Interview | Calum Paterson | The Headlines
26 October 2026Calum Paterson sat down with Hearts TV to discuss his first year as Chairman of the football club.
The full interview is available to watch on Hearts TV and YouTube and some of the headlines can be read below.
What were some of the reasons that made you want to become Chairman of Heart of Midlothian?
"First and foremost, because Hearts is my team. I've been a supporter from a young age and also a member of the Foundation of Hearts from its early days.
“I felt that my experience could perhaps be of some use to the club. My business career has mainly been as an investor in growing companies, working closely with their management teams and boards through periods of change and transformation.
“I came into the role knowing that I had a lot to learn because football is different, but I felt it was an opportunity for me to give something back and to play a part in helping the club progress.”
What does success for Heart of Midlothian look like to you?
“Well, we're aiming high. We want Hearts to be competitive at the top end of Scottish football, challenging for trophies year after year and also playing regularly in Europe. And I think we're right to have that ambition, but to achieve it sustainably and consistently, we've got to strengthen the football operation on an ongoing basis.
“That means recruiting well, developing players, building a successful player training model and creating a pathway for our own young talent. We also want to build on the success, the great progress we've had on the women's side.
“Our partnership with Jamestown Analytics is a really important part of all of that and I think will help us to make better informed decisions as we go forward. We've also got to keep growing the club commercially so that we have the resources to support our ambitions over the longer term.”
How do you assess the progress across the board at the club in the last 12 months?
“There's been a lot of progress, but we also know that there's still plenty to do.
“The first team went very close last season. The way it ended was really disappointing, especially after everything the players and staff had put into it. I think they deserved a better outcome, but we should recognise and pay tribute to them for what they did achieve, which was actually exceptional.
“Our women's team also made history with a brilliant league championship win and our young players, of course, lifted the Scottish Youth Cup. So these are both very significant achievements in their own right. There's also been great progress on the business side, and that's geared towards supporting what we want to achieve on the pitch.
“But all of that showed to me the considerable potential of the club and the strong foundations that we have to build on.”
There was frustration over a lack of communication from the club at the end of the season. Can you explain some of the things that were happening behind the scenes?
“The final week was difficult on a number of fronts. Amongst other things, we were disappointed by the unprecedented decision that, as the team leading the league at the time of the split, we had to play our final game away from home. The circumstances at the end of that game were, from our perspective, completely unacceptable.
“We took advice and we made our concerns very clear to the football authorities. Standing back from it all, I think we'd like to see greater transparency and consistency around key decisions in Scottish football, because standards and processes matter, particularly at important points in the season, and I think there's room for improvement.
“I understand the frustration about how little supporters heard from us afterwards. There was, and remains, a live police investigation into actions against our players, and that obviously limited what we could say publicly, but I think even with those constraints, I think we could have communicated more clearly. In the end, we had to think about what was best for Hearts. With a new management team coming in, a new season to prepare for, we felt the right thing for us was to draw a line and look forward.
“But our supporters should know that we did everything we could to stand up for Hearts. We will always do that, and we certainly haven't forgotten what happened last season. But our focus now has to be on putting the club in the strongest possible position for this season and beyond and of course communicating better along the way.”
Does achieving success require further investment?
“Well, we've been exploring further investment in order to give Hearts greater financial strength and support the club's development.
“We've had some discussions and those discussions are going well. I don't want to get ahead of them today, but if they do conclude successfully, that would be another positive step for Hearts and would strengthen our ability to invest for the longer term.
“I think any investment has to be used sensibly. The purpose would be to build a stronger football club fundamentally and to ensure that we have the resources in place to pursue our ambitions in the longer term. At the same time, we are continuing to develop a player trading model, which we expect to become an increasingly important contributor to the club's long-term financial sustainability.”
Can you provide an update on the search for a new Chief Executive?
“We're making progress with the recruitment process. We've appointed an executive search firm to help us find the right person, and there are some very strong candidates in the process.
“We're looking for someone who understands the scale and potential of Hearts and shares our ambition. Someone with the commercial, strategic, organisational, leadership skills to help us take the club through its next phase of development. It's an important appointment and we want to get it right.”
