Heart of Midlothian will be a “force” in European competition and will help improve Scottish football’s coefficient.

That is the belief of Tony Bloom as he reflected on the state of the game in Scotland with regard to finances and recent struggles on the continent.

The country’s coefficient has plunged, while the lack of progress during this campaign will continue to make it more difficult for clubs that qualify for Europe going forward.

As of next season, there is no guaranteed league phase football for the Scottish Cup winners or the team that finishes third, as there has been for the last four campaigns.

It is set to get even worse from the 2027/28 season.

Bloom, whose £9.76million investment into Hearts went through this summer, is aware of the need to improve this situation and believes it is key to growing the game in Scotland.

“I’m aware that prize money is very low and obviously coming from the Premier League, it is pitifully low,” he noted. “But that is this reality and I don’t think we should be crying about it. We need this to improve the situation.

“How do we improve it? We need the quality on the pitch. We need the tournament to be more competitive and I think that’s what Hearts will bring to the table and I genuinely believe that this would be really good for Scottish football. 

“The fact that the Scottish coefficient has reduced so much that the champions have to win two games to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League is a terrible situation for Scottish football.”

He added: “I think all the clubs do need to improve. The level of Scottish football is shown by the European results, shown by the coefficient; it’s not good enough. 

“Obviously, Celtic have been a standout team in Scottish football and because winning the league has been so easy for them, no one’s pushing them and that’s not good for Celtic, for when they then have to play much higher opposition in Europe. 

“I just think it’ll be really good for Scottish football, even though there will no doubt be fans of the Old Firm who perhaps don’t like the fact that Hearts are going to be pushing them.

“There are significant advantages even for them.”

For Hearts, Bloom is bullish in his view that they can not only help improve Scottish football by being competitive domestically, but can help improve it on the continent.

He suggested earlier this year that Hearts could split the Old Firm this season.

And he reaffirmed his belief and expectation of the club competing in the Champions League on the back of their league performance.

“I’m very confident that will change because I can’t speak for other clubs, but Hearts will be a force,” he explained. “And when we get into Europe, we’ll be winning games and we will help lift that coefficient. It takes time, the way the system works.

“As and when Hearts win the league, we want to go straight into the Champions League; we do not want to have two games.”

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That is something Bloom sees happening in the next five to 10 years following his investment in the club.

But the expectation is to be playing European football every year and being competitive in it. Doing so will help grow the club, especially financially.

Missing out on European football this campaign has been a blow to the club’s income. It can, as Bloom noted, be “challenging” for the finances.

In such situations in the income from benefactors, whether it is James Anderson, Ann Budge or the Foundation of Hearts, are important.

The aim is to get to a position where there isn’t such a reliance.

“Financials, I think, for most Scottish clubs are really challenging,” he said. “So the investments put in and the amounts of money put in by Ann and James have been really important to Hearts, as are all the pledges by foundation members. And that’s still really important for the football club.

“It makes a big difference. It may take some time for Hearts to bring in the extra revenues by being successful, getting into group stages, being able to… And if you are successful on the pitch, obviously, you sell players for profit, you reinvest that money. 

“And then if you have success on the pitch, hopefully you can get more commercial success, sell more merchandise.

“So it all comes, but it may just take a little bit of time. And it’s up to the board of directors to manage that and to manage the finances.”

Union Saint-Gilloise, the Belgian club Bloom has a minority shareholding in, are an example for Hearts. They have used Europe to help grow the club following their return to the top flight.

They have made a solid start to their Champions League campaign after winning the title, defeating PSV Eindhoven in their first fixture before going down to Newcastle United.

(Image: Neil Hanna / Shutterstock)

Since 2022, they have played 38 games in Europe, reaching the knockout stage of both the Europa and Conference League.

That exposure has been key to increasing revenues and developing a player trading model.

Bloom also noted the higher standard of the league has helped that as well.

He said: “If the teams are playing in Europe regularly and they’re playing to a higher level…

“When it comes to selling players, I mean, it’s not a coincidence that players who are sold out of Belgium typically get a lot more money than out of Scotland. 

“There have been some players who have gone for big money in recent years, but not that many. But there are much bigger fees for many clubs out of Belgium because they’re playing at a higher level, the league is stronger. And in the last few years, the Belgian coefficient has gone up. 

“So it hasn’t changed things too much in terms of levels of qualification, but, from a Belgian point of view, the club’s in a much more certain position perhaps than they would have been three or four years ago.”

One of the big talking points in Scottish football for a number of years has been the television deal.

Bloom is sure that progress on the European stage and the level of the league growing will only help improve the finances they bring in from broadcasting.

Not only that, but the standard of players that are being produced domestically.

He said: “Absolutely. When the level of the game is going up, and it also helps the local Scottish players,” he said. “If they’re playing with better players, that will, in time, make a difference, probably not a big difference, to the Scottish national team.

“So I just think everything about it, I think a better Premiership will mean better commercial deals for the league, more viewers watching from Scotland, but even down south and elsewhere.”