Vladimir Romanov's Ownership Of Heart Of Midlothian F.C.

Vladimir Romanov, a Russian born Lithuanian businessman, initially acquired 19.6% stake at Hearts during the 2004–05 season. After Romanov made financial guarantees, his stake increased to 29.9%, which was welcomed by a fans representatives. Romanov eventually increased his majority share in Hearts to 82%.

Romanov no longer has any links to HMFC as both Ukio Bankas and UBIG have become insolvent. His shares are held by the liquidators of UBIG. An arrest warrant has supposedly been issued in his name to answer a number of irregularities in the accounts of both Ukio Bankas and UBIG.

Background and takeover

Hearts, like many other Scottish Premier League clubs, ran into severe financial difficulties during the early part of the 2000s. An assessment by PWC in the autumn of 2003 found that Hearts, along with four other SPL clubs, were technically insolvent. Dundee and Livingston subsequently went into administration, while Hibs and Dunfermline both took drastic measures to balance their finances, cutting their player budgets severely and selling assets. Hearts also cut their player budget and, more significantly, proposed to sell Tynecastle to eradicate the club's debt. The fans protested against the latter course of action, forming a group called ''Save Our Hearts''.

Hearts made a deal with the Scottish Rugby Union to use Murrayfield Stadium in order that they could sell Tynecastle. Originally this was meant to happen during the summer of 2004, but was then delayed for a season. During this period, Hearts were a public limited company. Ownership of the club was very fractured, with no individual shareholder owning more than 20% of the club. This meant that minority shareholders, including supporters' groupsHearts consult on move
BBC Sport, 13 February 2004. and the McGrail brothers,'Save Tynecastle' plans revealed
BBC Sport, 9 January 2004. could realistically hope to acquire other minority stakes in order to block the proposals to sell Tynecastle. In August 2004, Hearts made a deal to sell Tynecastle to Cala Homes (a housing developer), but the deal had an escape clause which meant that Hearts could withdraw from the deal before 31 January 2005 if a viable alternative could be found.

Vladimir Romanov had shown interest in investing in Scottish football for some time because he wanted to see whether Lithuanian footballers could prosper abroad.Hearts in takeover talks
BBC Sport, 31 August 2004. Scottish football clubs were particularly ripe for takeover due to their weak finances and corporate structures. He made approaches to Dundee United,Who is Vladimir Romanov?
BBC Sport, 1 November 2005. Dundee and Dunfermline, but these were all rejected. He opened negotiations with the board of directors to invest in Hearts during August 2004. Romanov offered the prospect of the club staying at a redeveloped Tynecastle, which was very attractive to Hearts supporters. Board chairman George Foulkes pleaded that the shareholders should not scare Romanov away by demanding too much for their shares.

Chief executive Chris Robinson, who had been the chief proponent of the necessity of selling Tynecastle, agreed at the end of September 2004 to sell his 19.6% stake to Romanov. Romanov called an extraordinary general meeting in January 2005 so that the club could pass a motion to exercise the escape clause in the deal with Cala Homes.Hearts edge closer to home stay
BBC Sport, 7 January 2005. The backing of Leslie Deans and the McGrail brothers meant that the motion was passed with over 70% support. The sale of Robinson's shares was completed on 2 February 2005Romanov takes control at Hearts
BBC Sport, 2 February 2005. after Romanov made financial guarantees that the club could continue to trade without selling Tynecastle. This sale increased Romanov's stake to 29.9%, giving him effective control of the club. Romanov's takeover was welcomed by a fans representative.

Managers

George Burley

Chris Robinson resigned as Hearts chief executive after selling his shares to Romanov.Ferguson, David and Halliday, Stephen
Hearts turn to Anderton
''The Scotsman'', 18 February 2005. To replace him, Romanov hired Phil Anderton, who had just resigned from a similar position with the Scottish Rugby Union. Anderton appointed George Burley as Hearts manager during the 2005 close season. During this period, Romanov started the practice of signing players through FBK Kaunas, including Edgaras Jankauskas and Roman Bednář. The club signed other high-profile players such as Takis Fyssas and Rudi Skácel.

With their new manager and signings, Hearts got off to a tremendous start in the 2005–06 season. The team won their first eight league matches,Happy Burley avoids talk of title
BBC Sport, 24 September 2005. equaling a club record set in 1914. Romanov increased his shareholding in Hearts to 55.5% on 21 October 2005, and offered to buy the rest of the shares.Romanov aims for Hearts ownership
BBC Sport, 21 October 2005. Chairman George Foulkes sold his shares to Romanov and encouraged others to do likewise. Romanov eventually increased his majority share in Hearts to 82%.

In a move that shocked Scottish football, Romanov sacked George Burley on the following day. Hearts fans were led to expect a "top class manager"Burley in shock exit from Hearts
BBC Sport, 22 October 2005. would replace Burley. Kevin Keegan, Bobby Robson, Claudio Ranieri and Ottmar Hitzfeld were all linked with the vacancy. Anderton, who had been making the approaches for these coaches, was sacked by Romanov on 31 October 2005.Hearts in turmoil as duo depart
BBC Sport, 31 October 2005. Foulkes, who had helped to bring Romanov to the club in the first place, resigned in protest at Anderton's dismissal. Romanov replaced both of them with his son, Roman Romanov.

Rix and Ivanauskas

Romanov appointed Graham Rix as Hearts head coach on 8 November 2005 to replace George Burley. This appointment was not well received by the fans because Rix was a convicted sex offender who had not coached at a high level since a brief, unsuccessful spell at Portsmouth in 2002. Hearts' results deteriorated under Rix. It became apparent during February 2006 that Romanov was interfering in team selection.Players to wait for Romanov talks
BBC Sport, 9 February 2006. He agreed to meet a delegation of players to hear their grievances.

As a result of these grievances, Andy Webster refused to extend his contract with the club,Webster stalls on contract talks
BBC Sport, 7 February 2006. for which he was dropped from the team. Romanov suspected Webster of wanting to move to Rangers. In the summer of 2006, Webster exercised his right under new legislation to buy out the remainder of his contract. He signed for Premier League club Wigan Athletic, before being loanedWebster completes Rangers switch
BBC Sport, 9 June 2008. and eventually sold to Rangers.

Rix was sacked by Romanov on 22 March 2006, who replaced him with former FBK Kaunas coach Valdas Ivanauskas. Despite the upheaval of two managerial changes, Hearts managed to finish second in the league, which meant that the club qualified for the qualifying rounds of the Champions League. It also marked the first time a club outside the Old Firm had finished in the top two positions since the 1994–95 season. Hearts also won the Scottish Cup

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