Paul McBride to help Hearts players fight for wages

HEARTS players will be led by Paul McBride QC as they seek a resolution to their unpaid wages saga after the highly-regarded lawyer volunteered his services to the beleaguered Tynecastle squad.

The senior Hearts players’ wages – which were due on 16 November – are a full month late and, having been given no information about the reason for the payment delay, the players – some of whom have run out of money – weren’t holding out much hope of receiving their December wages, which are due tomorrow.

However, the intervention of McBride, who has represented a string of Scottish football personalities, including Celtic manager Neil Lennon, has offered the Hearts players some support in their battle with their paymaster. McBride will be assisted by solicitor Peter Watson in the case against Romanov and is bullish on the prospects of a positive outcome.

He told BBC Scotland: “We would expect to win it. When players aren’t being paid and not being given reasons and being fobbed off, the club is in breach of contract. [The players] will not pay me a penny and, in the event of success, Mr Romanov will pay my fees, but I would hope common sense would prevail.”

McBride and Watson are offering what they describe as a “festive gesture” to the unpaid players at Tynecastle.

“The Faculty of Advocates for a long time has had a free representation unit to help people who are in trouble and it looks to me, on the face of it, that the Hearts players, and indeed the club, are in serious trouble,” McBride said. “If you’re a club and you don’t satisfy your financial obligations, the rules allow for you to be removed from the SPL.

“You can’t have players doing a very professional job every week and not getting paid. You’ve got Christmas coming up, they’ve got bills to pay and they’ve got mortgages. Legally, it’s as simple as pie. They are contracted to play for the club, they play for the club and they’re expected to get paid and they have not been paid. It is a clear breach of contract and, on one view, the players could walk away right now, saying ‘I’m signing for another club, you are not paying my wages’.”

Things have become so desperate that Hearts midfielder Ian Black has had to help out a painter and decorator friend this week to earn much-needed cash.