McGlynn's powerful rallying call as he appeals for help in saving the club he loves

Football Writer

Friday 9 November 2012

IT is one of life's great paradoxes that the closer a football club creeps towards extinction the stronger the bond grows between it and its supporters.

John McGlynn remains positive despite the dire situation in whsich he finds himself. Picture: SNS

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Graeme Macpherson

The Vladimir Romanov chapter of the Hearts story was never likely to have a happy ending but the haste and enthusiasm with which fans of the stricken Tynecastle club have leapt to help fill the financial shortfall left by the absent owner have been both startling and deeply moving.

Nothing rouses affection for a football club quite like the unthinkable prospect of them going to the wall and, in Hearts' hour of need, their fans have rallied impressively. A cheque for £450,000 needs to be made out to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs within a week or so, a legacy of months of unpaid VAT and PAYE, and this time it is unlikely to be provided by the Ukio Bankas Investment Group, Hearts' owners. Instead, the ordinary fan in the street – already out of pocket for season tickets, official merchandise and other sundry matchday expenses – has been asked to dig even deeper to take up a recent share offering, buy match tickets, or even just donate what they can. Many, who cannot afford it as Christmas approaches, have done so without complaint or fuss, knowing they will likely see nothing in return beyond their club's mere survival. For most football fans, bound perpetually to their club through thick and thin, that is usually more than enough.In times of crisis, leaders emerge. In football it tends to be the managers that most supporters look to for guidance and assurance, and it is no different at Hearts. They are fortunate to have John McGlynn, a man steeped in the club, currently in charge of team affairs. McGlynn has served dutifully as youth coach, assistant manager and caretaker manager at various points over the past 16 years, before becoming first-team manager in his own right for the first time in the summer. Given all he has endured in that short period, he could be forgiven for regretting leaving the relatively calm sanctuary of Raith Rovers for turbulence at Tynecastle. Instead, the opposite emerges."If I die tomorrow, I'll die having been the manager of Hearts and there's not many people can say that," he said. "So I've no regrets at all at taking this job."It was a powerful, emotional statement likely only to enhance his reputation among the Hearts support, and one not too dissimilar to Ally McCoist's "we don't do walking away" remark in the midst of the Rangers crisis earlier this year. There are undoubted similarities between what unfolded at Ibrox and what Hearts are facing, something McGlynn acknowledged. Hearts are, as yet, not as far down the road that Rangers ended up on but their rebirth in the lower leagues gives McGlynn hope that even the worst-case scenario would not be entirely unbearable."I look at Rangers and they are still in the third division," he added. "I'm not suggesting we should go to the third division but at least they are still here. They're still playing. We have to remain professional. We've all been paid, there's nobody short of money, and hopefully the football club can rise above this situation."To do that they will need supporters to back them as never before and early indications are that they are ready to take up the challenge. The role of cheerleader clearly does not sit easy with McGlynn but there was an appreciation that he must use his position to galvanise the fans into taking matters into their own hands."It's an alarming and critical situation we find ourselves in, one where everyone has to get together and stand up and be counted to get the football club through its hour of need. If it doesn't get that money in during that timescale, it could be curtains."There's a lot of hardship right now but if everyone clubs together we can save this club. It's a big ask and we can't control the timing of this [before Christmas] but if people do have the money and they have Hearts in them, please donate."I know someone at another SPL club who has bought two tickets to the St Mirren game and they're not even coming. And people rallied round to save Stirling Albion a while back. Maybe those people will buy tickets to help Hearts survive. "If I had a way of raising that type of money I'd do it but that's not my forte. I've got to rely on the board doing their upmost to sort it out. They've issued an emergency call and we hope the fans respond. The players and I have bought shares and if there's anything more we can do we will do it. I have to remain upbeat. If the manager of the club doesn't remain positive then we're in trouble."

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McGlynn's powerful rallying call as he appeals for help in saving the club he loves

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