WHEN Hearts chief executive Chris Robinson proposed clearing crippling debts of £17m by selling Tynecastle to property developers and renting out Murrayfield until a site to build a new stadium on could be found back in 2004, Garry Halliday was, like so many fans, horrified.

Halliday had stood on the terraces and sat in the stands at the Gorgie ground for years. He was worried at what was being mooted. So much so, that he started attending gatherings of Save Our Hearts, the group set up to block the move, at the Orwell Lodge Hotel in Merchiston to see what, if anything, could be done.   

Then he had, as he describes it, a “back of a fag packet” idea. What if every Jambo donated £5 a month to some sort of fund? Could they eventually raise enough money to take ownership of Tynecastle? Would they be able remain at their beloved spiritual home?

A bricklayer to trade, he had no knowledge of how to proceed, no experience of high finance, no expertise in legal matters. Still, he was convinced there was merit in his brainwave. He printed off leaflets outlining his scheme and handed them out to his fellow dissidents one night before an emergency meeting.

It did not go well. “I don’t think anybody read them,” he said. “I can remember my wife getting so embarrassed she went and sat in the car.”

When Vladimir Romanov, the multi-millionaire Russian-Lithuanian banker, rode into town the following year, bought out Robinson, promised to clear the debt and vowed to keep Hearts at Tynecastle, the crisis was, or so it seemed at the time, averted. Halliday shelved his initiative.

It was not long, though, before it became clear the enigmatic owner was not the saviour supporters had hoped for. Their off-field troubles returned with a vengeance.

Halliday had got to know Gary Mackay, the former Hearts and Scotland midfielder who had been a driving force behind Save Our Hearts, after helping to organise a charity football match to raise money for Marie Curie following the death of a close friend. Both men were becoming increasingly alarmed by what was happening.

“Gary was as concerned as I was about Romanov,” he said. “One day I said to him: ‘I’ve got this idea’. I outlined my plan. He told me: “I know a couple of guys who have a similar idea’.

“I was introduced to Jamie Bryant and Brian Cormack at the Caledonian Hotel in Edinburgh city centre by Gary. We instantly clicked. I am honestly not sure when they come up with their idea or who came up with the idea first. But the three of us decided to speak to people in the business community and try to pull folk together.

“Gary introduced us to Donald Ford. A pal of mine introduced us to Alex Mackie. Alex actually threw Jamie and I out of his office. He was getting ready to run in the London marathon at the time. He said: ‘I’m too busy’. But as we walked out James said: ‘He’s hooked!’ I thought he was off his nut.

“But, sure enough, Alex phoned first thing in the morning and said: ‘I’ve had a sleepless night, come back in’. We set up a company called Foundation of Hearts in 2010. Alex, Jamie, Brian, Donald and I were the five directors. Alex became the chairman and drove it forward.”

Mackie, an Edinburgh accountant, made an enormous contribution to the embryonic organisation. It was he, for instance, who suggested that a company limited by guarantee, not a community interest company, was the best vehicle for what they hoped to achieve. The model has stood the test of time. 

Yet, perhaps his greatest accomplishment was bringing Ann Budge, a successful Scottish businesswoman, former Entrepreneur of the Year and Hearts season ticket holder, on board.

“We had an open day in Alex’s office and 30 or 40 Hearts fans turned up,” said Halliday. “Alex had sent a hand-written letter to Ann and she turned up and hung around. She kept coming back to meetings.

“Ann brought in people like Alastair Bruce, Robert Wilson, who is sadly not with us any more, and Kevin Windrum. Stuart Wallace turned up and gave us invaluable VAT advice which has saved us millions of pounds. We started to put things in place.

“Robert was a partner at Deloitte. He said: ‘Look, if you are going to do this you need to make sure it will work or you will get chased out of town’. So we spent months and months coming up with a proposition document. It worked. That document is true to all the things that have happened since.” 

However, ousting the despised Lithuanian regime proved problematic. “Hearts’ debts were at £30m, £40m by that point,” said Halliday. “But the business hadn’t collapsed. Brian and Alex went over and tried to negotiate a price. They got a price - £50m. That went up to £60m.

“But when the Lithuanians heard about what our idea was they pretty much stole it and arranged a share issue in 2012. It was all doom and gloom at that time, there were fears the club was going to go bust. So they got £1.2m off the fans and it helped the club stay afloat.

“At that point we had to go public. We had everything in place. We had a website set up. We had a lot of good people at the table. We were ready to go. We went out to the fans and asked them: ‘In the event that we needed you how much would you be prepared to donate?’ We immediately got 3,000 fans coming back saying: ‘Yep, we would definitely pledge’.

“That gave us a bit of confidence. That was also the point where Ann told us that if the fans believed in the foundation and got behind it she would put the money in to help. When Romanov’s business collapsed we pushed the button and started taking in money.”

He added: “Bryan Jackson, the BDO administrator, once told me it was crucial that we were actually ready to go. In other football club administrations that he had been involved in, by the time the fans had rallied it was too late. But we had already put the hard work in.

“We convinced Ann we had the fans’ commitment and passion behind us. We had over 8,000 fans giving us an average pledge of £16 a month. That allowed us to work out the figures for a deal. Initially it was £1m right away to put working capital into the club and pay off football debts of £500,000. She said: ‘That’s it’. She put up £2.5m to buy the majority shareholding through her company Bidco 1874 in 2014.”

As a bricklayer, Halliday is used to putting down foundations which hold firm and stand the test of time. Still, it is remarkable the Foundation of Hearts has remained intact, never mind grown stronger, given everything which the capital club has been through during the past 11 years.

They have had to deal with administration, a transfer embargo, a points deduction, relegation from the Premiership, the Covid-19 outbreak, the early curtailment of the season, a controversial demotion to the Championship, defeat to Brora Rangers and supporters’ protests. 

In the 7,000-seat main stand at Tynecastle – a £3m construction which the foundation, thanks to the monthly contributions of their members, financed back in 2017 – yesterday Bidco finally transferred the 75.1 per cent stake in Hearts.

Budge has not been immune from criticism during her involvement. Halliday can understand the frustration of the fans when form is poor and results are disappointing. But he knows just how important she has been to Hearts becoming the largest fan-owned football club in the United Kingdom. 

“We wouldn’t be here without her,” he said. “I have known Ann from day one. There is no hidden agenda with Ann. She is genuinely doing this for the love of the club. During Covid the money from the foundation was going to Bidco as normal to pay Ann back. But she just put it right back into the club. It is like putting it in twice.

“She gets a bit of stick and I do understand the protests. Everybody gets frustrated in football. But I hate when it happens. We need to take a breath every now and again. I have spent a lot of time with her. She must be one of the busiest women in the world. But she always has time to answer the phone and reply to emails. She has been incredible for the club and deserves to have a fantastic legacy.”

But for Halliday, the fans are the real heroes. “They have been absolutely incredible,” he said. “Nearly £13m has gone in to the club. It is astonishing. I hope they are feeling every bit as proud. They should.

“Pound for pound, they are the best fans in the world. Nobody else has ever done this. No matter what gets thrown at them they keep coming back, pledging money and throwing it into the club. Long may it continue.

“Look at everything we have been through; the curtailed season, the demotion, the court cases, the arbitration panel, the negative press. We just kept getting kicked and kicked and kicked. You know what? The pledges went up.”

Hallday is set to stand down as a Foundation of Hearts director soon. But with the supporters putting in just over £120,000 every month, Budge remaining involved, wealthy benefactors like James Anderson on board and Robbie Neilson’s team riding high in the cinch Premiership, he is optimistic that far better times lie ahead.

“That is where we want to be,” he said. “From now, let’s drive this forward. It looks like Joe Savage (director of football) is making a few changes in the football department in the background. The quality of player we are signing just now is impressive. Look at Beni Baningme, a great player.

“We always had the tagline “Own The History, Shape The Future”. That is what the fans are doing now. They are shaping the future. The Foundation of Hearts are effectively there to help the club by putting money. We are a bit like guardian angels.”