Hearts chairman breaks silence over 'completely unacceptable' scenes, chief executive search and club finances
Calum Paterson speaks for first time since taking office one year ago
Hearts chairman Calum Paterson has called for greater transparency from Scottish football decision-makers in his first public address since taking office one year ago.
Paterson, who succeeded Ann Budge when she became Honorary President last October, addressed a number of topics including the "completely unacceptable" scenes at Celtic Park on the final day of last season, the search for a new chief executive and the state of the club's finances, which are set to show a loss for the third consecutive year.
Speaking about the 3-1 defeat to Celtic in May, which cost Hearts the Premiership title, Paterson acknowledged that supporters felt they had been kept in the dark over the club's response to the pitch invasion that followed Callum Osmand's stoppage time clincher, where Hearts players were approached by opposition fans, and the debate over whether the match had been played to a finish.
He also feels the Scottish football authorities fell short in their handling of the matter.
"The final week was difficult on a number of fronts," he told Hearts TV. "Amongst other things, we were disappointed by the unprecedented decision that, as the team leading the league at the time of the split we had to play our final game away from home. The circumstances at the end of that game were completely unacceptable. We took advice and we made our concerns very clear to the football authorities.
"Standing back from it all, I think we'd like to see greater transparency and consistency around key decisions in Scottish football because standards and processes matter, particularly at important points in the season, and I think there's room for improvement.
"I understand the frustration about how little supporters heard from us afterwards. There was, and remains, a live police investigation into actions against our players and that obviously limited what we could say publicly, but even with those constraints, we could have communicated more clearly.
"In the end, we had to think about what was best for Hearts. With a new management team coming in, a new season to prepare for, we felt the right thing for us was to draw a line and look forward, but our supporters should know that we did everything we could to stand up for Hearts. We will always do that. We certainly haven't forgotten what happened last season, but our focus now has to be on putting the club in the strongest possible position for this season and beyond and communicating better along the way.
Progress being made on ‘important appointment’
Paterson also addressed the current state-of-play with regards sourcing a replacement for Andrew McKinlay, who left his post as Hearts chief executive on August 31.
"We're making progress with the recruitment process," he said. "We've appointed an executive search firm to help us find the right person and there are some very strong candidates in the process.
"We're looking for someone who understands the scale and potential of Hearts and shares our ambition. Someone with the commercial, strategic, organisational leadership skills to help us take the club through its next phase of development. It's an important appointment.
We want to get it right. In the meantime, we're fortunate to have a very strong executive team led by Cat McCallum, Euan Forbes and Graeme Jones, and that means we're in the fortunate position of being able to take our time."
Hearts' accounts have shown a loss for each of the past two years - £4.4million in 2024 and £2m in 2025. Paterson expects the 2026 figures to show another deficit but insisted the club is on a solid financial footing.
"They will show a loss for the year, as expected," he said. "One factor was the absence of European income during a period when we were continuing to invest significantly in the playing squad and across the club.
"That investment was deliberate, it was intentional, and the funding was in place to support it. But we also understand the importance of maintaining strong financial discipline as we look to grow our income and manage our spending in a responsible way. Overall, I think the club's in a positive position.
"Our return to European football this season gives us more to build on, but we'll explain the figures and the wider financial picture in more detail when the accounts are published.
Talks taking place over further Hearts investment
Hearts have benefited from significant investment from benefactor James Anderson and shareholder Tony Bloom in recent years and the club are in talks over securing further investment.
"We've been exploring further investment in order to give Hearts greater financial strength and support the club's development," Paterson explained. "We've had some discussions and those discussions are going well. I don't want to get ahead of them today, but if they do conclude successfully, that would be another positive step for Hearts and would strengthen our ability to invest for the longer term. But I think any investment has to be used sensibly.
"The purpose would be to build a stronger football club fundamentally and to ensure that we have the resources in place to pursue our ambitions in the longer term. At the same time, we are continuing to develop a player trading model, which we expect to become an increasingly important contributor to the club's long-term financial sustainability."
Asked what success would look like for Hearts, Paterson added: "Well, we're aiming high. We want Hearts to be competitive at the top end of Scottish football, challenging for trophies year after year and also playing regularly in Europe. And I think we're right to have that ambition.
"But to achieve it sustainably and consistently, we've got to strengthen the football operation on an ongoing basis. And that means recruiting well, developing players, building a successful player training model and creating a pathway for our own young talent. We also want to build on the success, the great progress we've had on the women's side.
"Our partnership with Jamestown Analytics is a really important part of all of that and I think will help us to make better informed decisions as we go forward. But clearly, we've also got to keep growing the club commercially so that we have the resources to support our ambitions over the longer term. I think there's a big opportunity there as well.
"So there's a lot of work ahead, but our goal is clear success on the pitch and a football club that our supporters and community can be proud of."