Heart of Midlothian F.C. in European football explained

Club:Heart of Midlothian F.C.
Continent:Europe
Heart of Midlothian F.C. in European football
First Entry:1958–59 European Cup
Last Entry:2024–25 UEFA Conference League
European Cup:0 (Best: Preliminary rounds)
Uefa Cup:0 (Best: Quarter-final)
Cup Winners' Cup:0 (Best: Second round)
Seasons Played:25
Europa Conference League:0 (Best: Group stage)

Heart of Midlothian F.C. played their first official match in competitive European football on 3 September 1958. This made the club only the third Scottish and fifth British team to compete in Europe at the time. Hearts have been beaten on two occasions by the club who would go on to win the competition[1] and have also lost twice to the eventual runners–up.[2]

Hearts' best showing in European competition was in the 1988–89 UEFA Cup, where they reached the quarter–finals and narrowly lost 2–1 on aggregate to German giants Bayern Munich. Since then, Hearts became both the first–ever Scottish club and the first–ever British club to reach the new group stage format of the 2004–05 UEFA Cup (now the UEFA Europa League). They also qualified for the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League, becoming the first non Old Firm team in Scotland to do so since the tournament changed from the European Cup to the Champions League.

The club has an unfortunate record of having never progressed through a tie which has finished level on aggregate after two legs. They lost play–off matches by a single goal to Lausanne–Sport in the 1963–64 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and to eventual runners–up Real Zaragoza in the 1965–66 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, and they lost due to the away goals rule against Dukla Prague, Red Star Belgrade and Stuttgart in the 1986–87 UEFA Cup, 1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and 2000–01 UEFA Cup respectively.

Steven Pressley and Henry Smith jointly hold the record for playing in the most European matches for Hearts with 22 appearances each, and John Robertson is the club's top scorer with seven goals.

Statistics

Results

Note: In all cases the Hearts score is listed first.[3]

List of Hearts games in European competitions
SeasonCompetitionRoundOpponentHomeAwayOtherAgg.Notes
1958–59European CupPR Standard Liège2–11–53–6style="text-align:center;" rowspan="4"
1960–61European CupPR Benfica1–20–31–5
1961–62Fairs CupR1 Union Saint–Gilloise2–03–15–1
R2 Inter Milan0–10–40–5
1963–64Fairs CupR1 Lausanne–Sport2–22–22–36–7Playoff
1965–66Fairs CupR2 Vålerenga1–03–14–1style="text-align:center;"
R3 Real Zaragoza3–32–20–15–6Playoff
1976–77Cup Winners' CupR1 Lokomotive Leipzig5–10–25–3style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"
align=centreR2 Hamburg1–42–43–8
1984–85UEFA CupR1 Paris Saint–Germain2–20–42–6
1986–87UEFA CupR1 Dukla Prague3–20–13–3Away goals
1988–89UEFA CupR1 St. Patrick's Athletic2–02–04–0style="text-align:center;" rowspan="9"
R2 Austria Vienna0–01–01–0
R3 Velež Mostar3–01–24–2
QF Bayern Munich1–00–21–2
1990–91UEFA CupR1 Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk3–11–14–2
R2 Bologna3–10–33–4
1992–93UEFA CupR1 Slavia Prague4–20–14–3
R2 Standard Liège0–10–10–2
1993–94UEFA CupR1 Atlético Madrid2–10–32–4
1996–97Cup Winners' CupQR Red Star Belgrade1–10–01–1Away goals
1998–99Cup Winners' CupQR Lantana Tallinn5–01–06–0style="text-align:center;" rowspan="3"
R1 Real Mallorca0–11–11–2
2000–01UEFA CupQR ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar3–02–05–0
R1 Stuttgart3–20–13–3Away goals
2003–04UEFA CupR1 Zeljeznicar2–00–02–0style="text-align:center;" rowspan="29"
R2 Bordeaux0–21–01–2
2004–05UEFA CupR1 Braga3–12–25–3
Group A Feyenoord0–35th
Schalke 040–1style="text-align:center;"
Basel2–1
Ferencváros0–1style="text-align:center;"
2006–07Champions LeagueQR2 Široki Brijeg3–00–03–0
QR3 AEK Athens1–20–31–5
UEFA CupR1 Sparta Prague0–20–00–2
2009–10Europa LeaguePO Dinamo Zagreb2–00–42–4
2011–12Europa LeagueQR3 Paks4–11–15–2
PO Tottenham Hotspur0–50–00–5
2012–13Europa LeaguePO Liverpool0–11–11–2
2016–17Europa LeagueQR1 Infonet Tallinn2–14–26–3
QR2 Birkirkara1–20–01–2
2022–23Europa LeaguePO Zürich0–11–21–3
Europa Conference LeagueGroup A Fiorentina0–31–53rd
İstanbul Başakşehir0–41–3
RFS2–12–0
2023–24Europa Conference LeagueQR3 Rosenborg3–11–24–3
PO PAOK1–20–41–6
2024–25Europa LeaguePO Viktoria Plzeň0–10–10–2
Conference LeagueLeague Phase Dinamo Minsk2–1
Omonoia2–0style="text-align:center;"
1. FC Heidenheim0–2style="text-align:center;"
Cercle Brugge0–2
Copenhagen
Petroclub

By Competition

CompetitionPldWDLGFGAGD
UEFA Champions League411245−1
European Cup4103411−7
UEFA Europa League164481623−7
UEFA Conference League145091530
UEFA Cup38176154644+2
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup623183+5
European Cup Winners' Cup4103811−3
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup1244420200
Total98351845121147−26

Most Appearances

RankPlayerCareerApps
1 Craig Gordon2001–2007
2020–Current		27
2 Henry Smith1981–199622
Steven Pressley1998–200622
4 Gary Mackay1980–199721
5 John Colquhoun1985–1991
1993–1997		18
6 Robbie Neilson1999–200916
John Cumming1950–196716
8 Dave McPherson1987–1992
1994–1999		15
John Robertson1981–1988
1988–1998		15
Craig Levein1983–199715
Eamonn Bannon1976–1979
1988–1993		15
Lawrence Shankland2022–15

Top Goalscorers

RankPlayerCareerGoals
1 John Robertson1981–1988
1988–1998		7
2 Lawrence Shankland2022–6
3 Mike Galloway1987–19895
Willie Wallace1961–19665
5 Mark de Vries2002–20054
Wayne Foster1986–19944

Notes and References

  1. [S.L. Benfica|Benfica]
  2. [Real Zaragoza]
  3. Web site: Hearts European Results. London Hearts Supporters Club. 24 November 2015.

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