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Update from Foundation of Hearts Chair, Stuart Wallace

Welcome to our latest blog – hopefully plenty of content to keep you up to date on all matters at Foundation of Hearts.

You’ll find below some commentary on the recent third kit launch with the legend ‘pledge for life’ on the back, in recognition of every one of our members. We understand sales are exceptionally strong – like us, you clearly love that strip! There is also another ‘why I pledge’ story, this time from one of our Italian pledgers Carmine Rutolo. We also provide a funding update which makes clear the scale of your pledges to date and some detail on how to keep up with your maroon points.

It is worth a word on our governance structure in light of some questions we’ve received on email and social media since the start of the season. The Foundation exists to protect the long-term future of Heart of Midlothian Football Club. That is our mission and we’re fully committed to it. Fan ownership is big step toward that objective but, as we’ve always said, fan owned does not mean fan run. Both now and when majority ownership transfers, the Foundation will have a board separate to that of the club. The main channel connecting both boards will continue to be via the two Foundation directors who serve as non-executive directors on the club board. In keeping with that structure and ethos, the Foundation won’t comment publicly on any club related matters and that extends to first team performances.

We are often asked, too, about how the pledge numbers are and what we have to report is that they remain strong. We all know that the Foundation was born out of the club’s darkest days – it’s a unique and precious movement and so many fans, across all of football, recognise this.  Some fans are envious of our success, while others have a grudging respect for what we have demonstrated can be achieved by sticking together.  There are some, too, who would much prefer that we didn’t exist at all.  What we should remember is that talk of cancelling pledges is not only potentially harmful to our club, but also plays right into the hands of those rivals who want us to fail. We are happy to let you know that we have more pledgers now than we did three months ago. That tells you everything you need to know about the commitment and resilience of Hearts fans. Times may be tough, but the Foundation continues to move forward towards fan ownership, thanks to you, the fans – the one true constant.

It’s worth me also commenting on the ‘pledge for life’ mantra that is now quoted regularly and appears on the new third kit. As we confirm below, this rose up from our members and is clear recognition of what could be achieved once we are beyond the point of majority shareholding. I often describe the potential impact of these pledges at our plot ceremony like this: when you gave us £1 toward operating costs, the return on that £1 was about £1! When you gave us £1 to assist the club in developing the new stand, the return on that £1 became a ratchet that none of us can estimate, but it is clear the revenue generated will in time be many multiples of that £1, allowing the club to build fantastic revenue streams far into the future. The pledge for life mantra talks to that leverage. Our first objective as a Foundation was to take the club into fan ownership. We are close to that objective, though not quite there yet. We were always likely to pause and ask what next, but in truth you the fans gave us the answer – #pledgeforlife – who knows where it could take us.

Pledge for life

July saw the launch of the club’s distinctive new third kit, which met with a great reception by pledgers and indeed all fans. We were absolutely delighted that the new jersey, which will be the centrepiece of the third kit for a two-year period, features the Foundation’s ‘pledge for life’ message. As one pledger put it, a message on the back for the badge on the front.

We were honoured to welcome not only club captain Christophe Berra but also a group of pledgers, representing different generations, to the launch of at Tynecastle.

 

The pledge for life message was coined by our pledgers, as mentioned above, and is one that we’ve increasingly used in recent months. “My pledge will go on for as long as I will” is a quote from a recent letter from a pledger which you can hear beautifully read by fan and pledger Ken Stott here. This is a sentiment shared by many among our number and a message we wish to carry forward beyond the transition of majority shareholding in the club. By the time we reach that milestone, we’ll have collectively raised pledges totalling close to £10 million, secured the future of our club, and ensured its ownership lies with the people who will always hold its best interests at heart – the fans.

Ann’s August statement emphasised how far we’ve come and the progress the club has made against the audacious goals set at the start of this journey. As she puts it herself: “As we move forward, the financial and emotional backing of our fans, pledgers and sponsors will remain as vital as ever.”

There is so much more we can go on to achieve together beyond fan ownership. And encapsulating this aspiration for our club, the pledge for life message has never been more significant.

Why I Pledge – Carmine Rutolo

We never cease to be amazed by the geographical spread of our pledger base and the messages of support that roll into the FoH inbox from all over the world. We asked FoH pledger Carmine Ruotolo from Italy what pledging to the Foundation means to her:

I’m Carmine Ruotolo and I’m 25 years old. I’m Italian, I live in Rome and I’m a football lover. About 12 years ago I fell in love with Scotland, in particular Edinburgh, and as the months went by being a football lover, I fell in love with Hearts, my future passion, since the age of 13. The story, the colours, the fans, Tynecastle, all with a unique charm, with a unique passion. I read the club’s story, I made it my own, I learned it, the games in streaming and a little dream in the drawer, a live match in Tynecastle, among fantastic people and in the middle of a unique atmosphere. How could I not participate when the Foundation started its growth path for the good of the club, its path aimed at acquiring the team we support? I immediately noticed the unique spirit of this union of fans, also reflects mine, I am honoured therefore to be part of this large family, so distant, but so close.

Funding update

At the time of writing the Foundation has received more than £9m in pledges. We’re in the process of repaying the Bidco loan with £1.9m, 74% of the required £2.5m, now having been advanced to Bidco. We expect to have made our final payment toward this loan iwithin the next year and, upon doing so, we will acquire a majority share in the Club. Each and every pledge continues to be precious as we approach this milestone and we’re grateful for your incredible support.

Plot ceremonies and membership clubs

The next scheduled plot ceremonies will take place on 27th of October and we will continue to hold ceremonies approximately every three weeks (fixtures allowing). Every pledger who hits the required Maroon Points total will receive an invitation to this special event. Please bear with us as we work through the large number of you who have now reached this level of points.

We’re also continuing to schedule the 1956 and 1998 membership club evenings at Tynecastle with the next events coming up on the 30th October and 1st November in the Museum and Fans Bar respectively.

Any questions in relation to our ongoing ceremonies should be addressed to [email protected].

Update on your Maroon Points

One of the most frequently asked questions we receive from pledgers relates to the speed of updates of their Maroon Points total via our website dashboard.

We’ve experienced a long tail of issues relating to connections to our payment provider, which in the past has meant that it could take up to a month for Maroon Points to be updated after pledges has been collected or, for a smaller number of you, that Maroon Points didn’t show in the dashboard at all. After months of effort by a group of volunteers, we finally cracked this nut, and are delighted to confirm Maroon Points updates will now happen automatically when payment in taken for all who pledge via GoCardless. Pledgers who use Paypal or Standing Order can continue to request updates on their Maroon Points total by contacting us at [email protected]. We’d  like to thank all of those pledgers who gave up their time to work on this project with us.

Important information regarding the Plus £1 pledge

You may recall a few years back we announced our Plus One initiative which allows pledgers to add £1 to their existing pledge via our website. We’re extremely grateful to the pledgers who have clicked the button since with well over a thousand of you clicking the button. Every single pound counts and pushes us toward the goal of fan ownership.

More recently, a number of you have made us aware of issues with the process which have led to your pledge not being collected. The issue appears to be that a number of you did not receive or missed the second email from GoCardless which triggers the setup of the new pledge. We’re in the process of contacting impacted pledgers. We’ll also be performing some maintenance on some legacy Plus £1 pledges that have never been confirmed. As part of this we will be cancelling pending pledges where there is already an existing pledge in place. If you are impacted by this, you will receive notification from GoCardless that a pending pledge has been cancelled. If you’ve any concerns or questions, please contact us in the usual way.

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Plot ceremonies and membership clubs

The next scheduled plot ceremonies will take place on 27th of October and we will continue to hold ceremonies approximately every three weeks (fixtures allowing). Every pledger who hits the required Maroon Points total will receive an invitation to this special event. Please bear with us as we work through the large number of you who have now reached this level of points.

We’re also continuing to schedule the 1956 and 1998 membership club evenings at Tynecastle with the next events coming up on the 30th October and 1st November in the Museum and Fans Bar respectively.

Any questions in relation to our ongoing ceremonies should be addressed to [email protected].

Hopefully land an invite to 1956 this time.

 

 

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In keeping with that structure and ethos, the Foundation won’t comment publicly on any club related matters and that extends to first team performances.

 

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2 minutes ago, Famous 1874 said:

So we currently owe 600k in order to acquire the majority stake in the club?

From their post, yes that’s all that’s left. 

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Couple of points 

 

“Pledge numbers remain strong”, extremely vague and tells us nothing, I know several people who have cancelled their pledges. I’d have preferred some detail.

 

FoH expect to repay the final £600k within the next year.   FoH have been collecting well over £100k per month, why is going to take a year to pay back the remaining £600k?  Surely it’ll be in around 6 months.

 

It is a better update than the one from Hearts though so fair play.

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1 minute ago, TurboT said:

Based on the info they have provided and the figures quoted, quite possibly 

Some people using our current predicament to jump ship. 

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9 minutes ago, TurboT said:

Couple of points 

 

“Pledge numbers remain strong”, extremely vague and tells us nothing, I know several people who have cancelled their pledges. I’d have preferred some detail.

 

FoH expect to repay the final £600k within the next year.   FoH have been collecting well over £100k per month, why is going to take a year to pay back the remaining £600k?  Surely it’ll be in around 6 months.

 

It is a better update than the one from Hearts though so fair play.

Not to seem like an arse but 6 months is within a year.   March/april 2020 was always mentioned before so seems on course.  I assume they mention a longer timescale encase there was a unforeseen drop off in pledgers.

 

Personally i only know fans that have incresed pledge amount and no1 that has cancelled

 

 

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47 minutes ago, Sarah O said:

Hopefully land an invite to 1956 this time.

 

 

Got my invite the other week but can’t make any of the 3 dates they gave!!! 😫

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30 minutes ago, jr ewing said:

Does that mean the 8000 is down by 50%.

 

Nonsense.

 

I would guess that the previous number of pledgers was taken at the end of June (FOH's financial year end). The "more pledgers" could be from 1 upwards, but whatever the increase is it is welcome news. 

 

I like to know how much FOH hands over each month as I have been tracking the amounts handed over right back from the first handover of cash in May 2014. However, I'm unsure if the £1.9m (of £2.4m loan + 100k shares) paid to Bidco includes September's pledges or not. The last update was £1.2m in the March blog, so £700k in the last six months(?). If that's the case then the pledged amounts are holding up well. 

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Why could they not have specifically stated how many pledgers we have at present and whether income is up or down each month and by how much?

 

I applaud them for the statement but seriously worried that the financial side is pure spin.  If it's not spin  they should easily be able to clarify with actual figures.

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Why the need to know an exact figure?

 

Honestly. The desperation it seems for some to link on field matters to pledger numbers is quite something else.

 

Lets leave that to the jealous Vermin, eh?

 

For clarity, Hearts could be relegated, relegated again and Levein still be in charge and I’d still be paying my subs.

 

#pledgeforlife

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Positive statement. Good reading and shows a very bright future with great progres to date.

 

People, take a moment to pat yourselves on the back and say well done.

 

We could almost trade mark 'greatest fans on the world' 😉

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9 minutes ago, Whatever said:

Why the need to know an exact figure?

 

Honestly. The desperation it seems for some to link on field matters to pledger numbers is quite something else.

 

Lets leave that to the jealous Vermin, eh?

 

For clarity, Hearts could be relegated, relegated again and Levein still be in charge and I’d still be paying my subs.

 

#pledgeforlife

Why not?  

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2 minutes ago, Kiwidoug said:

Why not?  

 

Because numbers will continually fluctuate. For reasons personal to each individual. 

 

It was stated we have more pledgers than 3 months ago. Is that not enough?

 

Well no, obviously it’s not.

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1 minute ago, Debut 4 said:

9m in pledges. What a fantastic support.  

 

No matter who you are, what type of supporter.  What great backing 👍🏻🇱🇻

It is quite a staggering figure to be honest. 

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Just now, Whatever said:

 

Because numbers will continually fluctuate. For reasons personal to each individual. 

 

It was stated we have more pledgers than 3 months ago. Is that not enough?

 

Well no, obviously it’s not.

Not for me it isn't.  It was you who used the word exact.  I would be more than happy with something along the lines of we had approximately 7,700 pledgers at the end of July.  Saying we have more than we had 3 months could could mean we now have 5,000.

 

Surely you will agree that it is vague and wonder why.

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3 minutes ago, Debut 4 said:

9m in pledges. What a fantastic support.  

 

No matter who you are, what type of supporter.  What great backing 👍🏻🇱🇻

 

This... 🇱🇻 HHGH🇱🇻

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Debut 4 said:

9m in pledges. What a fantastic support.  

 

No matter who you are, what type of supporter.  What great backing 👍🏻🇱🇻

 

And think how the club could benefit from another £9m then another £9m, and so on when there is no owner needing repaid or new stand neeeding built.

 

Fantastic support and the envy of most.

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1 minute ago, Whatever said:

 

And think how the club could benefit from another £9m then another £9m, and so on when there is no owner needing repaid or new stand neeeding built.

 

Fantastic support and the envy of most.

👍🏻

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56 minutes ago, 1874robbo said:

Got my invite the other week but can’t make any of the 3 dates they gave!!! 😫

Pretty Shan. 

 

But shanner to hear the invites have already gone out! :sob:

 

Ah well, always next time. 

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24 minutes ago, Whatever said:

Why the need to know an exact figure?

 

Honestly. The desperation it seems for some to link on field matters to pledger numbers is quite something else.

 

Such information allows the rebbuttal of a lot of the disinformation that is posted on here.

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I presume this statement is on the back of some supporters cancelling or threatening to cancel contributions so to re-iterate what FOH is all about and to get over the line with taking ownership of the club. 

 

Although a big point is always made about us being fan owned and not fan ran, I would like to think if 90%+ of fans wanted a change of manager in future, it would be more likely to happen and us not stuck in the current predicament we're in. 

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Superb, I'm away to up my pledge.  They'll maybe be saying 'within the next year' as it might take a bit of time for paperwork etc after the 600k has been paid.

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10 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

 

Such information allows the rebbuttal of a lot of the disinformation that is posted on here.

 

Fair point actually.

 

Already Hearts fans on here are quoting 4000/5000.

 

It’ll be gospel by Monday.

 

Who needs Hibs fans to make up lies when there’s Hearts fans doing their work for them.

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1 hour ago, 1874robbo said:

Got my invite the other week but can’t make any of the 3 dates they gave!!! 😫

 

Hopefully I'll get mine in the next batch, as I hit the points threshold this month.

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4 minutes ago, Whatever said:

 

Fair point actually.

 

Already Hearts fans on here are quoting 4000/5000.

 

It’ll be gospel by Monday.

 

Who needs Hibs fans to make up lies when there’s Hearts fans doing their work for them.

Exactly mate. Unbelievable. 

 

More pledgers than 3 months ago,  I took that to mean that despite claims of cancelled pledges we still have more than we did at the end of last season. 

 

Well done to all involved. The future is maroon.

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58 minutes ago, Footballfirst said:

 

Nonsense.

 

I would guess that the previous number of pledgers was taken at the end of June (FOH's financial year end). The "more pledgers" could be from 1 upwards, but whatever the increase is it is welcome news. 

 

I like to know how much FOH hands over each month as I have been tracking the amounts handed over right back from the first handover of cash in May 2014. However, I'm unsure if the £1.9m (of £2.4m loan + 100k shares) paid to Bidco includes September's pledges or not. The last update was £1.2m in the March blog, so £700k in the last six months(?). If that's the case then the pledged amounts are holding up well. 

Thanks FF, I recall you quoting the numbers previously and if the £700k is for the last 6 months then that’s a great effort.

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1 minute ago, jambogemz said:

 

More pledgers than 3 months ago,  I took that to mean that despite claims of cancelled pledges we still have more than we did at the end of last season. 

 

 

 

👍🏻

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It’s an incredible achievement well done everyone over £9million. Wow!! I think I will do the plus pound option been thinking of doing that for a while not much but every little helps. I  have massive frustrations with the manager and the boards decision to keep him on however that shouldn’t take the eyes off the prize in terms of the fans becoming the owners. Let’s get this over the line 

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1 hour ago, TurboT said:

FoH expect to repay the final £600k within the next year.   FoH have been collecting well over £100k per month, why is going to take a year to pay back the remaining £600k?  Surely it’ll be in around 6 months.

Six months from now is March next year. The statement says they expect to complete payments within next year, not 12 months. The income per month also suggest pledge numbers are closer to 8000 not 5000.

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2 minutes ago, jambogemz said:

Exactly mate. Unbelievable. 

 

More pledgers than 3 months ago,  I took that to mean that despite claims of cancelled pledges we still have more than we did at the end of last season. 

 

Well done to all involved. The future is maroon.

I hope you're right and I think you are very likely to be right.  I believe the 8 000 or so are hard core and unlikely to stop pledging.  That's why the statement is frustrating.

 

Why not say pledgers continue to hover around the 8,000 mark if that is the case.

 

Assuming FOH officials read this, why not issue a clarification?

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6 minutes ago, Kiwidoug said:

 

 

Why not say pledgers continue to hover around the 8,000 mark if that is the case.

 

Because then there would be speculation that 3/4/5/600 pledgers had been lost on the back of the on field form.

 

’I know 6 who have cancelled’. ‘I know 3 family members who have cancelled’.

 

Pledgers are up since after the cup final when the feel good was far better than it is now.

 

The end.

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1 minute ago, Whatever said:

 

Because then there would be speculation that 3/4/5/600 pledgers had been lost on the back of the on field form.

 

’I know 6 who have cancelled’. ‘I know 3 family members who have cancelled’.

 

Pledgers are up since after the cup final when the feel good was far better than it is now.

 

The end.

With the greatest of respect, utter bollocks.  

 

Nowhere near the end.

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44 minutes ago, Kiwidoug said:

Not for me it isn't.  It was you who used the word exact.  I would be more than happy with something along the lines of we had approximately 7,700 pledgers at the end of July.  Saying we have more than we had 3 months could could mean we now have 5,000.

 

Surely you will agree that it is vague and wonder why.

 

Would just give those who like to use their pledge as a threat more ammunition. 

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2 hours ago, DarioHMFC said:

The main channel connecting both boards will continue to be via the two Foundation directors who serve as non-executive directors on the club board. In keeping with that structure and ethos, the Foundation won’t comment publicly on any club related matters and that extends to first team performances.

This is the only bit of the statement that I personally don’t like I think the directors given they were elected by the fans should be able to freely engage with the fans and state if FOH has a collective postition on the manager or at least the other foh directors who are not on he club board should be able to make representations  on behalf of fans and inform us that is what they are doing. 

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When I decided my club needed me it was a simple decision to set up a DD to help out. On that day and a fair wind employment wise it was a pledge for life. My motive was that HMFC  exist long after my time but more current long after CL and AB depart. 
 

A more accurate plan would be for everyone to double their pledge to force a change sooner than later should that be their wish!

 

 

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43 minutes ago, Jambo-Jimbo said:

 

Hopefully I'll get mine in the next batch, as I hit the points threshold this month.

Hit mine a while ago but not sure how far they are behind 

Edited by 1874robbo
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My pledge and sons pledge(that I pay) is for the foh to use as required and once buyout complete it’s for the club to use as required.

I want change in the management which I’ve never hid but won’t be cancelling my pledge whilst I can afford it.

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