City facing anti-Hearts bias claims

The Gorgie club's plans for redevelopment of their home ground are said to have stalled partly because of health and safety concerns linked to the nearby North British Distillery, which makes potentially dangerous ethanol.

That led one shareholder at the club's AGM yesterday to ask director Vitalijus Vasiliauskas if the planning committee of the council contained an "anti-Hearts bias" and if he felt the club had received a "fair hearing" when proposing redevelopment of the main stand.

"We'll see what happens. There's no straight answer to this question," said Mr Vasiliauskas.

That was followed by another shareholder querying how the redevelopment of Tynecastle could be subject to new health and safety laws while the new Tynecastle High School, constructed yards behind the ground's main stand and opened in 2010, was not.

"There is no simple answer," Mr Vasiliauskas said. "The whisky plant (North British Distillery] is six months older than the stadium - they were here first. Tynecastle High School avoided the regulations - you'll have to ask the council how they did that."

Speaking after the meeting, deputy council leader and Hearts season ticket holder Steve Cardownie said: "The council has committed, and will continue to commit, significant resources towards helping the club examine its options for future development.

"To suggest that Tynecastle High School somehow avoided the regulations is ridiculous."

At the AGM, the issues of stadium redevelopment and the mooted move away from Tynecastle were high on the agenda.

Mr Vasiliauskas was then asked, should Hearts relocate from Tynecastle to a site in the west of the city, if the club would own or rent its new stadium.

"We're still not moving," he said. "If we do, we will see. We must own the site of a stadium sooner or later."

A member of the assembled shareholders suggested that fans of city rivals Hibs may hijack the questionnaire currently extended to supporters via the Hearts official website. Vasiliauskas insisted the club would be able to identify mischief-making Hibs fans through their responses to the survey. "It is probably impossible to avoid these answers," he conceded.

"There will probably be a percentage of answers not taken into account . . . using a filter."

The Lithuanian director went on to say that the club's stadium wherever it is and, specifically, the revenue generated by it would be a major factor in helping to meet future operating costs.

Empty seats to keep rival fans apart

TYNECASTLE Stadium will next season feature "sterile zones" - sections of empty seats to separate rival fans and to keep supporters away from the dugout areas during games.

The move was announced alongside other major security measures at the club's AGM and follows an attack on Celtic manager Neil Lennon during a game last month. Hibs striker Derek Riordan was also confronted by Hearts supporters on the pitch during a derby two years ago.

Managing director David Southern hopes such breaches of security will be eliminated by the introduction of blocks of seats between opposing fans that will house only security staff and police.

He also revealed stewards will man each dugout area next season, and that the lower section of Tynecastle's main stand, behind the dugouts, will accommodate only season ticket holders.

The club has also guaranteed that holders of flags which are used to stir up trouble within the ground will face arrest.