Leave it empty!!!

[MMHearts]

After witnessing the disgusting behaviour of the Celtic fans on Sunday I am now of the opinion if we can't sell the tickets to our own fans then leave the whole stand empty. We have a turnover of around 9-10 million a year so the loss would equate to ?180k (2% of turnover) over the two games.

 

Both inside and outside the ground these people (if you can call them that) were a disgrace and even more frustratingly, the Police seem to have a hands off policy in dealing with them. Behaviour which sees Hearts fans both ejected and arrested at Parkhead is tolerated in Edinburgh. Why?

[Victorian]

After witnessing the disgusting behaviour of the Celtic fans on Sunday I am now of the opinion if we can't sell the tickets to our own fans then leave the whole stand empty. We have a turnover of around 9-10 million a year so the loss would equate to ?180k (2% of turnover) over the two games.

 

Both inside and outside the ground these people (if you can call them that) were a disgrace and even more frustratingly, the Police seem to have a hands off policy in dealing with them. Behaviour which sees Hearts fans both ejected and arrested at Parkhead is tolerated in Edinburgh. Why?

well said, i've been saying the same for a while. i would rather see hearts deeply discount the tickets or even give them away than have either side of the filth in the stadium. if it comes to it, they could stick a few notes on the price of all our season tickets to make up any shortfall.

 

why has this not been done already????

[buzzbomb]

You're bang on mate. I get a cat B season ticket because I don't really want my laddie introduced to that bile just yet. I took him on Sunday, and I immediately knew it was a mistake and confirmed why I get the cat B.

 

As we walked along the cycle path to Russell Rd they were singing IRA songs, standing bevvying in big groups etc, then once in the ground they were at their usual.

 

That's the 2nd time I've taken the boy vs them and it's the same ****. I won't be back when that shower come to town.

[footieman]

After witnessing the disgusting behaviour of the Celtic fans on Sunday I am now of the opinion if we can't sell the tickets to our own fans then leave the whole stand empty. We have a turnover of around 9-10 million a year so the loss would equate to ?180k (2% of turnover) over the two games.

 

Both inside and outside the ground these people (if you can call them that) were a disgrace and even more frustratingly, the Police seem to have a hands off policy in dealing with them. Behaviour which sees Hearts fans both ejected and arrested at Parkhead is tolerated in Edinburgh. Why?

 

Maybe we should empty out Section N/G at the same time............ In fact maybe we should just have the Gorgie Road end open.

[7628mm]

I have mentioned this before and my answer is this. Give them the same percentage as they afford us when we visit their grounds.

 

the figures below are approximations but pretty close I think

 

Castle greyskull we get 800 tickets or 1.48% of capacity (54000). They should get 1.48% of our capacity which is 266.

tattiedome we get 1800 tickets or 3% of capacity (60000). They should get 3% of our capacity which is 540.

 

Now even L&Bs finest should be able to deal with that.

[Deevers]

Simple fact of the matter is that we need the money that is generated by having the School End full.

 

What is needed is more rigorous policing and a zero tolerance attitude to their sectarian bile.

[john brownlee]

I would give them all of the school end but only the same % of tickets allowed to us at darkheid(330)

 

Then they would be mistaken for hobos pretending to be empty seats

 

also that way the lothian and borders finess will have no trouble lifting the collective choir sing their bile

 

If I had to pay an extra fiver on my st to keep them away so be it.

[frankblack]

I agree, however, we do need to get the fans back to cut/eliminate their allocation.

 

I am fed up with the glory hunters who aren't coming back until we get rid of Robinson/Romanov (delete as applicable). I take it these people are happy to watch the games on telly when the **** are in what could be their seats.

 

As far as I'm concerned you are either a Hearts fan or you aren't and if you can afford to go to games but don't then you are killing the club. Things will only get better when we have the money coming in through the turnstyles to improve the team. Staying away only weakens it.

[Buffalo Bill]

Sadly, the club isn't going to turn down that sort of revenue.

 

This is all Vlad's doing, I'm afraid. The club made big noises in 2005 about squeezing out Old Firm fans because we were going to be massive.

 

Three years on, we go back to them cap in hand and had it not been for Section N season tickets, we'd probably have given them that as well.

 

I just wish Romanov had been there to witness it.

 

 

Buffalo Bill

 

.

[kbken]

I'm not sure that the "penalty" of empty seats will make a difference, however, losing points might do the trick. If the "officials" are made aware of sectarian singing the game should be abandoned with the win being appointed to the opposition team. This applies to both sets of supporters, and should be enforcable post match if its not picked up at the time - in the heat of battle.

 

Ken

[Zali Cinnamon]

Nice idea, but they'd only infiltrate the home end.

[kbken]

Suppose -- anyway whats the chances of the officials turning a blind eye(ear)!

[Paolo]

After witnessing the disgusting behaviour of the Celtic fans on Sunday I am now of the opinion if we can't sell the tickets to our own fans then leave the whole stand empty. We have a turnover of around 9-10 million a year so the loss would equate to ?180k (2% of turnover) over the two games.

 

Both inside and outside the ground these people (if you can call them that) were a disgrace and even more frustratingly, the Police seem to have a hands off policy in dealing with them. Behaviour which sees Hearts fans both ejected and arrested at Parkhead is tolerated in Edinburgh. Why?

 

I have heard of someone who complained to the steward and police about the Pro IRA songs they were singing, especially given the warnings they gave on the tannoy before the match.

 

The response was it was being looked at, but nothing was done at all. Not for the first time.

[Paolo]

I agree, however, we do need to get the fans back to cut/eliminate their allocation.

 

I am fed up with the glory hunters who aren't coming back until we get rid of Robinson/Romanov (delete as applicable). I take it these people are happy to watch the games on telly when the **** are in what could be their seats.

 

As far as I'm concerned you are either a Hearts fan or you aren't and if you can afford to go to games but don't then you are killing the club. Things will only get better when we have the money coming in through the turnstyles to improve the team. Staying away only weakens it.

 

 

You are spot on - they say they are protesting against Romanov, but if so, where were they before he came? And why did they suddenly turn up when we were doing well?

[speedbump]

Nice idea, but they'd only infiltrate the home end.

 

Jolly good:cool:

[frankblack]

You are spot on - they say they are protesting against Romanov, but if so, where were they before he came? And why did they suddenly turn up when we were doing well?

 

If we get a run going in the Scottish Cup, you can bet these jokers will be back en masse when they sniff the possibility of another cup win.

 

Attendances are probably still higher than when Romanov took over, but we are losing valuable income to strengthen the team in January. The only people they are hurting by staying away is the team and the supporters who pay to watch them.

 

You are either a Hearts fan or you aren't. I support Hearts, and Romanov is just the current custodian of the club.

 

How many of these "I won't be back until..." brigade now claim to be Man United/Chelsea/Arsenal fans that aren't interested in Scottish Football anymore?

[Forever Maroon]

I have mentioned this before and my answer is this. Give them the same percentage as they afford us when we visit their grounds.

 

the figures below are approximations but pretty close I think

 

Castle greyskull we get 800 tickets or 1.48% of capacity (54000). They should get 1.48% of our capacity which is 266.

tattiedome we get 1800 tickets or 3% of capacity (60000). They should get 3% of our capacity which is 540.

 

Now even L&Bs finest should be able to deal with that.

 

We'd get more if we would sell them - however too many (me included) avoid the place like the plague - arrested or ejected from the ground for standing up & shouting !!

[MackaysCentreSpot]

At the game on Sat people complained about the **** singing IRA songs and this was the reply.

 

Are you not going to do anything about them singing their IRA songs?

 

Steward Supervisor: "That's the polices job to deal with that."

 

Are you not going to do anything about them singing their IRA songs?

 

Police Officer: "That's the steward's job to deal with that."

 

They are both part of the problem as far as I am concerned. Just pass the buck and forget its going on.

[heartsfc_fan]

If we get a run going in the Scottish Cup, you can bet these jokers will be back en masse when they sniff the possibility of another cup win.

 

Attendances are probably still higher than when Romanov took over, but we are losing valuable income to strengthen the team in January. The only people they are hurting by staying away is the team and the supporters who pay to watch them.

 

You are either a Hearts fan or you aren't. I support Hearts, and Romanov is just the current custodian of the club.

 

How many of these "I won't be back until..." brigade now claim to be Man United/Chelsea/Arsenal fans that aren't interested in Scottish Football anymore?

 

 

 

quite agree with you there mate

[7628mm]

You are spot on - they say they are protesting against Romanov, but if so, where were they before he came? And why did they suddenly turn up when we were doing well?

 

Note to you and Frankblack

 

I have no idea who you are or how long you have been going to see the Hearts but there are many who have been going for over 30 years that choose now not to go because of the absolute garbage on offer to the paying customer under our present custodian.

 

If I wanted to watch 1st or 2nd division football I would but I will not pay to watch Hearts in the Premier league play 1st or 2nd division quality football with some 1st or 2nd division quality footballers.

 

Feel free as an uber fan to keep funding the mad ones obsession and having a pop at everyone else. To me all you are doing is becoming part of the problem and not part of the solution. Enjoy

[husref musemic]

My ticket cost ?30 for saturday and ?18 for a kids ticket, (At the start of last week) no choices left as we'd gave them the whole end.

 

The proportion of tickets Vs what we get is logical. put a couple of quid on all other tickets and hey presto, no loss and no peg sellers.

[MackaysCentreSpot]

No one has to justify themself to anyone else as to why or why not they go to Hearts games.

 

Football is like any other form of entertainment that people choose to spend their money on. If it is not enjoyable or value for money then they will stop going.

[Nookie Bear]

Maybe we should empty out Section N/G at the same time............ In fact maybe we should just have the Gorgie Road end open.

 

Maybe we should be gagged from creating any atmosphere. Tapping your foot to the folk songs, were you?

 

I find it hard to believe you are even a football fan.

[MackaysCentreSpot]

Maybe we should be gagged from creating any atmosphere. Tapping your foot to the folk songs, were you?

 

I find it hard to believe you are even a football fan.

 

 

Jeez.

 

Footieman was being sarcastic mate.

[portobellojambo1]

I would give them all of the school end but only the same % of tickets allowed to us at darkheid(330)

 

Then they would be mistaken for hobos pretending to be empty seats

 

also that way the lothian and borders finess will have no trouble lifting the collective choir sing their bile

 

If I had to pay an extra fiver on my st to keep them away so be it.

 

I would agree with the above.

 

However the opportunity was there on Sunday to reduce the number of visiting fans in the Roseburn Stand without resorting to what you suggest. All that was asked of Hearts fans was that they give up a few hours of their time, purchase tickets and go to the game. They chose not to.

[Spikey]

I agree, however, we do need to get the fans back to cut/eliminate their allocation.

 

I am fed up with the glory hunters who aren't coming back until we get rid of Robinson/Romanov (delete as applicable). I take it these people are happy to watch the games on telly when the **** are in what could be their seats.

 

As far as I'm concerned you are either a Hearts fan or you aren't and if you can afford to go to games but don't then you are killing the club. Things will only get better when we have the money coming in through the turnstyles to improve the team. Staying away only weakens it.

 

This is a disgraceful slur on supporters who choose not to fund Romanov's folly any more. I would suggest that it's the fans who unconditionally back the current regime who have more to answer for. They have given Romanov carte blanche to do as he sees fit, more often than not to the extreme detriment of the team/club.

[Seymour M Hersh]

Maybe we should empty out Section N/G at the same time............ In fact maybe we should just have the Gorgie Road end open.

 

If they weren't in the school end then maybe our knuckle draggers would stop turning up.

[frankblack]

This is a disgraceful slur on supporters who choose not to fund Romanov's folly any more. I would suggest that it's the fans who unconditionally back the current regime who have more to answer for. They have given Romanov carte blanche to do as he sees fit, more often than not to the extreme detriment of the team/club.

 

Wrong.

 

By doing what you suggest, the club would incur greater losses, and lead to inevitable liquidation - not administration as some hope.

 

It would take ?40m to buy out Romanov, and there ain't anyone out there with that kind of cash that is interested in Hearts.

 

Your comment is a disgrace slating the fans that spend their hard-earned cash supporting the team. I've nothing against those fans that would like to go but can't afford it, but find those people pathetic that won't go back yet claim to be better fans than those who pay their hard-earned cash.

 

The fact is we had groups of "fans" that boycotted when Robinson was in charge. That achieved sod all then, and now we have groups of "fans" that won't be back until Romanov is gone.

 

Robinson put Hearts in the position we are in, so if you want to vent your anger somewhere then he should be your target. After all, Romanov is thousands of miles away and out of reach.

[Spikey]

Fans are entitled to do as they see fit with their cash. We have been turned into a joke and some people are choosing to spend their hard earned elsewhere. These fans are not killing the club. We are getting similar crowds to those that we were getting 5/6/7 years ago. Were they killing the club then? Our current predicament is down to one man and one man only. Not 2-3k fans who were only there for a year or two anyway.

[Mouse]

Maybe we should empty out Section N/G at the same time............ In fact maybe we should just have the Gorgie Road end open.

 

maybe then we should also change the stadium name to the Gorgie Library instead

it's oh so quiet in there

[Randy Marsh]

I wish it would happen. If Hearts wrote to the SFA and Celtic and said they are not getting any tickets due to their secterian chants at the last game then who could argue?

 

After all this is suppose to be getting stamped out and would send i message that Hearts are doing there bit.

 

And i would also be glad if we refused to buy our tickets for the tattie bowl from now on. I am sick of our supporters being treated so badly by police and are arreseted for sneezing every time we play in Glasgow.

[whitedevries]

Two questions -

 

1) Why is it deemed a serious (Eddie Smith and his boys policed it that way)offence to stand at the football in the East End of Glasgow and yet 3000 get to stand in the Roseburn Stand on Sunday?

 

2) Why are the goverment/politicians(in this country anyway) not getting involved in the whole braindead chant/song scenario? The silence is deafening from both Downing Street, Bute House and a certain column in the evening news! Could it be there is a so called important by-election in the offing?

[jambojim52]

The revenue lost would be less, due to not having to pay for so many police. The smallest OF crowd possible is the ideal solution to all.Except our crap play of coarse.

[Nookie Bear]

Jeez.

 

Footieman was being sarcastic mate.

 

Read it again and i see that now - sorry Footieman!

[frankblack]

Fans are entitled to do as they see fit with their cash. We have been turned into a joke and some people are choosing to spend their hard earned elsewhere. These fans are not killing the club. We are getting similar crowds to those that we were getting 5/6/7 years ago. Were they killing the club then? Our current predicament is down to one man and one man only. Not 2-3k fans who were only there for a year or two anyway.

 

The "fans" as you call them are glory hunters and not supporters of the club. A supporter does not desert the team.

 

Those "fans" appeared for a couple of seasons around the '98 cup win and slithered away just like they are doing now a couple of years on from the cup win in 2006.

 

No real difference from them and old firm glory hunters.

 

You are correct on one point - our predicament is down to one man - Chris Robinson. Romanov saved the club from oblivion and some people have short memories.

[yeehaa]

Posts like that are dreadful, gloryhunters are killing the club, blah blah blah.

 

I have been going since 1985 and stopped going in the middle of last season when I was sitting there bored out of my mind watching a team and club that was Heart of Midlothian in name only. And I'm one of those that can afford it and are choosing not to go back.

 

I choose not to give over my hard earned cash because the football and attitude of the players is the worst I have ever seen. If they are not going to put an honest shift in every week then I'm not paying their wages. That's to say nothing of the way the club is run.

 

You choose to carry on paying up and going to see the team,which is fair enough - it;s your decision. But don't categorise those who don't go anymore as gloryhunters, or accuse them of killing the club because a lot of them will have given Hearts ?1000's of pounds over the years. And don't try to imply that you are a 'better fan'. Doing so makes you sound like you are about 12 or are a complete idiot, or both.

[speedbump]

Posts like that are dreadful, gloryhunters are killing the club, blah blah blah.

 

I have been going since 1985 and stopped going in the middle of last season when I was sitting there bored out of my mind watching a team and club that was Heart of Midlothian in name only. And I'm one of those that can afford it and are choosing not to go back.

 

I choose not to give over my hard earned cash because the football and attitude of the players is the worst I have ever seen. If they are not going to put an honest shift in every week then I'm not paying their wages. That's to say nothing of the way the club is run.

 

You choose to carry on paying up and going to see the team,which is fair enough - it;s your decision. But don't categorise those who don't go anymore as gloryhunters, or accuse them of killing the club because a lot of them will have given Hearts ?1000's of pounds over the years. And don't try to imply that you are a 'better fan'. Doing so makes you sound like you are about 12 or are a complete idiot, or both.

 

Well said soldier:bravo:

[frankblack]

Posts like that are dreadful, gloryhunters are killing the club, blah blah blah.

 

I have been going since 1985 and stopped going in the middle of last season when I was sitting there bored out of my mind watching a team and club that was Heart of Midlothian in name only. And I'm one of those that can afford it and are choosing not to go back.

 

I choose not to give over my hard earned cash because the football and attitude of the players is the worst I have ever seen. If they are not going to put an honest shift in every week then I'm not paying their wages. That's to say nothing of the way the club is run.

 

You choose to carry on paying up and going to see the team,which is fair enough - it;s your decision. But don't categorise those who don't go anymore as gloryhunters, or accuse them of killing the club because a lot of them will have given Hearts ?1000's of pounds over the years. And don't try to imply that you are a 'better fan'. Doing so makes you sound like you are about 12 or are a complete idiot, or both.

 

If you had been going to games regularly since 1985 you would have seen far worse Hearts teams.

 

Did you enjoy the football under Joe Jordan, Tommy McLean, and Sandy Clark? A lot of people criticised Craig Levein for his style of football as well (not me, I recognised what he did on a budget).

 

I'm not implying I'm a better fan, just deploring the idiots who appear and disappear just as quickly claiming they won't be back until Robinson/Romanov goes and claim we are idiots for paying money into the club.

[yeehaa]

If you had been going to games regularly since 1985 you would have seen far worse Hearts teams.

 

Did you enjoy the football under Joe Jordan, Tommy McLean, and Sandy Clark? A lot of people criticised Craig Levein for his style of football as well (not me, I recognised what he did on a budget).

 

I'm not implying I'm a better fan, just deploring the idiots who appear and disappear just as quickly claiming they won't be back until Robinson/Romanov goes and claim we are idiots for paying money into the club.

 

I don't think it's just about the quality Frank. I think it's also about the attitude. Some of the managers you have mentioned didn't set their teams out to play the best football, but the players always seemed to want to do their best for the club.

 

Either way - I think that to blame people who don't go to the games anymore for anything that's happening at the club is wide of the mark. We played to full houses (including the gloryhunters that you are deploring) every week for the last 3 seasons and the club was on a downward spiral after the last cup win. Even if these people just got interested at the start of 05/06 - they have still contributed to the club for 3 seasons, and have the right not to if they don't like what they see now.

 

Maybe my memory is playing tricks, but I remember at least part of Jordans time at the club being great to watch! Less said about Mclean the better.

[speedbump]

If you had been going to games regularly since 1985 you would have seen far worse Hearts teams.

 

Did you enjoy the football under Joe Jordan, Tommy McLean, and Sandy Clark? A lot of people criticised Craig Levein for his style of football as well (not me, I recognised what he did on a budget).

 

I'm not implying I'm a better fan, just deploring the idiots who appear and disappear just as quickly claiming they won't be back until Robinson/Romanov goes and claim we are idiots for paying money into the club.

 

At least Sandy Clarks team had a bit of fight, guts and passion. This shower are unmotivated wasters who lack a set of balls between them.

[frankblack]

At least Sandy Clarks team had a bit of fight, guts and passion. This shower are unmotivated wasters who lack a set of balls between them.

 

Perhaps that has got something to do with how much we were paying the players. The current bunch of wasters are living comfortable lifestyles and can't be bothered trying.

 

Perhaps Vlad made a mistake in paying these jokers too much money.

[bighusref]

Wrong.

 

By doing what you suggest, the club would incur greater losses, and lead to inevitable liquidation - not administration as some hope.

 

It would take ?40m to buy out Romanov, and there ain't anyone out there with that kind of cash that is interested in Hearts.

 

Your comment is a disgrace slating the fans that spend their hard-earned cash supporting the team. I've nothing against those fans that would like to go but can't afford it, but find those people pathetic that won't go back yet claim to be better fans than those who pay their hard-earned cash.

 

The fact is we had groups of "fans" that boycotted when Robinson was in charge. That achieved sod all then, and now we have groups of "fans" that won't be back until Romanov is gone.

 

Robinson put Hearts in the position we are in, so if you want to vent your anger somewhere then he should be your target. After all, Romanov is thousands of miles away and out of reach.

 

I do like a good "I'm a better fan than you" post.

 

People do what they feel is right. Like it or not, we are being treated as customers as opposed to financial supporters. I don't want them to bring us in and ask us what to do, however I do expect that they attempt to win football games by selecting players purely due to their ability and form as opposed to any other reason.

 

Our club is being run into the ground, we have tried to write letters, we have tried to communicate through his own press liaison, how else can Hearts fans communicate their displeasure at how the club and team is being run? Given Vladimir Romanov is not at our games any more, what does he understand?

 

People do what they feel is right. Some will go regardless, that is their right, some will go if they want to and some will not go until things are changed, this is their right also.

 

I find it laughable when someone doing the "holier than thou" comes on and has a go at others giving it "holier than thou", ESPECIALLY when there has not been anybody saying that.

 

As for previous boycotts, I believe they worked. I believe that they brought press attention to our plight which in turn brought us a buyer out of the woodwork.

 

"inevitable liquidation"? honestly, you couldn't make it up!

[frankblack]

I do like a good "I'm a better fan than you" post.

 

That was not the intention of the post. The other day on here I got a reply on a thread (the bring back Chris Robinson thread, perhaps) from someone that refuses to go back and blamed us paying customers. That got my back up, hence the posts on there and here.

 

People do what they feel is right. Like it or not, we are being treated as customers as opposed to financial supporters. I don't want them to bring us in and ask us what to do, however I do expect that they attempt to win football games by selecting players purely due to their ability and form as opposed to any other reason.

 

Generally agree with the above.

 

Our club is being run into the ground, we have tried to write letters, we have tried to communicate through his own press liaison, how else can Hearts fans communicate their displeasure at how the club and team is being run? Given Vladimir Romanov is not at our games any more, what does he understand?

 

I don't think that by people boycotting it does anything other than to weaken Romanov's interest in us. Since he isn't here, its not proving any point other than perhaps making him think there isn't as much potential here as he thought.

 

People do what they feel is right. Some will go regardless, that is their right, some will go if they want to and some will not go until things are changed, this is their right also.

 

Yes, but those that don't go shouldn't be criticising those that want to support the team, and blaming us for keeping Romanov in power.

 

I find it laughable when someone doing the "holier than thou" comes on and has a go at others giving it "holier than thou", ESPECIALLY when there has not been anybody saying that.

As I said above, maybe not on this thread but other similar threads.

 

As for previous boycotts, I believe they worked. I believe that they brought press attention to our plight which in turn brought us a buyer out of the woodwork.

 

The boycotts around the Mercer time might have worked as he wasn't as powerful a businessman as Romanov and had more to lose. However, the boycotts didn't work with Robinson, who treated us like parasites.

 

Robinson ran the club into the ground to such an extent we had already sold Tynecastle and had no alternative to Romanov.

 

"inevitable liquidation"? honestly, you couldn't make it up!

 

If people chase Romanov out of Hearts, and noone will meet his valuation of the club and the debts he has covered, do you really think he will just write them off?

 

The money we owe Romanov and his bank go well beyond the value of our assets. Since there were no other saviours on the horizon when Romanov took over, what makes you think a local fan will come in with ?30-40m to buy us?