Hearts owner Ann Budge hits out at fan behaviour
Hearts owner Ann Budge has told some fans they are costing the club money and reputational damage by persistent poor behaviour - including fighting with rival supporters and abusing visiting managers.
Budge revealed Hearts called in the police to deal with fighting outside Tynecastle before and after their 6-0 win over Motherwell this month.
And she announced that verbal abuse of Dundee United manager Mixu Paatelainen, a former Hibernian player and manager, is part of the remit of a recently-announced Scottish Professional Football League investigation.
Budge issued a lengthy update saying things are going really well across all areas of the club'', but she had a stark warning for some fans who are undermining attempts to make Tynecastle afamily-friendly stadium''.
She wrote: It was, therefore, with much regret that for the third time this season, we had to call the police, in this case to the Hearts v Motherwell game due to rival fans fighting in the streets, in the immediate environs of the stadium both before and after the game.
I cannot begin to tell you how angry this makes me, when we are working so hard to put the club back at the heart of the community.
Instead of talking proudly about the team's superb performance, or indeed our supporters' unprecedented loyalty (yet another home sell-out), I am instead having to hold meetings with the authorities regarding how we are going to address this behaviour problem.
The outcome of these meetings is quite simply that we have had to agree that we will have no police-free matches between now and the end of the season. This will cost the club between £40,000-£50,000.''
Budge revealed there would be more stringent checks and more surveillance both inside and outside the stadium'' as a result.
And she revealed her anger at one issue raised by the SPFL amid their probe into the Hearts-Dundee United game on December 30, when there was a small disturbance at the point where fans are segregated.
The club's chairwoman said: I will, of course, robustly defend the club's position on this matter, but there is one area which I cannot defend.
In particular, it would appear that excessive verbal abuse was directed at the opposition manager. While the manager (Mixu Paatelainen) was personally both understanding and pragmatic in his acceptance that 'this happens', it has been reported by the match delegate that this reached unacceptable proportions.
As a consequence, additional stewarding will be put in place in this area of the stadium, along with video cameras, and any behaviour of this nature, in future, will be robustly dealt with.''