Exciting news from the Foundation of Hearts

“The Foundation of Hearts is delighted that on Friday 9 May a deal was agreed that is the first huge step to our fan ownership vision. We would like to thank GoCardless for helping us get to this significant position.”

The Foundation of Hearts is a not-for-profit made up of Heart of Midlothian FC fans aiming to save the club from administration by becoming its majority shareholder.

Hearts went into administration last June with debts of about £30 million. Since then, the Foundation of Hearts has signed up over 8,000 fans to make monthly contributions of £10 - £200, by Direct Debit with GoCardless, to fund a fan takeover of the club.

On Friday 9th May, the Foundation made a huge step towards this – and to taking the club out of administration before next season - when Ann Budge became the majority shareholder of Hearts FC. Budge will become executive chair on a “no-fee” basis and then plans to transfer ownership over to the Foundation within five years.

Chairman of the Foundation, Ian Murray MP, who will join Budge on the board, explains:

“Hopefully we will be able to do this an awful lot quicker than five years, but it will depend on the level of pledges from supporters going forward. Every ten pound note we get each month is a ten pound note closer to getting the club into full fan ownership.”

To find out more about how the Foundation of Hearts use Direct Debit, check out their amazing customer story or book a chat with one of our Direct Debit experts.