Hearts players willing to defer wages as survival battle goes on

HEARTS player Ryan Stevenson has revealed that he and his team-mates would be prepared to agree to salary deferrals if it means the club being able to meet the latest deadline imposed by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs for an unpaid tax bill.

However, he added that a contribution from Vladimir Romanov, the club’s rarely seen majority shareholder, would “obviously be welcomed” at a time when supporters are continuing to make financial sacrifices for the benefit of the troubled club.

An overdue tax bill for £450,000 must be paid by the close of play on Thursday amid fears that Hearts could cease to exist before Saturday’s home game against St Mirren. Romanov has kept his distance from the crisis but Hearts officials have expressed the hope he might be persuaded to give an emergency loan this week.

Stevenson spoke on behalf of the players at the weekend and confirmed that they would be prepared to make their own sacrifices in the immediate future by agreeing to a wage deferral plan. His own willingness is significant because he walked out of the club last year during a succession of months when the players’ wages were paid late. He later joined Ipswich Town in the English Championship. However, he returned to Hearts in a surprise move earlier this season, only to find the club engulfed by a fresh and more critical financial crisis.

Stevenson says he does not regret making the decision to 
re-join Hearts, explaining that the “honesty” of the directors on this occasion has contrasted sharply with their conduct last year.

“If it comes to that, then I am sure the players will be there,” he said, when asked about the possibility of wage deferrals, with the Tynecastle staff due to be paid this week.

Supporters’ efforts have already seen as much as £200,000 raised, with ticket sales and subscriptions to the share issue launched earlier this month making up the bulk of this sum. However, there have also been stories of young supporters turning up at Tynecastle with their savings in a box and yesterday the Brauhaus bar in Tollcross donated an entire day’s takings to the cause.

Against this backdrop came news on Saturday that Hearts had rejected an offer from Rangers chief executive Charles Green, who proposed a deal where he would hand the Tynecastle club £500,000 this week. This sum, for the transfer of former Hearts players David Templeton and Lee Wallace, is £300,000 below what Hearts are due between now and next summer and Green, sensing the acute need for funds, hoped Hearts might be persuaded to cut a deal.

However, the offer has not been entertained by Hearts, with Green’s proposal described as “opportunistic” by a Hearts source.