The Political Economy of Football V2

When I first became aware of football in the early 1950s Hearts appeared to be one of the top Scottish sides and I liked the idea that they were known as ‘jam tarts’. A famed fund manager and one of the UK’s best-known sports gamblers are backing a data-driven bid to break Glasgow’s hold over Scottish football and deliver the first league title for a team outside the city in four decades. Heart of Midlothian sit top of the Scottish Premiership with just a third of the season left, as they seek to achieve what no club has done since Sir Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen side in 1985 and end the dominance of Celtic and Rangers. The fortunes of Edinburgh-based Hearts, whose last title was in 1960, have been transformed under a new approach, with fresh investment and expertise, that has also outsourced key elements of player recruitment to computer algorithms. Central to Hearts’ rejuvenation has been the arrival of Tony Bloom, a high-stakes poker player and chair of Premier League Brighton ...

When I first became old enough to follow football in the early 1950s, Hearts stood out as a leading Scottish club. As we enter 2026, there is an unexpected sight in the Scottish Premiership, as Heart of Midlothian sit proudly on top of the table, ahead of the Glasgow giants. Hearts’ dramatic improvement this season owes a lot to Tony Bloom’s investment in the club in June, when the Brighton owner paid £9.86m for a 29% stake in the club in non-voting shares. This change was overwhelmingly voted through by 98.5% of Foundation Of Hearts (FOH) members. From an investor’s perspective, Hearts ticked many boxes, as the club is located in a wealthy city, attracting millions of tourists, while it has a of potential on the pitch. Following the successful completion of Bloom’s investment, Ann Budge announced that the time was right for her to stand down after an 11-year involvement. The club said that the “poor on pitch performance” had impacted the finances in 2024/25, though it had stil...

 Hearts made a net operating loss of £400,000 in 2024/25 despite increased turnover and European football.  However, it should be noted that  the 29 per cent investment made by Brighton owner Tony Bloom, shows up on the balance sheet rather than the profit and loss accounts:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c33p83vll0yo In any case the loss is relatively modest compared with some English clubs.

Hearts are in negotiations with Brighton and Hove Albion chairman Tony Bloom about an investment deal potentially worth £10million to transform their player recruitment. Bloom wants Hearts to use his Starlizard sports analysis company to sign and sell on players using the same recruitment data model as Brighton have done to spectacular effect. Hearts officials and Bloom have held extensive discussions over a collaboration. If Starlizard was used, successfully, Bloom may also take a minority stake in the Tynecastle club. That would need to be approved by Foundation of Hearts members but a deal to use the Starlizard technology itself could be approved by the club’s board of directors. London-based Starlizard’s team conducted a review of Hearts’ recruitment operation and found aspects which could be improved. The prospective agreement would not involve any tie-up between Hearts and Brighton in terms of player deals, with no suggestion of Hearts becoming any form of “feeder club”...

The 2023/24 Hearts' financial results were adversely impacted by failing to get beyond the play off round of the Europa Conference, where they were eliminated by Greek team PAOK.   Hearts’ loss last season was their first for nine years, when they won the Championship (Scotland’s second tier). So they have been profitable in eight of the last ten seasons, which is pretty good going in the cutthroat world of football. Looking at Scotland’s leading clubs over the last five years, we can see that Hearts have broken even, which places them between Celtic, who made £53m profit, and Rangers, who posted £65m losses. Aberdeen, who are arguably Hearts’ closest equivalent, had £7m of losses in this period. Hearts figures have “benefited enormously” from exceptional items, including £5.5m of donations in 2023/24, split between benefactors £4.0m and the Foundation of Hearts (FOH) £1.5m. In stark contrast, Rangers booked £3.4m of charges, covering legal costs and contractual settlement...

Hearts have come a long way since the club was placed into administration in 2013, when they were deducted 15 points and then relegated to the Scottish Championship. Much of the credit is due to Ann Budge, who took ownership in June 2014 in partnership with the Foundation of Hearts, following the misguided Romanov regime. In August 2021 Budge signed over 75% of her shareholding to the Foundation, making Hearts the largest fan-owned club in the UK. The club described this as “Heart & Soul Day”.   This approach has served the club well, though the model going forward is likely to still require the support of benefactors. Hearts once again posted a pre-tax profit, though this dropped from £1.7m to £0.3m. Revenue rose £6.2m (42%) from £14.6m to a new club record of £20.8m, but this was more than offset by £7.4m (38%) growth in operating expenses. Hearts’ record turnover was driven by their involvement in the Europa Conference League group phase. This led to increases in both ...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble reviews the 2021/22 accounts of Hearts:  https://swissramble.substack.com/p/hearts-finances-202122 Hearts have come a long way since the club was placed into administration in 2013, deducted 15 points and then relegated to the Scottish Championship. Much of the credit is due to Ann Budge, who took ownership in June 2014 in partnership with the Foundation of Hearts, following the misguided Romanov regime. This culminated in Budge signing over 75% of her shareholding to the Foundation in August 2021 , making Hearts the largest fan-owned club in the UK. The club described this as “Heart & Soul Day”. This approach has served the club well, though the model going forward is likely to still require the support of benefactors. Hearts once again posted a pre-tax profit, though this fell slightly from £2.0m to £1.7m. Revenue shot up by 90% from £7.7m to £14.6m, as the club returned to “business as usual” following the significant impact of COVID, fur...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble reviews the 2020/21 accounts of Hearts. After Ann Budge transferred the shares to the Foundation of Hearts in August 2021, Hearts became the biggest fan owned club in the United Kingdom. It is difficult for any Scottish club to compete financially with Celtic and Rangers, but Hearts seem to be on the right track Hearts 2020/21 accounts, when they increased pre-tax profit from £0.4m to £2.0m, despite the impact of relegation and COVID, which reduced revenue from £12.3m to £7.7m, mainly thanks to £6.4m donations. Hearts reported the largest profit in Scotland with £2.0m, albeit only because of their “very generous” donations of £6.4m. In contrast, both Rangers and Celtic made large losses with £24.2m and £12.6m respectively, followed by Aberdeen £2.3m. The last loss Hearts reported was £0.9m in 2015, when they also won the Scottish Championship. Since promotion, they have been profitable 6 seasons in a row, though the £27m profit in 2014 is a bit misl...

From his fastness in Zurich, the authoritative Swiss Ramble has been reviewing the 2019/20 accounts of Scottish Premiership clubs. Most Scottish Premiership clubs aim for break-even with five making small profits, led by Hearts £0.5m and Motherwell £0.3m. Rangers’ £17.5m post-tax loss is the big outlier, especially compared to Celtic’s£0.4m deficit, largely due to their recent investment in the squad. Celtic had the highest revenue with £70m, though the gap to Rangers £59m has narrowed. Both Glasgow clubs earn at least four times as much as other Scottish clubs with closest challengers being Aberdeen £14m, Hearts £12m, Hibernian £9m and Kilmarnock £5m. However, it is worth noting that Celtic were boosted by £24m profit from player sales, largely due to Kieran Tierney’s move to Arsenal, which was significantly higher than other Scottish clubs. The next highest were Kilmarnock £1.2m, Motherwell £1.0m. The Old Firm had by far the largest operating losses (i.e. excluding player sales...

Hearts pre-tax profit fell from £2.9m to £0.4m in 2019/20, as COVID led to revenue dropping £2.7m (18%) from £15.1m to £12.4m and wage bill rose £0.6m to £8.8m. Profit due to £3.7m of donations, up from £3.4m prior year. Debt rose £1.3m to £5.7m, but cash also up to £2.4m. Match day revenue was £5.1m as was commercial. Broadcasting was £2.0m. The wages to turnover ratio was 71 per cent, more or less line with the UEFA recommended limit.

Hearts (and Partick Thistle) are clearly unhappy about the reaction of other Scottish clubs to their litigation against the Scottish league system:  https://www.heartsfc.co.uk/news/article/joint-club-statement-1-2-3 Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers have asked Premiership clubs to contribute to their legal costs.  Their promotions will be in jeopardy if Hearts win their case against relegation:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53346709 As the matter goes to an arbitration panel, the complicated issues involved are summarised here:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53291719 The Scottish Premier League has been given permission to start playing games behind closed doors from August 1st:  https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53360936

Quite what is going to happen in Scottish football when it resumes is far from resolved.  As always, particular clubs are pursuing their own narrow interests. Former Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager Craig Brewster is surely right when he says that finances will dictate the format adopted:  https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/sport/football/inverness-caledonian-thistle/2222282/brewster-says-finances-will-dictate-proposal-to-expand-premiership/ He reckons calls for a 14-team Premiership will only succeed if the proposal is financially viable for the league’s leading clubs.  Hearts are desperate to push through an expanded top-flight in order to avoid relegation to the Championship, while the proposal would also see Inverness promoted as second-tier runners-up. The Scottish Supporters' Network has commented: 'In the absence of Scottish football action, countless column inches and Zoom call minutes have been taken up with planning for an eventual return, and the leagu...

According to The Athletic Barnsley are one of several clubs considering legal action against the English Football League if they are relegated this season.  However, the report states that Birmingham City, Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday will be allowed to start next season in the Championship on minus points because of financial fair play sanctions (the sale of stadiums to sponsors). It is not clear on what basis the legal action could be brought (Hearts are also contemplating legal action given their relegation from the SPL).  Just because something is unfair or rough justice does not mean it is illegal.  Legal actions often succeed on procedural grounds, but I cannot detect any prima facie procedural failures. One club that could be affected by a points per game relegation is Charlton Athletic. With the club locked in a civil war between directors and fast running out of money, the Addicks are in no position to launch a legal action about a points-per-game releg...

After much controversy, Dundee have cast their vote and the Scottish league season is to end: Scotland Relegation threatened Hearts have been mollified by being given leadership of a working party to consider expanding the Premier League. The top flight could be expanded from 12 to 14 clubs.

Many Scottish football clubs could go bust in the next few months if they do not receive emergency funding says football finance expert Kieran Maguire: Funding needed to survive outbreak Maguire said: 'What football now has is a cash flow crisis. Match day sales account for around half of the money taken in by Scottish clubs. They are reliant on supporters coming through the turnstiles to pay the bills. Even if they return to a scenario where matches are taking place behind closed doors in order to complete the season that is not going to address the problems that the clubs have. Having season ticket money in will negate cash flow issues for the bigger clubs. If you are a smaller club then your finances tend to be quite precarious. Dunfermline Athletic had been on budget until the crisis struck, but are now hoping that season ticket sales in May will provide much needed cash flow: Dunfermline South of the border there have been calls for Premier League clubs to fund their po...

The authoritative Swiss Ramble has taken an in depth look at the recently published accounts of Hearts. Here are some of the highlights from his comments. The last loss Hearts reported was £0.9m in 2014/15, when they won the Scottish Championship. Since promotion, they have been profitable three seasons in a row. Hearts £12m revenue is the fourth highest in Scotland, within striking distance of Aberdeen £15m, but only around a third of Rangers £33m, while Celtic’s £102m is miles ahead. Indeed the revenue gap between Hearts and the big two Glasgow clubs is now at its highest for a while: £89m to Celtic and £20m to Rangers. On the other hand, they are £2.7m higher than Edinburgh rivals Hibernian. Given Hearts stadium investment, they did well to deliver the second largest profit in the SPFL Premiership with their £1.8m only beaten by Celtic £15.4m. That said, eight of the 12 clubs in the Scottish top flight make money with only Rangers reporting a sizeable £14.3m loss. One reason Ce...

Hearts have announced their financial results. Income was up 8% mainly to higher matchday receipts. This is still some way behind Celtic and Rangers but ahead of Hibs. Kieran Maguire of the PriceofFootball notes, 'Hearts income breakdown shows the relative poverty of TV income compared to England, where over half of EPL clubs generate more than 80% of their money from broadcasters.' Hearts wages were up 19% to over £7 million, subsidised by a mysterious benefactor who donated £1m towards wages. Hearts underlying business is loss making, reliant on donations and player sales to turn losses into break even. On top of the wages donation there have been mysterious benefactor payments of £4.5 million over last 2 years to help fund stadium expansion. Hearts have spent just over £1 million on players over last six years, and sold players for three times that to make ends meet.