David Southern (left), Alex Gowans and Pedro Lopez (right)

The 28th Annual General Meeting of The Heart of Midlothian Shareholders Association was held on Thursday 31 January with 125 members in attendance. Chairman Alex Gowans opened the meeting and in his annual review welcomed the statement issued by the club on 1 January that they were looking for a new manager with full responsibility for team selection. It was hoped that this would lead to an upturn in performances on the park and restore the club to its rightful position of regularly challenging for honours. Away from the disappointment on the park, The Association had another successful twelve months with some memorable guests and evenings. Treasurer Bill Alves presented his report on the Annual Statement of Accounts to those Members present showing that even with substantial donations already made to Hearts good causes The Association had a surplus of £6,000 during the financial year to 30 November 2007. It was put to the meeting and subsequently agreed by the Members to donate this sum to Hearts’ Youth Academy to part-fund the purchase of four, portable exterior lighting units for use by the youth teams at the Academy and other locations. A cheque would be handed over to John Murray, Director of the Academy in the near future.

It was agreed that there should be a flat-rate increase of £2.00 in the annual subscription to £12.00 and for senior citizens £8.00. This was the first rise since 1990.

With no nominations received, those standing for the Executive Committee were re-elected. For the complete list of Office Bearers and Committee Members, click on the "Committee & Contacts" button on the left side of this page.

Our guest speakers were David Southern, Marketing and Communications Director and Pedro Lopez, Deputy Chief Executive Officer who both spoke about major issues concerning the club.

Pedro stated that Vladimir Romanov had recognised that the club’s position in the lower reaches of the league was not acceptable and supported the board’s decision to search for a new manager. He reiterated that Mr Romanov’s vision was for Hearts to be regularly challenging for honours at home and in Europe. The decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland in the Andy Webster case was very disappointing and could have an impact on football similar to that of the Bosman ruling.

David confirmed that the planning application for the redevelopment of the main stand at Tynecastle was proceeding. No decision had been taken on an alternative playing location yet and the club was assessing the financial implications of a number of options as well as undertaking a consultation exercise with supporters - The Shareholders’ Association members had voted seventy-five per cent in favour of playing in front of three stands. The name Tynecastle would be retained however the club would consider the possibility of coupling it with a sponsor’s name if the right offer was received.

David and Pedro went on to answer questions on a variety of topics including: player discipline, the lack of activity in the transfer window, the size of the playing squad, the process for appointing the manager, season ticket prices, the closure of club shops in out-of-town locations and inconsistency in refereeing decisions.

The Association are grateful to David and Pedro for coming along to the AGM and addressing the Members.