ANN BUDGE is proud to have helped prove fan ownership can work as she closes the curtain on her lengthy stewardship of Hearts.

Budge has officially stepped down as Hearts chair following her final annual general meeting, 11 years after she played a key role in getting the club out of administration.

The Edinburgh businesswoman’s finances paved the way for the Foundation of Hearts to assume ownership following the turbulent reign of Vladimir Romanov, but she was involved in the fans’ group from the start.

This type of model focuses on the club’s interests long-term above profit, ensuring transparency, sustainability, and community involvement.

She departs with Hearts top of the Premiership, with fellow fan-owned clubs Motherwell and Falkirk also in the top six, and supporter-owned St Mirren in the Premier Sports Cup final.

Budge told Hearts TV: “I’ll tell you a story, I’m not sure if I’ve said this publicly before. I think it was the first year I was in place. I was asked to take part in a debate at Heriot-Watt University. And the debate topic was, ‘Could fan ownership ever work?’

“I won’t name names, but a chairman of another football club had been invited to talk against it. I was invited to talk for it.

“His expression was that fan ownership could never work. What football clubs need is a benevolent dictator.

“Despite all the negativity in the early days, I think it’s a fantastic model.

“I think one of the things that makes it special is that not everybody can afford to join FOH and buy a season ticket, for example. It doesn’t matter. They’re all supporting the club in whichever way they can.

“People who can afford to do it have done it fantastically well. If circumstances change, and we’ve said that from the beginning, if your circumstances change and you have to stop, don’t worry about it. Just stop paying it.

“It’s just incredible to me, the level of contribution that we’ve had from the fans.

“We’ve still got a way to go, of course, because one of the things I’ve also said from earliest times was fan ownership, not fan management. So I think as long as we stick to the rules, if you like, that a business has got to be run by a board of directors and an executive management team who know what’s happening day in, day out, I think we’ve proved it can work.”

Budge admitted it was hard to walk away.

“Football has been the centre of my life for the last decade and it’s connected with my family, my social life, everything,” she said.

“So I’m a bit worried that I’m going to be lost because I always said I didn’t ever want to retire. Having said that, I think the time is right.

“I’m beginning to feel that I’ve done everything I can do for the club and it’s now time to move into a different kind of business and have different people leading it.

“I’m sad, I’ll miss an awful lot of people, but equally I think it’s the right thing to do.”