Annual General Meeting, 25th January 2024

 

Report on the Operations and Activities of the Association during the year to 30th November 2023

 

Overview

 

As I always seem to start these reports, no season ever seems to be the same, although what is often the case there has been positives and negatives. If 2022 was a special year, finishing third allowed us to qualify for European group stage football, bringing us an array of excellent fixtures against good European teams, great games both at Tynecastle and overseas to enjoy, and also a huge boost to our finances and some important improvements to the stadium, then 2023 was less successful, finishing fourth in the SPL, not hugely successful in the Cup competitions, and an early exit from Europe was disappointing.

 

Disappointing League results resulted in a change of Manager when Robbie Neilson left the Club in April of 2023 and was eventually replaced by a new young Manager, Steven Naismith, who was promoted from the Hearts B team.  By appointing a rookie Manager, perhaps we should have expected some unpredictability, manifested, as I write, with a disappointing last-minute defeat at Pittodrie followed by a rare deserved victory at Parkhead. ‘Bring on the Hibees, as they sing’ and let’s have more of the latter!! Let’s be optimistic, a finish in the SPFL top three is well within our capabilities this season, and here’s hoping for a strong showing the Scottish Cup. 

 

Elsewhere, there was much to be optimistic about. Hearts Women are now well established in the Premier League top half with a top four finish well within their grasp.

 

Hearts B team under the charge of new coach Liam Fox are producing improved and strong results in their League, and there are signs of seeing players from the B team, moving on to play in the First Team, Aidan Denholm and Macauley Tait, for example.

 

The appointment of Andrew Webster as Manager of the Academy looks a great addition as well.

 

Off the pitch, the Financial Report and Accounts to 30th June 2023 showed the Club is in a strong financial position, and a positive report came from the Board at the AGM in December.

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The Club continues to develop its assets off the pitch with a new Hotel on the second floor of the New Stand joining all the other corporate facilities, creating wealth to support the football.  Although I am a great believer that if the First Team is flourishing, the rest will follow, it is also true that these off the field assets can contribute strongly to finances.

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Let’s hope 2024, our 150th anniversary (a fantastic achievement) will bring more consistency, joy and success for all parts of the Club.

 

Dinner Meetings

 

It was good to be able to hold an AGM again in January in the Gorgie Suite after the pandemic and even better to welcome the new Chair of Foundation of Hearts, Gerry Mallon. Gerry moved himself and his family to Edinburgh after being appointed Head of Tesco Bank.  A former Chair of the Irish FA. Gerry told us of his love of football, how he felt at home at Tynecastle, and his plans to continue the Club towards fan ownership.  In February, we were royally entertained by BBC award winning sports writer and broadcaster, Tom English and Ewan Murray, Scottish Football correspondent for the Observer and the Guardian and, of course, a huge Jambo.  These two gave us an excellent Q and A session covering all parts of Scottish football.  In March, we welcomed back Hearts legend, Gary Mackay.  Gary, of course has the record of number of games played for Hearts, a Scottish internationalist, a product of our youth academy coming through with Robbo and Dave Bowman. He is a true Hearts legend and his love of the Club shone through on the night.  We had an Association first in April when we had as guests our first award for a Player of the Year from Hearts Women, Emma Brownlie who was accompanied with Georgia Hunter, along with the men’s worthy winner, Lawrence Shankland, and runner up, Alex Cochrane. What an enjoyable evening we had, it was a great success and a format to repeat for years to come.  We started      the new season with an exceptional evening celebrating the 25th anniversary of winning the Scottish Cup in 1998 with the Management team of Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown.  A great night of reminiscing and stories to be repeated soon, I hope.  Newly appointed Head Coach Steven Naismith and Director of Sport, Joe Savage, were our guests for the September meeting, and they gave clear and honest answers to our questions on the plans and targets for the new season.  These two are clearly ambitious to have success at Tynecastle.  In November, Chair Ann Budge and CEO Andrew McKinlay made their annual presentation answering questions on all parts of the Club on and off the park, which is, of course, a very important part of our meetings programme. Finally, in November, something a little different and a double bill.  First up Heritage Tourist Guides Bob Christie and Jim Paris gave us a very interesting illustrated talk on the Hearts Edinburgh Bus Tour, taking us around the city pointing out the parts which helped to form the history of our great Club. A perfect subject as we approach our 150th year.  This was followed by an excellent presentation by Big Hearts Events and Fund-raising Manager, Kirsty Coutts, who gave us an update on the amazing work done by the charity in the local community throughout the year but particularly in the winter months and Christmas period.

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We have taken the opportunity of supporting the Heritage Department by working with them. On a number of our Dinner Meetings, we have had the Museum opened for an hour before our meeting commences, allowing our members and their guests access.  This has allowed a good number to visit this amazing asset, enjoy and learn from the many exhibits and tell their friends.

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A huge thanks to all our speakers on 2023 who gave up their time to entertain and inform us, particularly during the autumn months when we had to juggle our dates around possible European fixtures.  You were all amazing!

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Committee Meetings

The Committee met 5 times in 2023.  The Committee members for 2023 were:

Chair:  Bill Alves    Secretary:  Alison Ross   Treasurer:  Sandra Alves

Committee Members:  David Drummond, John Kane, Susan Niven, Ron Smart, Paul Smyth

 

Paul Smyth was coopted on to the Committee as a full member but particularly to update and develop a new web site for the Association. Paul has created a new website from the old one and has successfully achieved one of our targets of 2023 of making our website the go to place for news and information on the Association

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The Association continues to enjoy a close and supportive relationship with all parts of the Club.  We are members of the Supporters Group Committee (G10) which includes representatives from the Club Board, The Federation of Hearts Supporters, The Hearts Disabled Hearts Supporters, The Foundation of Hearts and Hearts Ticket Office.  We also maintain an excellent relationship with Head of Catering, Graeme Pacitti and his team and indeed are one of their major customers. We sponsor the kit of eight players, two from the First Team, two from the B Team and four from Hearts Women.

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A number of the Committee Members also volunteer with the Heritage Department in the Club Museum, and number give many hours of their free time volunteering with Big Hearts, the Club’s Community Charity.

 

Apart from the coopting of Paul, the Committee has remained the same throughout 2023.  We have recovered well from Covid, having had eight well attended meetings during the year.

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A great deal of work goes into the preparation of our meetings and making them such well run and popular events, and it is a huge thank you to all the Committee members for all the work that they do and the hours they put in.  I must mention particularly Secretary Alison Ross and Treasurer Sandra Alves for all the preparation they do in this regard both before, after and during the meetings. Other unsung heroes are John Kane running our monthly Dinner raffles and Susan Niven, our membership Secretary, who has excellently maintained our membership records for many years now.

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It would be negligent of me not to mention members who are not on the Committee, but who lend invaluable support with our activities. Ross McEwan has worked wonders in attracting some excellent speakers and attracting new members, Tommy Fallon’s reports on our meetings are second to none, John Robertson for his unstinting work on the Dinner Raffle. Other members have come forward offering support with various skills which has helped to spread the work and make running our activities more pleasurable for all. 

 

Last but by no means least, I must mention our auditor, Jim Robertson. During my time on the Committee as Treasurer and Chair, Jimmy has been a mentor and invaluable support to me and continues to be also with current Treasurer, Sandra. 

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Hearts AGM

The Association attended the Club AGM on 14th December and asked five questions

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Membership

I am delighted to advise that our membership continues to increase, this year we have seen new members and excellent attendances at our Meetings

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Accounts

The HMSA Accounts for the year 2023.

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Finally

 

A big thank you to all our members for their support during 2023.  During the Autumn period, due to possible Europen fixtures we had to chop and change the usual dates for our meetings, attendances have been strong, our membership subscription income has increased as has our fundraising donations. I am certainly not forgetting the members who are unable to attend our meetings but continue to pay the annual subs.

 

THANKS TO ALL!