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The Foundation of Hearts have now handed over a staggering £5 million to Hearts as part of their bid to secure fan ownership at Tynecastle.
The supporters group have reached the impressive milestone after initially joining forces with Ann Budge to help take the Gorgie outfit out of administration in May 2014.
The Foundation’s annual accounts to June 2016 show that a total of £4,300,000 of fans’ cash had been advanced to the club, with £1.6 million raised during that 12 month period alone.
And with a steady stream of around £125,000 being handed over each month, the tally has now risen to just over £5 million.
The FoH has around 8,000 members making monthly pledges and need to raise a total of £9.2 million to ensure they achieve their objective of being handed Budge’s 75.1 per cent shareholding by 2020.
The fans donated £3.8 million in the first two years to assist with cash flow as Budge helped rebuild Hearts on and off the pitch following Vladimir Romanov’s disastrous reign.
In May, Foundation members voted overwhelmingly in favour of redirecting £3 million of their money to the cost of the new £12 million main stand, which is due to be ready by next September.
When that commitment is realised, the Foundation will then start paying back the £2.4 million loan to Budge that she used to help take Hearts out of administration.
Interim chairman Garry Halliday said: “To reach that milestone is an incredible feat considering where we were just over two years ago, and it just reinforces what Ann Budge has said about our fans being the best in the world. Our supporters are truly exceptional.
“It’s been an amazing journey but we’ve always said at the Foundation of Hearts that we’ll never become complacent, and we recognise that there is still along way to go.
“It’s an exciting time on and off the park and the level of support remains just as important after our members agreed to redirect £3 million towards the cost of the new main stand.”
The Foundation are currently looking for a new chairman after Brian Cormack stepped down earlier this month due to work commitments.
Cormack, one of the founding members of FoH, also resigned from his post as a non-executive Hearts director.
