Scottish professional football club Hearts has been facing a winding up threat last month when it was slapped with a notice to clear all the HMRC dues worth £450,000 within a prescribed time. The club then raised an alarm and asked each of its stockholders to help it to bring it out of a closure danger. Perhaps, it issued a statement last month that read as, “This isn’t a bluff, this isn’t scaremongering, this is reality. Without the support of fans there is a real risk that Hearts could possibly play its last game on 17 November.” So, club was at the bank of a closure, but fortunately, it could somehow survive by managing to pay HMRC dues in two installments after reaching an agreement for part payments. First installment has already been paid, and second one is scheduled to be paid today. The big question is; how did it mange to club money in a short span of time despite its miserable balance sheet? Let’s understand how sentimental soccer fans are when it comes to their home club.
Last month, when it was issued with a notice to pay all the dues within eight days, it was almost understood that 17th November match would be the last match for the club. But, club issued an appeal to its fans to buy tickets in advance and contribute via shares purchase. Moreover, its players agreed to forgo their November salary along with a group of former players who set up a fund raiser to help their club. The result, unbelievable! While fans contribution was more than £700,000 – enough to meet the emergency expenses, club also received £300,000 as a part of David Templeton’s transfer fees to Ibrox in August. The expected amount saved by not paying salaries to staff and players is around £250,000. So, for now, it could save itself from an unexpected closure by settling all the money in due course, but this is not the end of its nightmare, coz there could be a further tax bill waiting for it related to players loaned from Lithuanian club FBK Kaunas during the period from 2005 to 2010.
The expected tax bill is around one million, but since that amount is in dispute, club can relax for some time now. Even then, it will have to make arrangements well in advance, in case; it is again served with a mounting tax bill.