FoH vote in favour of helping fund new Tynecastle stand

HEARTS fans have voted overwhelmingly in favour of letting Foundation of Hearts help fund Tynecastle's new main stand.
Hearts owner Ann Budge will contribute £300,000 of her own money to the project. Pic: Neil HannaHearts owner Ann Budge will contribute £300,000 of her own money to the project. Pic: Neil Hanna
Hearts owner Ann Budge will contribute £300,000 of her own money to the project. Pic: Neil Hanna

Almost 99 per cent of FoH members chose to accept owner Ann Budge’s proposal to delay repaying her £2.5m investment and put the money towards the new stand.

The agreement will see FoH payments which would have gone to Budge used to contribute to the £11m project. The Edinburgh businesswoman was due to start collecting repayments next month, but she offered to defer payments to help towards the cost of the stand.

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A vote on the matter closed on Wednesday and, of the 3790 votes cast, 3747 were in favour. That’s a 98.86 per cent approval, which both Hearts and the Foundation are delighted with.

“The resolution is therefore passed and following the completion of the new agreement, the Foundation of Hearts will forward funding payments as outlined in the proposal from June 2016 onwards,” said a statement on the club’s website.

“We are absolutely delighted that the Foundation members have given such a resounding vote in favour of the offer from Ann Budge. We thank all of them for their continued backing and we are now very much looking forward to proceeding with the amended financial arrangements as authorised by the Foundation members.

“The tireless work going on around securing the new stadium development will continue unabated and this significant milestone on the road to the ‘new’ Tynecastle once more demonstrates our collective strength. Thank you again.”

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Budge has also agreed to waive £300,000 of interest on the £2.5m she is owed and put it towards the main stand. Work on the 7000-capacity project is due to begin this autumn. When completed, Tynecastle will be capable of holding more than 20,000 fans.

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