Hearts close to deal to redo Tynecastle

Scottish Heart of Midlothian is on the verge of concluding a GBP 6 million deal allowing the club to redevelop Tyncecastle.

An agreement in principle is believed to have been made with Edinburgh Council to purchase ground next to the stadium for GBP 5.9 million, giving Hearts the green light to construct a new 12,000-seat main stand.

But there is one condition. The council wants the land to be used solely to redevelop the stadium, or there will be no deal.

"Our position is that we wish to see the success of both Edinburgh football clubs but any commercial transaction must be on the basis of value for money for the council and people of Edinburgh," said a council spokesman.

Club owner Vladimir Romanov said he eventually wants to see Hearts play at a 40,000-seat stadium, but there was the possibility that buying the land at Tynecastle High School and the MacLeod Street Adult Education Centre could be a major stumbling block to his plans.

Hearts proposed to pay out GBP 4.1million for the school and GBP 1.8million for the education centre. The club is expected to submit a planning application over the next few months.

"We are absolutely delighted that things seem to be moving in the right direction, we've been waiting for news for some time and it is nice to have something positive to talk about for a change," said Derek Watson of the Hearts Supporters' Trust. "There did appear to have been a lot of red tape surrounding the whole thing but hopefully that has now been resolved and we can look to the future.

"One of the main objections that supporters had to Chris Robinson was the fact that he wanted to sell Tynecastle and move us to Murrayfield. Vladimir Romanov has always said that he wants to stay at Tynecastle and there's no doubt that's where the supporters want the club to stay."

The council spokesman said a report on the negotiations with Hearts should come before the Council Executive in January.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.