Hearts owner Ann Budge: Edinburgh derby scenes '˜a terrific disappointment'

Hearts owner Ann Budge has vowed the club will do all that they can to identify those responsible for the ugly scenes in Wednesday night's Edinburgh derby.
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Hibs boss Neil Lennon was hit by a coin thrown from the main stand near the end of the match, while Hearts goalkeeper Zdenek Zlamal was struck by fans in the away end.

It meant little attention was paid to what happened on the park in the aftermath of the 0-0 draw.

Hearts owner Ann Budge has said there is no place in football for the fans responsible. Picture: SNSHearts owner Ann Budge has said there is no place in football for the fans responsible. Picture: SNS
Hearts owner Ann Budge has said there is no place in football for the fans responsible. Picture: SNS
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Budge called on supporters to assist the club in finding the troublemakers as she seeks to deliver lifetime bans.

She told BBC Radio 4: “It’s a terrific disappointment.

“The only thing we can do is retrospective and that is using the CCTV to identify the individuals and asking our supporters, and this happened last night which is good, to speak up if they see something of this nature happening.

“The majority of supporters don’t want these things to happen, and we need to encourage them to help us identify the individuals who are doing it.

“We don’t want people who do that sort of thing involved in football.

“It brings the whole game into disrepute and a lot of us are working very, very hard to try and improve the situation at football and make it an experience that families can enjoy.

“We really have to do everything we can to ensure this doesn’t happen.”

She added: “While coin throwing incidents are awful, the other things I feel very strongly about are the pyrotechnics. The number of flares that went off last night was also incredibly disappointing. So I won’t be surprised if the authorities take some action.

“From my own point of view, we will be doing everything in our power to identify the individuals involved and take appropriate action.”