Ann Budge has admitted that Hearts are striving to become a ‘big club’ in Europe as they look to build on the success of finishing third in the Premiership.
The Gorgie outfit are guaranteed Europa Conference League football until Christmas should they come up short in their bid to qualify for Europa League group stages, and will likely see their income increase by in excess of £3 million as a result.
Hearts are planning to invest a large chunk of that cash back into the squad as they look to cement their place as the third force in Scottish football and become regulars on the European stage.
After inheriting a club that had been ravaged by the effects of administration on and off the pitch in 2014, chairwomen Budge, who oversaw the £20 million investment of a new main stand at Tynecastle, insists the focus at the club now is on continually strengthening on the park.
Budge said: “Until now, we have been fixing the infrastructure and the underlying business issues while trying to keep the football going.
“Whereas now we can focus on the number one priority which is how we help the men’s and the women’s first teams really succeed and reach heights we’ve not done for a long time. I am really excited about that.
“We still have to take a long-term view but our goal is different. We have come such a long way and it is no longer about survival, as a club, or survival in terms of staying in the Premiership or even the top six. These are still fundamentals but our goal is to be successful and play consistently at a European level. We want to become a big club in Europe.
“If I had said that back in 2014, I would have sounded a bit like Mr Romanov but we are in a different position now. I’m not saying that in a couple of years time we will be number one but we can be successful without setting unrealistic goals.”
Budge appreciates that Hearts need a bigger and stronger squad to be able to withstand the physical and mental pressures of competing in both domestic and European football and points to Rangers as an example.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side beat Hearts in last weekend’s Scottish Cup final after 120 minutes of football, just three days after going to penalties in an agonising Europa League final loss to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Speaking to the Scotsman, she added: “We have to set the bar high and recognise that if we want to play in Europe, in the group stages and, hopefully, longer, we have to build a team that has genuine capability of playing at that level.
“Ok, maybe, from time to time things will go wrong but if we want to keep that going then we have to raise the calibre and look at both the quality and the quantity.
“Look at Rangers, they had those big games in Europe but it didn’t weaken them because they have such a big squad. They almost have two starting XIs and we have got to gradually build up to that without going overboard.
“We have got to be careful and make sure we continue to cut our cloth appropriately but we are in the very fortunate position that all the money we get from our football success will go back into the football department and that is a position I never thought we would be in a few years ago!
“We are not stupid and having been through what we have been through, nobody wants to go too gung ho. We have to be sensible. But, essentially, the football team have done well and they will reap the benefits, which is exciting. We will not miss this opportunity to build on what we’ve got.”
Budge acknowledges that lucrative runs in European football could also aid Hearts in their bid to get closer to the Old Firm.
She added: “We have known for a long time that Celtic and Rangers were able to get into Europe and get the huge financial benefits that came from that and we know that widened the gap and meant the rest of us couldn’t hope to compete with them.
“Getting group stage football means that while we may not be able to close that gap, it won’t widen at such a rate and the changes to European football means that there are more opportunities now so we have to be able to grasp them.”
