Hearts happy to help out Hibees

Hibs fans intent on ousting chairman Rod Petrie last night gained an unlikely ally The Foundation of HEARTS!

Unhappy Hibees have mobilised following their club’s shock relegation to the Championship to demand Petrie, who has been blamed for the Easter Road side’s disastrous slump, is removed from his job.

So far, the “Petrie Out” campaign, led by the Hibernian Supporters Association and fronted by former player Paul Kane, has been unsuccessful, with Petrie insisting Leann Dempster’s arrival as Chief Executive will reduce his involvement in the day-to-day running of the club to zero.

But, with a large scale anti-Petrie demonstration planned for next Saturday, pressure on the under-fire chairman to step down is mounting.

At present, the supporter-led campaign is focused solely on achieving Petrie’s removal, either by resignation or by forcing owner Sir Tom Farmer to sack him.

But figurehead Paul Kane has already hinted the group has ambitions beyond its primary aim.

Speaking at the launch of the “Petrie Out” campaign, he said: “This is about getting rid of Rod Petrie because we think he has made the decisions which have led to the club’s demise.

“But this is only stage one we also have a stage two and three. Once we get Rod Petrie out, I can tell you about the next stage.”

Should that next stage involve an attempt to instigate a degree of fan ownership at Easter Road, the Foundation of Hearts, the group behind the recent fan-led buyout of the Tynecastle club, has revealed a surprising willingness to advise their deadly rivals.

A Foundation spokesperson said: “We would be more than happy to talk to any supporters groups out there including from Hibs who were looking at putting a proposal together to purchase a club into fan ownership.

“Under those circumstances, we would be happy to offer advice on how best to find mechanisms to allow supporters to purchase all or partial parts of any football club.”

The Foundation of Hearts represents all of Hearts’ supporters’ organisations, and is in line to take a controlling stake in the club in the next few years. That will follow a transitional period of ownership by IT specialist Ann Budge.

Hibs, by contrast, has been in the hands of Kwik-Fit multi-millionaire Sir Tom Farmer since he saved the club from receivership in 1991.

The depth of his controlling interest has never been fully divulged (though it has been reported to stand at around 90%) and no large-scale investment into the club has been accepted during his tenure.

Nonetheless, Farmer told the Hibs AGM in 2011 of his willingness to consider external offers for a stake in the club as long as they are judged to be “to the benefit of the club.”