Hearts agree to sell Tynecastle to SRU
Hearts today took a big step towards quitting Tynecastle for good by announcing they have reached a conditional agreement to sell the stadium for £22m (€32.5m).
The Edinburgh club released a statement to the stock exchange outlining plans to sell the ground to Cala Management and confirming they had reached an agreement with the Scottish Rugby Union to take up tenancy at Murrayfield.
The Gorgie club believe the sale of the stadium is essential to ease the club‘s debts of £13.7m (€20.3m) together with creditor SMG’s loan stock of £5.4m (€8m).
Hearts have retained the right to withdraw from the agreement before January 31 if a preferred alternative is found.
A large section of the Hearts support spent much of last season publicly opposing the club`s plans to quit Tynecastle and take up residency at Murrayfield next season.
The Gorgie ground does not meet requirements for European football and their UEFA Cup tie will be played at the home of Scottish rugby this term.
But the financial benefits of selling Tynecastle will have had the biggest bearing on the decision of the board when reaching the agreement with Cala and chairman George Foulkes insists today‘s announcement is in the best interest of all parties.
Despite the right to pull out of the deal if an alternative is found by early next year, Foulkes warned supporters not to expect a last-minute reprieve.
He said: “In the current circumstances, I believe that the proposals we publish today are in the best interests of Hearts, its shareholders and supporters. The proposals have the unanimous support of the Board.
“These are prudent and sensible actions which address two unavoidable truths - that Tynecastle is not presently commercially viable and that Hearts must agree the sale of the stadium now to ensure we have sufficient working capital to continue to trade.
“Our proposals include a condition which allows us to withdraw from the sale of Tynecastle before January 31, 2005 if a financially viable alternative is acceptable to us.
“If no preferred alternative is found by January 31 – and no-one should give supporters false hope that this is possible – the sale of Tynecastle on these terms and the groundshare at Murrayfield offers Hearts the resources and further time to search for and develop a home which meets the expectations of our supporters.
“Murrayfield offers exceptional facilities for both players and spectators and its extended suite of corporate hospitality rooms will benefit the club.”
