Our kids are reaching for the Maroon
Ann Budge believes Hearts’ youth academy will become a gold mine for the club.
Hearts’ owner has good grounds for that optimism after revealing the Jambos are the kings of Europe when it comes to showing faith in their teenage talent.
Boss Craig Levein handed debuts to Harry Cochrane and Anthony McDonald at the age of 16 last season, while the likes of Jamie Brandon, Rory Currie and Lewis Moore were also trusted to make an impression in the senior ranks.
Cochrane even became the Jambos’ youngest ever scorer with the opener in a staggering 4- 0 win over Celtic last December, which ended the Bhoys’ historic 69-game unbeaten run.
Callumn Morrison has been a breakout star this term, as Chris Hamilton, Cammy Logan, Connor Smith, Euan Henderson, Daniel Baur all made their bows in 2018.
Levein has not had to rely so heavily on unproven youngsters this season, but the continued investment in their academy is a continued source of pride for Budge - and one she knows will soon bear fruit.
She said: “Our focus is not solely on the first team. We have been talking about the importance of youth development ever since I have been involved.
“The key thing is, as everyone can increasingly see, it is starting to pay off.
“Last year, our home-grown teenagers chalked up 92 competitive appearances and played the most competitive minutes of any club in Europe - 5595 minutes.
“Harry Cochrane also became the youngest ever Hearts goalscorer.
“The academy has achieved a number of accolades so we are doing an awful lot right at the academy level and our investments are paying off.” While her top priority is to see their gifted kids star in a maroon jersey, Budge is well aware that cashing in on their top t a lent s wil l be a pivotal source of income moving forward.
She added: “We are very confident that our investment in youth development will allow us to tap into a lot of homegrown talent - we already have - and, as these players develop and move on it will hopefully generate a very lucrative revenue stream. That will grow.”
Meanwhile, Budge also revealed that the club will plough a six-figure sum annually into fully integrating Hearts Ladies into their Riccarton academy.
With a new manager set to be appointed, Budge said: “We have been working with Hearts Ladies for the last couple of years and it has gone very well and we now want to fully integrate Hearts Ladies into the club.
“That will cost money, a six-figure investment year-on-year, but it’s the right thing to do and the board have signed off on it.
“We’re approaching the final stages of appointing a manager and given we are firmly an equal opportunity club, it’d be wrong to not prov i d e these facilities.”