Bill Foley's Hibs investment needs SFA green light as Hampden beaks weigh up 'dual interests'
The Bournemouth owners wants to buy a minority stake in the Hibees but Scottish FA must give their 'written consent.'
Hibs are hopeful they will be given the green light by the SFA for billionaire Bill Foley to invest in the club.
The Leith outfit need “written consent” from the Hampden board for Foley to become officially involved in Hibs due to dual interests rules. The SFA consider any such requests on a case-by-case basis and it is understood Hibs have already made representations to the governing body. And it is thought that the Bournemouth owner’s investment plans will be ratified by the SFA board when they meet on Thursday.
Foley also has a stake in Lorient and has acquired a licence to run a team from Auckland in the A-League. The American is planning to become a minority shareholder in Hibs alongside the Gordon family, who have a majority stake. Speaking recently at the press conference to announce his plans to introduce a team from New Zealand into Australia’s top flight, Foley said: “This is going to be a pathway for a lot of young people to move up, get into the A-League and then perhaps move on, go to Scotland.
“If they can go to the top of the pyramid, then they go to Bournemouth in the Premier League. We have teams that we’re working with right now in terms of making investments in Scotland and in the Netherlands. So it’s a multi-club strategy and this A-League team is going to do very, very well here.”
Meanwhile, Martin Boyle netted for the 75th time for Hibs at the weekend and insists he is hungry for more. The forward’s first-half strike was enough to secure all three points in Saturday’s hard-fought win at Livingston as Hibs climbed up to fourth in the Premiership.
Boyle’s seventh goal for the campaign was a milestone effort for the Leith outfit, just days after he celebrated his 300th appearance for the club. The Aussie is playing in a more central-attacking position under Nick Montgomery and is relishing his role in the team.
He said: “I could probably push for more but I’m pretty happy with certain aspects of my game. Obviously coming back from a long-term injury I demand a lot from myself and there are a few people who demand more than me. I want to be competitive and score as many goals as possible.”
Hibs had to withstand Livingston pressure for long spells on a difficult afternoon on the plastic pitch at a rain-lashed Tony Macaroni Arena. But Boyle did not care how the three points came about as Hibs made it four wins from their last five league games. He added: “It wasn’t pretty on the eyes, I can tell you that.
“Three points are the most important thing. It was a scrappy game on what wasn’t an ideal pitch. Obviously the rain makes the pitch faster, but you can’t really judge it as much as grass.
“It’s quite difficult and not ideal to land on. There are many factors about artificial pitches. I prefer to keep my opinion to myself but obviously we are used to grass. We trained on the astro all week to prepare for the game. Thankfully we managed to get the three points.”