Heart of Midlothian F.C.

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Hearts

Full name

Heart Of Midlothian Football Club

Nickname(s)

The Heart (earliest nickname);
The Hearts;
Hearts;
Jam Tarts;
Jambos

Founded

1874

Ground

Tynecastle Stadium
Edinburgh
(Capacity 17,420^[1])

Chairman

Roman Romanov

Manager

Vacant

League

Scottish Premier League

2007-2008

Scottish Premier League, 8th





Home colours





Away colours

Heart of Midlothian F.C. (most commonly referred to as Hearts) are a professional football club from Edinburgh, Scotland who play in the Scottish Premier League. They are one of the two principal clubs in the city, the other being rivals Hibernian. Hearts were the only east coast team invited to join the inaugural Scottish Football League in 1890. Hearts have won the Scottish Cup on 7 occasions, the League title 4 times and the League Cup 4 times.

The club's home, the all-seated 17,420-capacity Tynecastle Stadium in West Edinburgh, has been their home since 1886. The ground has hosted nine full Scotland International matches, although only two of these have been since the Second World War.^[2]

Russian-Lithuanian businessman and banker Vladimir Romanov became the major shareholder of Hearts when he took over Chris Robinson's stake. The club is currently seeking a new manager, after they parted company with caretaker Stephen Frail at the end of 2007-08 SPL season.

[edit] Formation

Hearts' first captain, Tom Purdie

Hearts were founded around 1874. They are reputedly named after a popular local dance hall,^[3] which in turn took its name from the novel The Heart of Midlothian by Sir Walter Scott. The first Hearts Captain, Tom Purdie, stated that they may have played in 1873. They initially played at The Meadows, Powburn and Powderhall before moving to the Gorgie area in 1881. They moved to their current Tynecastle site in 1886. Their badge is a love heart based on the Heart of Midlothian mosaic on the Royal Mile.

The earliest mention of Heart of Midlothian in a sporting context is a report in the Scotsman newspaper from 20 July 1864 of the Scotsman vs Heart of Mid-Lothian at cricket. It is not known if this was the same club who went on to form the football club, but it was common for football clubs in those days to play other sports as well (eg. Clyde played cricket, whilst Vale of Leven played shinty).^[4]

The famous Hearts Song was written and performed by Scottish comedian Hector Nicol, a St. Mirren F.C. fan.

[edit] Rivalry

Hearts traditional rivals are Hibernian F.C. Until the 1950s, Edinburgh had five Scottish League sides, and support for them tended to be based largely on geography - Hearts in the south and west, Hibs in the north and east - and success rather than religion.

Hearts lobbied hard for the admission of Hibernians (as they were initially called) into the Scottish Football Association, who initially forbade member clubs to play a "sectarian" side. Hearts played several "illegal" matches with Hibs - being fined every time, which resulted in the two clubs playing another match to easily pay the fine off - until the SFA acquiesced. Hearts original rivals were the 3rd Edinburgh Rifle Volunteers founded in 1874, later known as St Bernard's F.C.. At one time all three teams shared a ground at The Meadows, and it is perhaps no coincidence they were to form the backbone of the game in a city where they faced strong competition from Rugby football.

The first "official" derby match was on Christmas Day 1875, when Hearts beat Hibernians 1–0. After their five-game struggle for the EFA Cup in 1878, that the two clubs became the dominant ones in Edinburgh. Hearts won 3–2 after 0–0, 1–1, 1–1 and 1–1 draws. The clubs' most notable meeting occurred in the 1896 Scottish Cup Final, played on 14 March 1896, Hearts winning 3-1 at Logie Green Park (the ground of St Bernards) in the only final played outside Glasgow.

For more details on this topic, see Edinburgh derby.

[edit] History

The Heart of Midlothian

The original colour of Hearts football strip was white with a maroon heart.

Hearts had considerable success in the early years of the Scottish Football League winning the league championship in 1894-5 and 1895-6. They also won four Scottish Cups in a 15 year period from 1891 to 1906.

The club then went from 1906 to 1954 without winning a major trophy before enjoying a decade of success between 1954 and 1963. Under the managership of Tommy Walker Hearts won the League twice, in 1957-58, with a record 62 points and 132 goals scored (Still the Scottish 'Top' League Record) and only 29 against in 34 matches, and in 1959-60. Hearts also won the Scottish Cup, in 1956, and the Scottish League Cup four times, in 1954-55, 1958-59, 1959-60 and 1962-63. This glorious period for the club contained many top, now legendary, names such as Alfie Conn, Sr., Willie Bauld, Jimmy Wardhaugh, John Cumming, Dave Mackay and Alex Young. In 1964-65 Hearts lost 2-0 to Kilmarnock on the last day of the season to lose the league title to them on goal average. Subsequently Hearts were instrumental in pushing through a change to use goal difference to separate teams level on points.

From the mid 1960s Hearts went into decline and after the advent of the ten team Premier Division in 1975; they were relegated for the first time in 1976-77, promotion followed in 1977-78 spent several seasons yo-yoing back and forth from the Premier League to the First Division & back again. The major problem for Hearts at this time was an antiquated company structure which was a massive disincentive to anyone to invest in the club. When the board of directors finally resigned after Hearts failed to regain their Premier Division status, however, the arrival of chairman Wallace Mercer led to a revival in the club's fortunes. The club came within 10 minutes of winning the league in 1986 before two goals by Albert Kidd denied them; losing out on goal difference. Hearts finished runners-up again in 1988.

The early 1990s the club struggled to settle on a manager. Within a 2 year period, Joe Jordan, Sandy Clark and Tommy McLean were all sacked. One of the only bright points in this period was the run of 22 games in a row without defeat against arch-rivals Hibernian, including the 2-1 triumph in the fourth round of the 1994 Tennents Scottish Cup at Easter Road, with Wayne Foster grabbing the late winner.

In 1997-98 Hearts beat Rangers 2-1 to lift the Scottish Cup under the management of Jim Jefferies.

Full-time scoreboard vs Braga to qualify for UEFA Cup group stages

In recent seasons, Hearts have usually been competing for third place in the Scottish Premier League, but, in 2005-2006, they finished second. Since the Scottish Premier League introduced an end of season split into two groups of six, Hearts have been the only team other than the "Old Firm" to have been in the top six each season. This came to an end in the 2007-08 season, when after 33 games, Hearts sat in a dismal 8th place, missing the cut to be in the top 6 by an agonising 3 points, to Aberdeen's 44 points total. They finished third in 2002-3 and 2003-4, and reached the inaugural group stages of the UEFA Cup in 2004-5, but finished bottom of their group, despite a victory over FC Basel. During the 2004-05 season, they finished fifth in the league.

In 2004, then club CEO Chris Robinson announced plans to sell Tynecastle, which he claimed was “not fit for purpose”, and instead have Hearts rent Murrayfield from the Scottish Rugby Union.^[5] This move was deemed necessary due to the club’s increasingly large debt. The plan was very unpopular with supporters, and a campaign, entitled Save Our Hearts, was set up to try to block the move.^[6] But, as Robinson and his supporters had a slight majority of the club’s shares, a preliminary deal to sell the stadium was struck with the Cala property development company for just over £20 million.^[7]

[edit] Vladimir Romanov era

In the midst of Hearts financial difficulties in late 2004, Russian-Lithuanian multi-millionaire Vladimir Romanov began to be involved with the club in what was styled the “Romanov Revolution”. After Romanov began negotiations to purchase a large portion of Hearts’ shares, the impending sale of Tynecastle was called off, much to the relief of the majority of supporters.^[8]

During February 2005, Romanov purchased 29.9% of the share capital, taking effective control of the club. He then increased his holding to 80% by December 2005 and thus gained full control of the club. Romanov also arranged for a £4,500,000 loan due to Scottish Media Group to be paid off by his investment bank.

Romanov said that his ultimate aim is for Hearts to win the Champions League. His early actions included bringing on former Rugby Union chief Phil Anderton as CEO in 3 March 2005. On 9 May 2005, manager John Robertson resigned, a move which was greeted with much dismay among supporters because Robertson had been a great player for Hearts. Former Ipswich Town and Derby County manager George Burley was hired on 30 June 2005 to replace him.

[edit] 2005-06

The 2006 Scottish Cup victory bus

As the season began, the combination of Vladimir Romanov's financial backing and the appointment of George Burley led many Hearts fans to believe that they could win the SPL championship in 2005-06. Signings such as Edgaras Jankauskas, Rudi Skácel and Takis Fyssas, allied to existing players Andy Webster, Steven Pressley, Craig Gordon, and Paul Hartley meant that Hearts built a team which made an outstanding start to the season. Hearts won their first eight SPL games, including a 1-0 win over reigning champions Rangers.^[9]

After leading the Jambos through ten undefeated SPL appearances, and guiding them to the top of the league table, Hearts and Burley parted ways on 22 October 2005,^[10] just hours before their Premier League match with Dunfermline Athletic. A club statement after the game declared that the departure of Burley had been mutually agreed and that there were "irreconcilable differences" between Burley and the Hearts board. Throughout his short spell in charge rumours had persisted that the relationship between Burley and Romanov was uneasy. It had also been reported that Romanov had signed players without Burley's consent.

John McGlynn was put in temporary charge of the team following Burley's abrupt departure. During McGlynn's tenure of four games, Hearts lost their first league match of the season against rivals Hibs. Following this match, the chief executive Phil Anderton was dismissed on 31 October 2005. The chairman, George Foulkes resigned in protest at Anderton's dismissal. Romanov's son, Roman Romanov, was appointed as chairman and acting chief executive.

Vladimir Romanov's concerns with the fairness of refereeing developed during this period. This stated after Hearts made major complaints after a match with Rangers in the 2004-05 season during which the referee Hugh Dallas controversially awarded a decisive penalty kick late in the match on the basis of advice from his linesman Andy Davis. There were also complaints after the dismissals of Craig Gordon against Falkirk, Edgaras Jankauskas against Hibs and Saulius Mikoliunas against Rangers. Romanov called for a replay of each of these matches, but this was refused and Romanov was rebuked by the SFA.^[11]

On 7 November Graham Rix was surprisingly appointed as head coach. Hearts' title ambitions suffered a major setback when they lost 3–2 to Celtic on New Year's Day 2006. On 7 February 2006, reports were made indicating that Rix had told players who were apparently disgruntled at being left out of the team before a match against Dundee United that Romanov himself was picking the team and was "pulling the strings". While it was well-known that Rix was not in charge of player transfer policy, it had not previously been confirmed that he was not in charge of selecting the team either.

Part of the fallout from this match was that the agent of Andy Webster indicated that Webster would not extend his contract with Hearts, which was due to expire at the end of 2006-07 season.^[12] During April 2006, Vladimir Romanov put Andy Webster on the transfer list, claiming that he could not trust the player 100%.^[13]

Graham Rix was sacked as Hearts manager on 22 March 2006 along with the club's Director of Football, Jim Duffy, who had only been appointed one month previously.^[14] Shortly afterwards, former FBK Kaunas coach Valdas Ivanauskas was appointed interim head coach of the first team until the end of the season.

Steven Pressley scores in the Scottish Cup final penalty shootout

Nonetheless, on April 2, 2006 Hearts eased into the Scottish Cup Final after a 4–0 victory over Hibs. A 1-0 win over Aberdeen on 3 May at Tynecastle guaranteed second place and a place in the Champions League qualifying rounds for the following season. It also meant that Hearts were the first club to break the total dominance of the Scottish Premier League by the Old Firm since Motherwell in 1995. Hearts then won the Scottish Cup by beating Scottish Second Division side Gretna in a penalty shootout after the Final had finished in a 1-1 draw.

[edit] 2006-07

Valdas Ivanauskas was confirmed as head coach on a permanent basis during the summer of 2006 following the Scottish Cup victory. However, a pre-season tour of Austria surprisingly witnessed no new signings. Eventually, on the eve of the SPL season, Hearts announced the capture of Chile Striker Mauricio Pinilla on a season-long loan. PAOK Salonika's Christos Karipidis and Tiago Costa, a full back from Benfica B were also signed, while in the final week of the transfer window three further Lithuanian players - Marius Žaliūkas, Kęstutis Ivaškevičius and Andrius Velička - joined on loan from FBK Kaunas. Hearts fans still anticipated the arrival of "two World Cup stars" but were left disappointed when the club announced that the final piece of business of the transfer window would be to sign the previously-loaned striker Roman Bednář on a permanent deal.

Hearts played their home 2006/2007 European Champions League games at Murrayfield Stadium, rather than in their home ground Tynecastle. A combination of Tynecastle falling short of UEFA requirements in terms of pitch size and hospitality facilities, and Murrayfield's greater capacity, meant that Murrayfield was the preferred choice for the Tynecastle board. Hearts won their 2nd round qualifying tie against Bosnian champions Široki Brijeg 3-0 on aggregate, but were defeated 5-1 on aggregate by AEK Athens in the final qualifying round. The Greek side won 2-1 at Murrayfield due to two late goals and then won 3-0 in the Athens Olympic Stadium. Hearts had one player (Bruno Aguiar) sent off in the first leg and two players (Julien Brellier and Neil McCann) sent off in the second leg.

The loss in the final qualifying round meant that Hearts dropped into the UEFA Cup first round against Sparta Prague. In this competition they lost 2-0 at a muddy Murrayfield in the first leg and they were eliminated after a 0-0 draw in Prague in the return leg on 28 September 2006.

Following an inconsistent start to their League campaign, head coach Valdas Ivanauskas took a sabbatical from his role on 23 October. Club owner Vladimir Romanov, who stated "I have full confidence in Valdas and look forward to his return",^[15] appointed the club's sporting director, Eduard Malofeev, as interim head coach. Further off-field disruption ensued four days later when Romanov warned his players that they would all be put up for sale if Hearts did not win their match against Dunfermline Athletic the next day. Captain Steven Pressley, flanked by senior players Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon, responded with a statement voicing the players' unhappiness at affairs at the club, stating in a pre-match media conference ahead of Dunfermline's visit that there was "significant unrest" in the dressing-room.^[16] The game was drawn 1-1.

The repercussions from the press-conference would stretch over several months and eventually lead to the departure from the club of two of the so-called Riccarton Three.^[17] Pressley was dropped for a match against Falkirk on 13 November^[18] and named as an unused substitute for a 1-0 defeat by Rangers on 19 November.^[19] Hartley was only used as a substitute in the former game. Pressley eventually left Hearts on 9 December, with accompanying press releases stating that this was an amicable agreement. He joined rivals Celtic on 1 January 2007 and captained his new squad to a 2-1 victory at Tynecastle on his first return to Edinburgh. Hartley also moved to Celtic during January 2007, in a £1.1 million transfer on 31 January. This only left Gordon, who was inexplicably dropped for matches away to Dundee United and Rangers in December and January respectively, as the only member of the trio to remain at Hearts beyond the January transfer window.

Hearts failed to win a game under the management of Eduard Malofeev, who took control during Ivanauskas' sabbatical. Hearts lost at Celtic and Hibernian - a result which eliminated Hearts from the CIS Cup - and at home to Rangers. He remained as caretaker manager until late November 2006 when, despite media reports anticipating the appointment of Eugenijus Riabovas,^[20] Ivanauskas returned to resume his duties as club manager.^[21]

A 1-0 loss in the Scottish Cup at Dunfermline on 3 February 2007, with Gordon on the bench, ended Hearts' chance to retain the trophy. Later that month, Ivanauskas was moved to a director of football role,^[22] with director of football Anatoly Korobochka assuming the role of interim head coach on March 2. An improved run of form towards the end of the season witnessed Hearts challenge Aberdeen for third spot in the League and UEFA Cup qualification. However, The Dons scored a last minute equaliser in a head-to-head confrontation between the two teams at Tynecastle in May, and eventually finished four points clear in third place.

[edit] 2007-08

For the second consecutive pre-season Hearts visited Austria, although on this occasion the side also played four tour matches in Germany. Only one pre-season match was played in Edinburgh, a "glamour friendly" against FC Barcelona at Murrayfield Stadium, which attracted what Hearts claim was their largest ever attendance for a home match, although this was actually classed as Barcelona's home match. Several Lithuanian players left the club during the close-season, while two more Audrius Ksanavičius and Ričardas Beniušis arrived on loan from FBK Kaunas. Other summer signings included Rubén Palazuelos from RS Gimnástica de Torrelavega and Michael Stewart, who returned to the club after two seasons with rivals Hibernian. Scottish international goalkeeper Craig Gordon moved to Sunderland for £9 million in early August. This fee meant that Gordon was the most expensive Hearts and Scottish player ever, and the most expensive goalkeeper in British football history.

Just prior to the season's commencement Anatoly Korobochka and Stephen Frail were confirmed as the club's permanent coaching team,^[23] however Hearts began their League season disappointingly, with a 1-0 Derby defeat to Hibernian. After several other discouraging results, the Scottish media began to scrutinise why the team was not matching supporters expectations, with one particular area of interest being the coaching structure. As neither Korobochka or Bulgarian assistant coach Angel Chervenkov spoke fluent English, a translator was required to aid management and team communication, a situation Frail admitted was "frustrating" and "not ideal" after a 1-1 draw with Gretna.^[24]

On 31 December 2007, Romanov announced that, following five successive defeats which saw the club fall to 10th (third bottom) place in the league, the club would be looking to appoint a 'British-style' manager who would have complete control over team affairs.^[25] Since then, Stephen Frail has been the caretaker manager, although it was not made clear at the time that Frail would be manager until the end of the season.

Hearts were defeated 1-0 in the 4th Round replay of the Scottish Cup by Motherwell after a 2-2 draw on 21 January 2008. Rangers defeated them 2-0 in the semi-final of the CIS Cup on 30 January at Hampden Park. Hearts then sold their top scorer, Andrius Velička, to Norwegian side Viking Stavanger on 26 February 2008. A 0-0 draw with Kilmarnock on 5 April 2008 meant that Hearts failed to make the "Top Six" of the SPL, for the first time since the split league format was introduced in 2001.

On the 22nd May 2008 reports came out that caretaker manager Stephen Frail was on his way out of Tynecastle as he was not part of the new regime.

[edit] Mascots

The club's two mascots are Tynie and Teenie Tiger.^[26] Replacing the outgoing Josh and Jemma Jambo, they first appeared at Tynecastle on 6 August 2006 when Hearts beat Celtic 2-1 with a late goal coming from Roman Bednar to seal the win.

[edit] Players

As of 31 August 2007.

[edit] Current squad

No.	Position	Player
2	DF	Robbie Neilson (vice-captain)
3	MF	Lee Wallace
4	DF	Christophe Berra (captain)
6	DF	José Gonçalves
8	MF	Bruno Aguiar
10	MF	Laryea Kingson
11	MF	Andrew Driver
13	GK	Steve Banks
14	FW	Christian Nadé
15	FW	Juho Mäkelä
16	MF	Saulius Mikoliūnas (on loan from FBK Kaunas)
18	MF	Deividas Česnauskis (on loan from FBK Kaunas)
21	MF	Eggert Jónsson
20	DF	Jason Thomson

No.	Position	Player
22	FW	Calum Elliot
23	MF	Michael Stewart
25	DF	Christos Karipidis
26	MF	Marius Žaliūkas (on loan from FBK Kaunas)
27	FW	Mauricio Pinilla
28	MF	Kęstutis Ivaškevičius (on loan from FBK Kaunas)
29	MF	Audrius Ksanavičius (on loan from FBK Kaunas until June 2009)
31	GK	Anthony Basso
35	FW	Steven Husband
39	MF	Fernando Screpis
42	FW	Scott Robinson
43	FW	Jamie Mole
44	MF	Rubén Palazuelos
48	FW	Branimir Kostadinov
52	DF	Ryan McGowan
53	DF	Matej Rapnik
60	FW	Gary Glen

[edit] Players out on loan

No.		Position	Player
––		MF	Mirsad Bešlija (on loan to Sint-Truiden)

No.		Position	Player
––		FW	Denis McLaughlin (on loan to Gimnástica)
––		FW	Hjálmar Þórarinsson (on loan to Fram Reykjavik)

For recent transfers, see List of Scottish football transfers 2007-08.

[edit] Loan moves from Kaunas to Hearts

For more details on this topic, see FBK Kaunas to Hearts.

[edit] Reserve and under-19 squad

No.	Position	Player
32	DF	David Armstrong
34	MF	Matthew Doherty
35	DF	John Armstrong
36	DF	Alan Lithgow
38	MF	Sean Mackle
40	DF	Alistair Divine
41	MF	Matthew Park
45	FW	David Templeton
47	GK	Haraldur Bjornsson
48	FW	Branimir Kostadinov
49	DF	Shaun Kelly
52	DF	Ryan McGowan
53	DF	Matej Rapnik
54	GK	Mark Ridgers
55	MF	Steven Hubby
56	FW	Paul Mulrooney
57	FW	Mark Cowan
58	DF	Jonothan Brown

No.	Position	Player
59	MF	Rocco Visconte
60	FW	Gary Glen
61	MF	Ross McKenzie
62	MF	Dumitru Copil
63	MF	Jonothan Stewart
64	FW	Ryan Wallace
65	MF	Shaun McCallion
66	DF	Conrad Balatoni
67	MF	Danny Thomson
68	DF	Craig Thomson
69	FW	David Love
70	MF	Jonathan Wood
71	MF	Elias Wagner
--	DF	Cairan Coll
--	MF	Ben Long
--	FW	Niall Malone
--	DF	Craig Sives
--	DF	Marco Pelosi
--	GK	Jamie MacDonald

[edit] Kit sponsors

Year	Kit sponsor	Main sponsor
1977-82	Umbro
1982-84	Umbro	Alexanders
1984-85	Umbro	Renault
1985-86	Umbro	Mita
1986-88	Bukta	Mita
1988-89	Bukta	Novafone
1989-90	Bukta	Thorn Sercurity
1990-91	Bukta	Miller Homes
1991-92	Admiral	Miller Homes
1992-93	Admiral	Strongbow
1993-94	Asics	Strongbow
1995-97	Pony	Strongbow
1997-98	Olympic Sportswear	Strongbow
1998-00	os	Strongbow
2000-02	Errea	Strongbow
2002-05	Reebok	All:Sports
2005-07	Hummel International	Ukio Bankas
2007-09	Umbro	Ukio Bankas

[edit] Non-playing staff

[edit] Boardroom

Name	Role
Roman Romanov	Chairman & CEO
Sergejus Fedotovas	Non-Executive Director
Julija Goncaruk	Non-Executive Director

[edit] Management

Name	Role
Anatoly Korobochka	Director of Football
Eduard Malofeev	Advisor on Sports Matters to the Board
Steve Banks	Goalkeeping Coach
Tom Ritchie	Fitness Coach
Darren Murray	Under 19's Coach
John Murray	Youth Academy Director
Davie Henderson	Head Physiotherapist
Andrew Murray	Sports Scientist

[edit] Managers

Peter Fairley (1901-1903)
William Waugh (1903-1908)
James McGhee (1908-1909)
John McCartney (1910-1919)
William McCartney (1919-1935)
David Pratt (1935-1937)
Frank Moss (1937-1940)
David McLean (1941-1951)
Tommy Walker (1951-1966)
John Harvey (1966-1970)
Bobby Seith (1970-1974)
John Hagart (1974-1977)
Willie Ormond (1977-1980)
Bobby Moncur (1980-1981)

Tony Ford (1981)
Alex MacDonald (1982-1990) (with Sandy Jardine, 1986-1988)
Joe Jordan (1990-1993)
Sandy Clark (1993-1994)
Tommy McLean (1994-1995)
Jim Jefferies (1995-2000)
Craig Levein (2000-2004)
John Robertson (2004-2005)
George Burley (2005)
Graham Rix (2005-2006)
Valdas Ivanauskas (2006-2007)
Eduard Malofeev (2006,interim)
Anatoly Korobochka and Stephen Frail (2007-2008)
Stephen Frail (2008, caretaker)
Steve Banks (2008, caretaker)

[edit] Club records

Highest home attendance (Tynecastle): 53,396 vs Rangers, Scottish Cup 3rd Round, 13 February 1932
Highest home attendance (Murrayfield): 57,857^[27] vs F.C. Barcelona, Pre-season friendly, 28 July 2007 [N.B.: Barcelona were officially the "home" side in this tie and therefore any claim as this being Hearts' home tie is purely a PR ploy]
Highest average home attendance: 28,195, 1948-49 season (15 games)^[28]
Most capped players: Steven Pressley, 32 (for Scotland)^[29]
Most appearances: Gary Mackay, 640 (515 L, 58 SC, 46 LC, 21 E) 1980 - 1997^[30]
Most league appearances: Gary Mackay, 515
Most league goals: John Robertson, 214, 1983-1998^[31]
Most goals in a season: Barney Battles, 44^[32]
Most honours: John Cumming, 2 League Titles, 1 Scottish Cup, 4 League Cups, 1954-1962^[33]
Highest transfer fee paid: Mirsad Bešlija, £850,000, Racing Genk, 2006^[34]
Highest transfer fee received: £9m for Craig Gordon from Sunderland A.F.C. in 2007 (British record fee ever paid for a goalkeeper)

[edit] Scottish Cup Finals

Date		F	Opponents	A
7 February 1891	Heart of Midlothian	1	Dumbarton	0
14 March 1896	Heart of Midlothian	3	Hibernian	1
6 April 1901	Heart of Midlothian	4	Celtic	3
11 April 1903	Heart of Midlothian	1	Rangers	1
18 April 1903	Heart of Midlothian	0	Rangers	0
25 April 1903	Heart of Midlothian	0	Rangers	2
28 April 1906	Heart of Midlothian	1	Third Lanark	0
20 April 1907	Heart of Midlothian	0	Celtic	3
21 April 1956	Heart of Midlothian	3	Celtic	1
27 April 1968	Heart of Midlothian	1	Dunfermline Athletic	3
1 May 1976	Heart of Midlothian	1	Rangers	3
10 May 1986	Heart of Midlothian	0	Aberdeen	3
18 May 1996	Heart of Midlothian	1	Rangers	5
16 May 1998	Heart of Midlothian	2	Rangers	1
13 May 2006	Heart Of Midlothian	1	Gretna	1

[edit] League Cup Finals

Date		F	Opponents	A
23 October 1954	Heart of Midlothian	4	Motherwell	2
25 October 1958	Heart of Midlothian	5	Partick Thistle	1
24 October 1959	Heart of Midlothian	2	Third Lanark	1
28 October 1961	Heart of Midlothian	1	Rangers	1
18 December 1961	Heart of Midlothian	1	Rangers	3
27 October 1962	Heart of Midlothian	1	Kilmarnock	0
24 November 1996	Heart of Midlothian	3	Rangers	4