Hearts bombshell as Ann Budge reveals she'll STEP DOWN as chair just days after Tony Bloom's investment completed
TIME TO BUDGE Hearts bombshell as Ann Budge reveals she'll STEP DOWN as chair just days after Tony Bloom's investment completed
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ANN BUDGE is to step down as Hearts chair later this year.
The Tynecastle club's bombshell announcement comes just days after Tony Bloom's £10m investment into the club was confirmed.
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Ann Budge is stepping down as Hearts chair
Credit: Willie Vass
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Craig Levein (left) returned to Hearts under Budge's leadership in 2014
Credit: Michael Schofield - The Sun Glasgow
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Budge took control after years of Vladimir Romanov's ownership
Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
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Tony Bloom has invested nearly £10m into Hearts
Credit: Reuters
Budge, 77, has been at the helm at Hearts for more than a decade.
Along with the Foundation of Hearts, the businesswoman rescued the club from financial peril in 2014.
Budge's takeover enabled the Jambos to exit administration.
Her consortium purchased the shares from Ukio Bankas, the club's majority shareholder that had gone bankrupt.
Budge's takeover was confirmed months after controversial businessman Vladimir Romanov had exited after a turbulent eight-year spell in control of the club.
In a statement released this morning, Hearts have confirmed Budge has told the board she will step down as chair in December after the club's AGM.
Budge revealed she felt that she had 'done what I set out to achieve' and with Bloom's investment now confirmed, believed it was the right time to step down.
'This is something I have thought long and hard about. Having discussed this with the Board, I feel now is the right time to confirm that I intend to step down later this year.
'When I first got involved with the Foundation of Hearts in 2013, I could not have envisaged the journey it would take me on. Initially, the aim was to stabilize the Club before even thinking of growth. Now, 12-years later, as I look at where the club stands, I can allow myself to feel a sense of pride at what we have achieved.
'With Tony Bloom's investment now complete, and the supporters ensconced as custodians of the club, I believe I have done what I set out to achieve.
'The appropriate time for reminiscing and saying goodbye will come after the AGM in December but until then, my full focus will remain on what it has always been, and that is doing my very best for Hearts and our fans.'
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