Graham Bean’s opinion piece above nails the key issues. Hearts’ UEFA compliance story was a smokescreen for the Pieman needing to clear the club’s massive debt and realising they were never going to trade their way out of it. Hibs had debt too, but it was manageable and a sizeable chunk could be paid off through the sale of land behind the East Terrace. Furthermore, if neither club owned their new stadium, what would they have as collateral against future borrowing? If they got into this much debt once, what could they sell if they did it again?
And most pertinently for the supporters, who the hell wants to traipse out to Straiton to watch football? The oft-cited example of Turin’s Stadio delle Alpe is wheeled out yet again. As I observed at the time of the last Straiton proposal, that stadium no longer exists. Juventus bulldozed it and rebuilt their own purpose-built football stadium while Torino moved back into the city to their own redeveloped Stadio Olimpico.
The column on the left frames Hibs fans as more opposed to the idea than Hearts, at least as far as the supporters’ association trustees were concerned. Consultation would ensue.
the hibLOG 