As the Queen of Hearts announces she is to step down, how should Ann Budge's Tynecastle reign be remembered?

Daily Mail​

11 hours ago

With over a decade of service as the maroon-clad matriarch at Tynecastle, Ann Budge is to leave her position as the chairperson of Hearts later this year.
It has been announced that Budge, who saved the club from financial ruin back in 2014, will step down in December.
As the Queen of Hearts prepares to vacate the throne, the club have already embarked on the search for a successor.
But the departure of Budge, 77, will bring an end to one of the most eventful — and, at times, divisive — stewardships of any club in Scottish football.
What should her legacy be? How should she be remembered? Did she perhaps stay a bit too long?
Having made her fortune in computers, should she not have logged off from Hearts before now? All valid questions.
To assess the impact made by Budge, it is important to recognise what the state of play was when she first became involved with the club in 2013.
After years of chaos and financial mismanagement under Vladimir Romanov, Hearts were staring into the abyss.
Working alongside the Foundation of Hearts, Budge invested £2.5million of her own money to buy the club in 2014 and take it out of administration. Had it not been for that intervention, Hearts could well have gone bust. In the club's darkest hour, Budge became a guiding light.
She promised that she would eventually hand the club back to the supporters, with the model of fan-ownership forming a key part of her long-term vision. She duly delivered on that promise in 2021, with Hearts becoming the largest fan-owned club in Britain.
The club was debt-free and had just built a terrific new main stand at Tynecastle a few years earlier.
Hearts also became a force for good off the field, becoming the first club in Scotland to introduce a living wage for all staff.
They also became the first club in the country to have charity sponsors, with Save the Children and MND Scotland both featuring on the front of their jersey.
All of these things happened on Budge's watch. But, on the football side of the business, there were also a lot of mistakes and missteps.
Throughout Budge's 11 years at the helm, Hearts appointed eight full-time managers. Plainly, there were more misses than hits.
The likes of Ian Cathro, Daniel Stendel and Neil Critchley, whilst ambitious in their thinking, proved disastrous appointments.
Budge's loyalty to Craig Levein also extended too far, with Levein's over-arching influence angering supporters towards the end of his time in charge.
Robbie Neilson made a decent fist of things across his two spells, while Steven Naismith also took the club into Europe after a third-place finish.
But the high turnover of managers throughout Budge's time at the club speaks of an owner and chairperson whose expertise was not on the football side of things.
There were also times when she sounded aloof and out of touch. Instance the sacking of Critchley towards the end of last season.
When Budge was doorstepped by a reporter as she headed in to a club awards function, she laughed and brushed it off as 'yesterday's news'. Whilst she was under no obligation to answer questions, it wasn't a great look, especially given the club had endured a torrid season.
Budge also railed against the establishment and fought a legal case against the SPFL following Hearts' relegation in 2020.
Whilst the case was dismissed, many were sympathetic to her cause given the circumstances around the pandemic and how Hearts had been demoted.
Many felt that the successful transfer of ownership to the fans back in 2021 would have been the ideal moment for her to walk away. But she chose to stay for another four years, with Hearts now looking forward to a bold new chapter with Tony Bloom's investment in the club.
Reflecting on her decision to step aside, Budge said in a statement today: '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 stabilise 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.'
Hearts chief executive Andrew McKinlay added: 'It cannot be overstated just how much Ann has done for Heart of Midlothian and on behalf of everyone at the club, I extend both my thanks and my gratitude.
'As we get closer to December's AGM we will update our supporters on our succession plans, but for now we will continue to enjoy and benefit from working with Ann until the end of her tenure as the club's chair.'
Given how Budge led Hearts from the darkness and gave them a pathway to a brighter future, it is no stretch to say she is one of the most important figures in the club's history.
She forked out £2.5m of her own money and helped save the club from oblivion. That's quite a legacy to leave behind.
Did she stay too long? Yeah, probably. Her popularity among fans has definitely waned in recent years, but maybe that's just part and parcel of being an owner or chairperson.
You are never going to please everyone. For all that she appointed a few dud managers, Hearts fans shouldn't forget all the good that Ann Budge did.
Quite simply, she saved their club. She leaves the club in a considerably stronger position than she found it. Ultimately, that's all that can be asked of any owner.