The Curse of Romanov
The story of Vladimir Romanov’s reign at Heart of Midlothian F.C
Anyone with a passing knowledge of Russian history may be familiar with the royal house of Romanov. Anyone who’s watched the 1997 animated classic Anastasia or paid any attention to the lyrics of Rasputin by 70s disco icons Boney M, should be able to tell you that the Romanov name has become synonymous with being cursed to a series of unfortunate events.
The Russian royal family were glamourous but were overthrown, placed into exile and eventually executed. The Jam Tarts won cups but went bankrupt, saw their owner flee and were eventually relegated.
The owner, Vladimir Romanov, was a Russian businessmen with ties to a Lithuanian bank called Ukio Bankas who took an interest in the financial difficulties of Scottish football. In the mid 2000s, many Scottish clubs were in dire need of economic investment and Romanov viewed this as an attractive opportunity. After failed attempted takeovers at Dundee United, Dundee and Dunfermline Athletic, Vladimir turned his attention to Heart of Midlothian F.C.
Hearts believed they were getting a holy healer rather than a wheeler dealer. In 2004, the Jam Tarts were considering drastic action to raise funds including selling their own stadium, Tynecastle, and moving into the Scottish Rugby Union’s Murrayfield Stadium. Romanov, like Rasputin, took this opportunity to ingrain himself into the club by purchasing shares and increasing his control of the Hearts board. By 2005, Romanov had enough shares to take over the club and the board was encouraged by the new sponsorship revenue coming from the Lithuanian bank, Ukio Bankas.
Vladimir’s first full season as Hearts owner would be their incredibly successful 2005–06 Scottish Premier League season. Romanov emphatically started his reign by replacing John Robertson, club legend and all time top goalscorer for the Jambos, with George Burley as manager for the upcoming campaign. Burley would get the Romanov era off to a perfect start as they won their first eight games and topped the league table. Vladimir used the goodwill driven from results on the pitch to further increase his share and control of the club. Romanov then shocked the entire league by sacking Burley mid-season because he believed he now had enough power to attract an even bigger name to the club. Claudio Ranieri, Bobby Robson and Ottmar Hitzfeld were all approached alas the Jam Tarts were unsuccessful at securing a big name manager. Romanov compounded the situation with the ludicrous appointment of Graham Rix as his new Hearts boss, a man with little head coaching experience and a convicted sex offender.
However, the Jambos performances didn’t seem to be affected by the managerial upheaval. Hearts would finish the season as league runners-up behind Celtic, their first top two finish since 1992 and the first non Old Firm finish in the top two since 1995. Rix wouldn’t survive to see it though as he was replaced by Hearts third full-time manager of the 05/06 season, Lithuanian coach Valdas Ivanauskas. The Jam Tarts would also win their first piece of silverware under Romanov’s reign as Ivanauskas guided them to the 2006 Scottish Cup Final, where they beat Gretna on penalties.
Hearts were able to survive the chaotic nature of the 2005/06 season due to the strong spine running through their team. Craig Gordon, the young shot stopper in goal was already Scotland’s first choice goalkeeper and attracting English Premier League interest. Steven Pressley, the Hearts captain and Scotland international was a very solid centre back who could command the team. Paul Hartley, another Scotland international and goal scoring midfielder who shared the honour of being Hearts top scorer that season with Rudi Skacel, a Czech forward on loan who would have two separate spells at the club and equalled Hartley with 17 goals after scoring in the cup final.
The spine could only bend so much though, during the following 2006/07 season, before it snapped. Pressley, Hartley and Gordon would speak out publicly about “unrest in the dressing room” over Romanov and his interference. Vladimir reacted strongly by breaking up the three during the following transfer windows. Pressley and Hartley were moved on to Celtic and a club record transfer fee was received from Sunderland for Craig Gordon. Romanov sought to replace players by using his Lithuanian connections with mixed results. One player who did serve as an effective replacement for Pressley in central defence was Marius Zaliukas, a Lithuanian international with a temper, who became captain and led Hearts to another Scottish Cup triumph in 2012 after beating derby rivals Hibernian with the help of Rudi Skacel.
The managerial merry-go-round of the 2005/06 season was a sign of things to come with Romanov rather than being an outlier. From 2005 to 2008, Hearts would have seven full-time managers. Ivanauskas allegedly left due to intense stress in 2007 and Anatoliy Korobochka and Stephen Frail failed to arrest a slide for the Jam Tarts down the table when they finished a lowly 8th in 2007/08. George Foulkes, the former chairman of Hearts, claimed that Romanov was “reaping what he had sown” after going through so many managers. Hearts couldn’t afford to make a mistake with their next appointment as the club was falling into further debt and needed results on the pitch to compensate.
Csaba Laszlo was hired away from the Uganda national team to take the job of resurrecting Jambo fortunes. Laszlo would prove to be an inspired appointment as he guided Hearts to 3rd place in the league and European qualification and won “Manager of the Year” awards for the 2008/09 season. The Laszlo era would only last 18 months, an eternity in the Romanov era, as he was replaced by Jim Jefferies who was returning for second spell after previously managing the Jam Tarts prior to Romanov’s arrival in the 1990s. Jefferies followed the Laszlo model by leading Hearts to another third place finish in 2010–11 only to be subsequently sacked at the beginning of the following campaign. Paulo Sergio arrived from Portugal and provided some much needed joy for Hearts fans as he led the club to the 2012 Scottish Cup Final where they thrashed derby rivals Hibernian 5–1 thanks to the triumphant goal scoring return of Rudi Skacel, who cemented his legendary status with the Jambo faithful after scoring a hat-trick in the final. Sergio, perhaps wisely, left before he could be pushed as John McGlynn, a former Hearts coach who had stepped in as caretaker when Burley was sacked, sought to replace him. McGlynn would take the Jam Tarts to another cup final, the 2013 Scottish League Cup Final, but never got the chance to manage it. Poor performances from the Jambos in the league saw McGlynn relieved of his duties and Hearts went on to lose to St Mirren in the League Cup Final and finished 10th in the league.
The money had been drying up for years as Romanov plunged the club further into the very debt that Hearts fans had been told he would balance. Romanov had sold previous shareholders a bag of goods about building new stands and making Hearts a Champions League club. Player wages and bonuses were increasingly overdue and a winding up order was received for an unpaid tax bill in 2012. By 2013, irregularities in the banking of Ukio Bankas had led to an arrest warrant being issued for Vladimir Romanov with the Lithuanian authorities. Romanov, like his namesakes, fled into exile and Hearts were left with no choice but to enter administration in 2013. The Jam Tarts had accumulated £25 million in debt, £15 million to a now also bankrupt Ukio Bankas. The 2013/14 season would see Hearts fans band together to financially repair their club from the damage caused by Romanov as they finished bottom of the table and suffered relegation.
Vladimir Romanov had been an ambitious fraud but perhaps served as a necessary evil as his era is a cautionary tale for the future health of all Scottish football clubs. Beware of the Curse of Romanov. Vladimir, it was a shame how you carried on.
