Value of Tynecastle weighing heavily on Hearts on the brink

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‘News’ that a football club can actually go out of business will come as a surprise to no one here as Hearts issued a statement saying “Without the support of fans there is a real risk that Hearts could possibly play its last game on 17 November.”

Hearts have two commercial problems: they owe HMRC money they don’t have and their running costs are greater than their income.  They also have over £20m of debt owed to major shareholder, Ukio Bankas, which at this stage of their corporate existence is more of an asset than a liability.

The club have asked supporters to cough up around £2m to pay HMRC and see it through until the end of the season.  A further £1.7m HMRC demand is being contested but should Hearts lose this appeal, that bill will crystallise quickly.

Unlike the now-defunct Rangers, Hearts major shareholder is due more than 75% of the debt, so Ukio could vote to accept a Company Voluntary Arrangement, possibly for as little as 1p in the £1, if the club goes into administration.  This is a well-travelled road for Scottish football clubs who overwhelmingly fail owing shareholders or the bank the majority of their debt.

In this respect, there is no obvious reason why Hearts are in danger of playing their last game next week.  Administration would allow the club to shed its debt, including the contested tax bill.  It would almost certainly result in player redundancies, which would reduce expenditure below the level of income.  Hearts would be diminished as a football club, and would take a 17 point hit in the SPL, but that is as bad as it needs to get. Ukio Bankas would take the largest hit on money they may well have already written-off.

The only thing I see for Hearts fans to worry about is the property value of Tynecastle.  Ukio will almost certainly have a charge on all the club’s property assets.  If the club disappears, they would be left with the real estate.  Tynecastle is worth a whole lot more money as flats than as a football field.

When a company cannot pay its creditors it goes into administration and seeks to negotiate a settlement with them.  Hearts can do this “within days if not hours”, as Our Hero once said.  It’s just curious that Hearts are playing on the bring rather than sorting things out.

Maybe they could get former player and tracksuit salesman, Maurice something-or-other, to sell some of their assets.

The magnificent 1254125 charity cycle, from birthplace of Brother Walfrid, Ballymote, Co. Sligo, to Celtic Park, got underway yesterday. Today the six cyclists, Paul Muldoon (of this parish), Mark Cameron, Alistair Schulz, Robert Campbell Ray McFarland and Jim Kelly, left Blacklion on a 80 mile journey to Lurgan.

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1,105 Comments

  1. Ernie, I’m not sure anyone is insisting you remain silent at 3pm tomorrow.

     

     

    I would like to think all who are in the stadium will observe it, and if you don’t, do as HT said.

     

     

    I also think there are thousands of Celtic fans who attend services at their local cenotaphs and many there tomorrow who will have missed it due to match day travel timings.

  2. 67Heaven ... I am Neil Lennon..!!.. Ibrox belongs to the creditors on

    Watching thegame AGAIN ……… Get’s better every time…….that is all

  3. TheOriginalSadiesBhoy on

    Aaaaarrrrrggghhhh!

     

     

    Just logged on and find I’m in the midst of a Poppy Debate. Might give the blog a miss until Monday and hope it will be safe to log on again and talk about all things Celtica as a famous mhan once said.

     

     

    Hail! Hail!

  4. Ernie Lynch.

     

     

    The game “call of duty” is what entices the young to sighn up.

     

    It’s not just a game It’s a propaganda mechanism.

     

    Just like the comando comics in old times.hh

  5. Why oh why are we playing on a Sunday?, Especially Remembrance Sunday.

     

    Would’nt it be more logical to let the the zombies play tomorrow and observe a minutes silence.

     

    You would think the SPL had an agenda….

     

     

    Hearts penalty now

  6. Seeing as there was no Friday night quiz on CQN last night ………….

     

     

    How about a CQN version of Jeopardy???????

     

     

    Answer……………

     

    Ah’m jist daein it cos everybody else is daein it……………

     

     

    Really???????

     

     

    TBM

  7. Summa

     

     

    Never gonnae live that one down. I’m blaming the bang on the head from last weekend ;-)

  8. Joe Filippis Haircut on

    I hate all wars man should have learned of the futility of it long ago.In all wars in the main it is the working classes who do the fighting and the dieing while the upper classes watched from a distance.I will not try to argue the whys and the where fors of the so called Great Wars but millions died on both sides in the main young men who should have had there whole life before them and I do think they deserve our respect for giving everything.They may have been wrong in there beliefs I have no idea ? however,for me once a year to wear a poppy and to hold a minutes silence seems to be very little to do for my fellow man. H.H.

  9. hoopeddreams

     

     

    Shaken, he had to come all the way from edinburgh , he had the

     

    biggest milk round in scotland.

  10. Turning to game to-morrow, what options does Lenny have “to freshen things up” to use his own words. With the spate of injuries we have the cupboard is very bare and almost all the names you could mention, like Paddy,Dylan,Imbrahim,Twardzik are all midfielders. Does he more or less ask the Barca Lions to go out again with maybe Kayal starting plus 1 of the 4 above mentioned. There seems little enough room for manouvre.

  11. Memories of doing a guided night time walking tour of Stratford upon Avon . Guide was a perfect Colonel Blimp type . Most of my fellow ” tourists ” were Japanese or German .

     

     

    At one point we stopped at Stratford’s war memorial . The Colonel Blimp type did his spiel . There was a wee group of youths and youthesses sitting round the base of the memorial –smoking spliff and necking Bacardi Breezers .

     

     

    The good woman from Padova thought that wee scene was a perfect little cameo of Great Britain.

  12. Some bhoys fail to observe the minutes silence

     

     

     

    The MSM will portray us as Fenian upstarts

     

     

    That will really change the perception that they have of us…not!

     

     

    Ergo who cares

  13. Corkcelt

     

     

    Most of the bhoys will be on a high from Wednesday …they’ll be bursting to play

     

     

    I know I would

  14. Can any CQNers add a link to the old photograph showing the Celtic players heading onto a bus to the war, whereas the huns were heading to the shipyards.

     

    Thanks in advance, I was telling junior about it.

     

     

    HH

  15. Man for man, Celtic not as good as Ireland acc. to Dunphy. This shows the levels of EPL worshipping ignorance among certain Irish pundits.

  16. With no CL game this week I’d be inclined to play the same 11 who started on Wednesday so long as they’re all fit.