the focus on youth, the community?
“The planned kids pledge will be a big part of engaging with the next generation, but how do we create that succession so that when the youngsters start to support Hearts they become pledgers? Get that right and we create a legacy and, hopefully, a competitive advantage that will make a difference for the club.
“When we see the passion that is out there among young people, we have to harness that.”
He said there was a balance in keeping the story of how close fans came to losing the club and added: “How do we make the Foundation part of what becoming a Hearts fan is all about? You come in and pledge what you can when you can so we all know there is that bit going on that isn’t happening in other Scottish clubs. To me that helps deliver what the youngsters are all about and that’s success on the football fifield.”
Every one of the 12,000 pledgers who have been part of the Foundation movement should be proud and Wallace said he had received enquiries from all over the world. He added: “This shows just how far the story has reached.
“The fact that we have a governance model which is so successful, maybe there is even more we could be doing to shout about that and demonstrate how fans can get involved in their club.
“It’s incredible that we now have waiting lists for season tickets, we saw a sell-out for a Motherwell match. It’s a great position for us all to be in, given where we were just eight to ten years ago.”
Leaving the chair he admitted would be a wrench and he admitted; “Its been such a huge part of my life and I’ll step down at the AGM with a heavy heart, although I daresay I’ll still be around and about the Foundation.
“For me it’s been a blast, it’s been an honour, it’s been out of this world. What I would say to folk is, why not get involved? Rather than sitting on the outside throwing rocks, get involved and look at constructive ways forward.”
Experienced news, business, arts, sport and travel journalist. Food critic and managing editor of a well-established food and travel website. Also a magazine editor of publications with circulations of up to 200,000 and managing director of a long-established PR/marketing company with a string of blue-chip clients in its CV. Former communications lecturer at a Scottish university and social media specialist for a string of successful and busy SMEs.
