Hearts ready for '˜last resort' of banning own fans to stamp out disorder

Hearts have warned that they are on the verge of closing a section of their new stand as they look to root out anti-social behaviour and unsavoury singing within their own support.

Hearts owner Ann Budge speaks to the press at the club's AGM. Picture: Ross Parker/SNS

And shareholders have also encouraged the club to consider slashing Rangers and Celtic’s ticket allocation as they attempt to banish sectarianism from the stadium.

The matter was raised at yesterday’s annual general meeting, where the Gorgie announced an annual profit of £1.8m and outlined positive objectives for the year ahead on and off the pitch.

But while the fiscal performance of the board earned chairwoman Ann Budge applause, there was frustration in the ranks as shareholders questioned what action was being taken to address the “embarrassing” punters who continue to besmirch the club’s name.

One member of the packed Gorgie suite audience described those who continue to attract negative headlines as “lunatics” but while many agreed with Budge’s assertion that they have to get their own house in order, others suggested they go even further and take a stand against the hatred spouted by opposing fans.

Speaking about the Tynecastle home support, Budge highlighted the aid the club was trying to stamp out the problem of anti-social behaviour.

“I have written to all of the season ticket holders in the section where we have the biggest problem, basically saying we will not tolerate unacceptable behaviour of any kind. We have written to them twice so the discussion now is: do I send one more letter saying ‘last chance’ or do we close the section’? We are this close to closing a section to our own support because we don’t believe the behaviour is acceptable and we don’t want to be associated with it.

“I’ve been trying to find another way, whether through improved CCTV to identify individuals, but that is not as easy as it sounds. So right now we are on the verge of closing the section.”

Speaking after the meeting she said she still hoped that course of action could be avoided but insisted the fans would need to play their part in adhering to the stadium rules.

“You heard what was said in the AGM. The supporters are almost embarrassed by some of the stuff that’s going on. We all are. It would be the very last resort if we chose to close the section and we are trying everything in our power to let common sense prevail but at the end of the day, there are certain things, as came across in the AGM, that we have to take a stand on. I hope it doesn’t come to that. We’ll keep trying.”

But, pointing the finger at Rangers’ unacceptable song choices on their recent visit to the capital and highlighting the verbal and physical assaults on players, ball boys and kiosk staff, this term, fans called for Hearts to “make a stand” and reduce the ticket allocation or even impose a complete ban on certain away fans.

Admitting that they should be able to protect their own employees, the board revealed that ball attendants no longer operated in front of the away end at Celtic, Rangers and Hibs games and they added that they were considering screening off the two front rows to provide protection to their players.

But Budge said that a wholesale ban was impossible with SPFL rules deeming that some tickets must be provided to opposition supporters and saying that any reduction in the allocation would have to be in place at the start of a campaign.

“We would do that [cut away allocations] but we are trying to find other ways around that because of the financial implications. We have additional capacity and we do need to maximise that - however, that being said, we won’t do that at the expense of unacceptable behaviour.

“We do talk about it as a club, and at SPFL level, and there has been some discussion about what clubs do in terms of allocation of support. It’s a difficult one and we don’t have a straight-forward answer.”