HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN pulled off an excellent victory at the weekend against Celtic, their first win at the home of the Scottish champions since 2009. It was called a “statement win” by the media and pushed Hearts into third place in the Premiership table. The Edinburgh-based club are hoping to secure European football again this season after going out of the Conference League earlier than anticipated at the hands of Greek club PAOK.
Last year, they made the group stage, playing Latvia’s RFS, Istanbul Basaksehir and and the finan Fiorentinacial benefit was reflected in the club’s annual accounts. Although the gulf between Hearts and the Old Firm is substantial from an economic perspective, regular European football can keep them at the head of the pack chasing Celtic and Rangers. They were fourth in 2022-23 and they could go one better in 2023-24.
Only 10 years ago, Hearts went into administration and were deducted 15 points, a punishment that relegated the club. The club went through a bad period when Lithuanian businessman Vladimir Romanov was the owner. But when Ann Budge’s consortium, BIDCO 1874, took over, in partnership with the Foundation of Hearts, it proved to be the catalyst for a change of direction. In 2021, 75% of Budge’s stake was transferred to the Foundation, making Hearts the largest fan-owned club in Britain.
Only once in the past 10 years have Hearts made a pre-tax loss. In 2022-23, the profit was £ 298,000 which represented a drop on 2021-22 when they made £ 1.7 million. Without donations from benefactor James Anderson and the Foundation, Hearts would have made a loss.
Revenues were up by 42% to £ 20.8 million, their highest ever level of earnings. However, wages also went up by 37% to £ 15.4 million, representing 74% of income. Hearts generated a profit on player sales of £ 0.4 million, their lowest for three years. It is when transfer activity is examined that the real scale of Scottish football is revealed. In the past five years, Hearts have only paid fees for a small percentage of their squad and the size of those fees has been modest compared to English clubs. Lawrence Shankland, for example, was signed for £ 470,000 from Belgian club Beerschot in July 2022. He scored 28 goals last season for Hearts and has netted 13 so far this term.
The club is comparatively well supported with an average crowd in 2022-23 of 18,501 at Tynecastle, which translates to a stadium utilisation rate of 93%. In other words, they have only so much upside at their current home, but they are still the third best supported club in Scotland. Matchday income totalled £ 6.2 million, boosted by the number of European games. Hearts also have a growing waiting list for season tickets.
Commercial revenues more than doubled, thanks to increased sponsorship, while broadcasting was up from £ 6 million to £ 6.8 million due to involvement in European competition. Hearts recently announced they plan to build a 25-bedroom hotel at Tynecastle, which should provide a new commercial stream and also tap into the tourist trade in Edinburgh, which is the UK’s second most visited city. The club claims it plays to their vision of “self-sustainability, community and growth”.
Hearts seem to be one of the better run clubs in the UK and although they face a huge challenge keeping pace with the Glasgow duo, they can aspire to being the “best of the rest”. Their neighbours in green and white may dispute that, but at present, Hearts look in very reasonable shape as they approach their 150th year.
Leave a Reply