It started with a big money investment - but Bournemouth owner Bill Foley looks set to look elsewhere after a new disagreement with Hibs.
The American buisnessman invested into the Premiership side in February 2024 through his Black Knight Football Club, and took exception to the hire of David Gray as head coach and Malky Mackay as sporting director that summer. It looked like water under the bridge though as a third place finish was clinched last term, and Garvan Stewart arrived as head of recruitment following a lengthy Bournemouth stint, but new division has emerged.
Foley is looking for Hibs to take more of a feeder club form for Bournemouth and that is a no-go for chairman Ian Gordon, who will not risk any chance of the Easter Road side being diminished by Black Knight’s vision. It’s been a topsy turvy ride with several major moments, but here are 22 moments that paved the path from initial interest to selling up for Foley at Hibs.
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1. The beginning (31/10/2023)
Just over two years ago, Foley made his intentions clear to buy into Scotland, as he looked to make Hibs the undisputed third force in Scotland. He said: “I’m fascinated by the Scottish Premier League (sic). They play hard, Scots are tough. They play a tough brand of football. And I believe there are opportunities to make one of the No. 4, 5 or 6 SPL teams to get them to No.3 and they play in Europe. I believe we can pull that off with not a gigantic investment – and be a minority investor, be supportive of that club." | Getty Images Photo: Getty Images
2. Helping hand (14/12/23)
Foley emerged on the radio to say Hibs were in need of his help as the 23/24 campaign threatened to derail. He said "We're going through the process with the Scottish Premier League (sic) and the Scottish Football Association to ensure that we're doing things properly and that we're doing them in a way that they're happy with our participation. We're not going to be a controlling shareholder, we're going to be an investor but we certainly want to coordinate acquisition and disposition of players with Hibs and I know they can use the help.” Photo: Roddy Scott - SNS Group
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3. Progress (14/12/24)
On the same day, Hibs provided an update on talks with the SFA. They stated: “Hibernian FC can confirm that the club met with the Scottish FA board on Thursday 14 December, 2023 to discuss a minority investment proposal. The positive meeting saw Ian Gordon and Ben Kensell outline the proposal and discuss the benefits for Hibs and Scottish football moving forward. The club looks forward to the next stage of the process, which is submitting a formal request for the approval of dual interest dispensation against article 13. There will be no further comment at this time.” | Getty Images
4. Opposition (25/02/24)
The billionaire was facing a not so straightforward path in some quarters as he bid to invest in Hibs. Hibernian Supporters Limited, who had 15.4% of stock, planned to provide opposition. | SNS Group