FOOTBALL players are famed, often unfairly, for being aloof and out of touch with supporters. Certain midweek nights at Tynecastle in recent months have suggested those at Hearts have no such delusions of grandeur.
For a club whose community involvement was, at best, adequate until Vladimir Romanov took control of affairs, Hearts have been revitalised. The club's Magnificent Seven scheme, at a cost of £150,000 to the Gorgie outfit, represents a case in point.
First-team players, to a man, have spent winter evenings heading up tours of Tynecastle for children in primary three, the youngsters later handed a free replica shirt and two tickets to a Hearts home match.
The programme, now open to every school in Scotland and for which individual applications will be accepted, represents the most wide-reaching of its kind in the SPL and is already gaining nationwide approval; Hearts are, in effect, looking to pinch supporters of the future from the doorstep of other clubs.
"The concept behind Hearts' Magnificent Seven initiative was presented at an SPL seminar we ran 12 months ago which looked at what more our clubs could do to help build the fanbase for the future," explained Greig Mailer of the SPL. "We are delighted that Hearts developed the core idea and it is great to see the positive impact it is already making."
The figures already make impressive reading; almost 3,000 children have been registered for Magnificent Seven with the club well on course to have put 10,000 children, and their families, through the Tynecastle turnstiles by the time the new main stand is scheduled to open in season 2010/11. Another key statistic is that 26 per cent of children end up supporting the team they are taken to watch first; a high success rate for any marketing campaign. Romanov has even taken a hands-on role with community projects on his visits to Scotland, a factor the club believe demonstrates his commitment to the Hearts support of tomorrow.
David Southern, marketing and communications director at Hearts, said: "Magnificent Seven is designed to run in parallel with our mid- and long-term goals of encouraging more new fans to make Hearts their 'first-choice' club. In a few years these children will be teenagers who will be making their own buying decisions and electing how they want to spend their money and their leisure time. As a club we must offer opportunities for them to watch top-class football in a welcoming environment that shows the best of Hearts on and off the field.
"We are developing the club beyond simply organising coaching courses – as important as that is – into one that it is about being integral in the community and in turn the community becoming part of the club.
"Our stadium expansion plans are the most visible aspect of our commitment to the community, and indeed the wider city, but one does not happen without the other and we will continuing to invest in the community, the club and the city."
Businesses such as Aegon, Success Training Scotland and KPMG have linked up with Hearts for several other impressive community projects, most notably the breakfast club which aims to ensure every school in Edinburgh is committed to delivering a healthy breakfast for their children by 2010. "We went to the local council and asked what we, as a club, could do to help them rather than just providing facilities," said Alan White, community development manager of the Hearts Community Trust. "Other clubs offer bibs, balls and markers; we aim to do that and a lot more."
White held a similar post at Tynecastle until 2003, before returning to Hearts 18 months ago. "What we are doing now stems from the top of the club," he said. "In the past, the community side of the club was maybe seen as separate and we were left to our own devices; now there is a real desire and commitment right from the owner of the club down to do things properly."
The full article contains 685 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
