New stand development raises more questions than answers

Last updated : 22 August 2007 By Scott The Jambo
Hearts have revealled plans to upgrade the crumbling main stand at Tynecastle to a state-of-the-art 10,000 2-tier, seated structure.

The new stand will house such facilities as a gym, a hotel, a restaurant and a bar, as well as a large office space, and will increase the capacity of Tynecastle to over 23,000.




This really is fantastic for the club, providing they can secure suitable funding to pay for the project, which totals £51m. However the finer details of the finances are rather mirky, and have yet to be clarified by the club.

Everything the Romanov's do seems to be shrouded in mystery. If this is an investment by UBIG, then why not come out and say it. Why not come out and say "This will no affect the debt levels of Hearts". That would put my mind at ease.


But then again, if they did, would anyone really believe them?

I also have reservations about spending such a vast sum of money to raise the capacity by only 6,000 seats. Meaning Hearts could, at best, hope to raise an extra £3m per year. Hardly seems cost effective, does it?

The restaurant and bar seem a good idea, but then again, how much extra revenue could be raised if the team isn't performing? Will anyone really be interested in watching us?






















Building a plush Hotel in the middle of Gorgie seems a waste of time. Who is going to want to stay in Gorgie? Apart from maybe trialists or youth team players, nobody, as it is too far from the city centre for it to compete with hotels which are more conveniently located.

These are all questions which will need to be answered when it is built, if it is ever built.

My big worry is that alot of "new fans", fans we need to fill the new stand, will have lost interest by that time.

I still maintain no new fans will come and watch a team which is governed by agendas and internal politics. And I cannot for the life of me see anyone trudging along Gorgie Road every week to see 1-1 draws against Gretna. The product on the park must match the new stadium.

Hearts have been in rapid decline since George Burley left the club. Since then we have seen an exciting, attacking and energetic side become a talentless, spiritless and demotivated buch of strangers.

And Romanov was the one who started the slide.

Can we say for sure that the Hearts team of 2010 will be any better than what we have now?

Still managerless, with Vlad's meddling dragging the team down, battling for 3rd/4th place in the SPL, while, possibly, most of the promising youngsters have failed to live up to their potential because of a lack of coherent coaching.

Or will we be watching a team to be proud of by then, being roared on towards the league title by a packed Tynecastle crowd?

That is, after all, what Romanov wishes. Isn't it?