How Hearts spent a six-figure sum on Robbie Neilson's plan to beat Hibs

Robbie Neilson today thanked Hearts owner Ann Budge for backing his plan to beat Hibs in the Scottish Cup semi-final.

Robbie Neilson has thanked Hearts owner Ann Budge for her financial backing.

The Edinburgh club spent a significant sum of money to begin pre-season training in August instead of September, a plan hatched by manager Neilson with the cup tie in mind.

It ensured 13 weeks of workouts and matches for players before Saturday’s all-Edinburgh meeting at Hampden Park.

The cost of ending the squad’s furlough leave to pay wages for an extra four weeks, plus money for Covid testing and safety equipment, ran well into six figures.

Hearts beat Hibs 2-1 after extra-time to reach the Scottish Cup final and repay the commitment by Budge and her board of directors.

Neilson explained how he asked the chairwoman when she appointment him manager in June to fund an August 3 restart at Riccarton – weeks ahead of other Championship clubs. Hearts’ first competitive game was not until October 6 in the Betfred Cup.

That competition and the Championship kick-off later that month were in the manager’s mind. However, Neilson revealed that the Scottish Cup meeting with Hibs underpinned his thinking.

“When I came back to the club in the middle of June, I spoke to Ann right away about bringing the players back early. We came back really early at the start of August, all because we knew we had the game against Hibs,” he told the Evening News.

“We knew we had to be ready for it and had to arrange loads of pre-season games. I think we organised ten or 11 matches altogether because we had to be up to speed.

“We couldn't have gone into the semi-final after two or three pre-season games, three Betfred ties and two league matches. We wouldn't have been anywhere near it.

“Credit to Ann and the board for bringing the players in early. They had to take them off furlough and it cost the club a lot of money to do that. We knew it would give us the best chance of winning the semi and getting to a final.

“It was down to Ann making that decision. If we had come back even two or three weeks later, we wouldn't have been in the shape to go the distance against Hibs.”

Hearts will now play Celtic in the Scottish Cup final on December 20 after eliminating their city neighbours with Liam Boyce’s dramatic winning penalty in extra-time.

“It wasn’t just 90 minutes for the boys either, the game lasted 120 minutes,” added Neilson. “It was a massive game – not just to get to the final but it's a derby against Hibs.

“After everything that's gone on all year at Hearts, we had the opportunity to get to a final. It was a big decision for Ann to make but one which I hope has been repaid.

“I don't normally speak to her after the game but I spoke to her at the end on Saturday. She was delighted and it was a great day for everyone.”

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our sports coverage with a digital sports subscription.