Heart of Midlothian F.C. in European football

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[note 1] and have also lost twice to the eventual runners–up.[note 2]

Heart of Midlothian F.C. in European football
Steven Pressley, who holds the appearance record for Hearts in European matches
ClubHeart of Midlothian F.C.
Seasons played24
First entry1958–59 European Cup
Latest entry2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League
Titles
Champions League0 (Best: Preliminary rounds)
Europa League0 (Best: Quarter-final)
Cup Winners' Cup0 (Best: Second round)
Europa Conference League0 (Best: Group stage)

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

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Results

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Note: In all cases the Hearts score is listed first.[1]

List of Hearts games in European competitions
Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away Other Agg. [a] Notes Ref
1958–59 European Cup PR   Standard Liège 2–1 1–5 3–6  
1960–61 European Cup PR   Benfica 1–2 0–3 1–5  
1961–62 Fairs Cup R1   Union Saint–Gilloise 2–0 3–1 5–1  
R2   Inter Milan 0–1 0–4 0–5  
1963–64 Fairs Cup R1   Lausanne–Sport 2–2 2–2 2–3 6–7   Playoff
1965–66 Fairs Cup R2   Vålerenga 1–0 3–1 4–1  
R3   Real Zaragoza 3–3 2–2 0–1 5–6   Playoff
1976–77 Cup Winners' Cup R1   Lokomotive Leipzig 5–1 0–2 5–3  
R2   Hamburg 1–4 2–4 3–8  
1984–85 UEFA Cup R1   Paris Saint–Germain 2–2 0–4 2–6  
1986–87 UEFA Cup R1   Dukla Prague 3–2 0–1 3–3   Away goals
1988–89 UEFA Cup R1   St. Patrick's Athletic 2–0 2–0 4–0  
R2   Austria Vienna 0–0 1–0 1–0  
R3   Velež Mostar 3–0 1–2 4–2  
QF   Bayern Munich 1–0 0–2 1–2  
1990–91 UEFA Cup R1   Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3–1 1–1 4–2  
R2   Bologna 3–1 0–3 3–4  
1992–93 UEFA Cup R1   Slavia Prague 4–2 0–1 4–3  
R2   Standard Liège 0–1 0–1 0–2  
1993–94 UEFA Cup R1   Atlético Madrid 2–1 0–3 2–4  
1996–97 Cup Winners' Cup QR   Red Star Belgrade 1–1 0–0 1–1   Away goals
1998–99 Cup Winners' Cup QR   Lantana Tallinn 5–0 1–0 6–0  
R1   Real Mallorca 0–1 1–1 1–2  
2000–01 UEFA Cup QR   ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar 3–0 2–0 5–0  
R1   Stuttgart 3–2 0–1 3–3   Away goals
2003–04 UEFA Cup R1   Zeljeznicar 2–0 0–0 2–0  
R2   Bordeaux 0–2 1–0 1–2  
2004–05 UEFA Cup R1   Braga 3–1 2–2 5–3  
Group A   Feyenoord 0–3 5th  
  Schalke 04 0–1
  Basel 2–1
  Ferencváros 0–1
2006–07 Champions League QR2   Široki Brijeg 3–0 0–0 3–0  
QR3   AEK Athens 1–2 0–3 1–5  
UEFA Cup R1   Sparta Prague 0–2 0–0 0–2  
2009–10 Europa League PO   Dinamo Zagreb 2–0 0–4 2–4  
2011–12 Europa League QR3   Paks 4–1 1–1 5–2  
PO   Tottenham Hotspur 0–5 0–0 0–5  
2012–13 Europa League PO   Liverpool 0–1 1–1 1–2  
2016–17 Europa League QR1   Infonet Tallinn 2–1 4–2 6–3  
QR2   Birkirkara 1–2 0–0 1–2  
2022–23 Europa League PO   Zürich 0–1 1–2 1–3  
Europa Conference League Group A   Fiorentina 0–3 1–5 3rd  
  İstanbul Başakşehir 0–4 1–3
  RFS 2–1 2–0
2023–24 Europa Conference League QR3   Rosenborg 3–1 1–2 4–3  
PO   PAOK 1–2 0–4 1–6  
2024–25 Europa League PO   Viktoria Plzeň 0–1 0–1 0–2  
Europa Conference League League Phase   Dinamo Minsk 2–1
  Omonoia 2–0
  Heidenheim
  Cercle Brugge
  Copenhagen
  Petroclub

By Competition

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Competition Pld W D L GF GA GD
UEFA Champions League 4 1 1 2 4 5 −1
European Cup 4 1 0 3 4 11 −7
UEFA Europa League 16 4 4 8 16 23 −7
UEFA Europa Conference League 12 5 0 7 15 26 –11
UEFA Cup 38 17 6 15 46 44 +2
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 6 2 3 1 8 3 +5
European Cup Winners' Cup 4 1 0 3 8 11 −3
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 12 4 4 4 20 20 0
Total 96 35 18 43 121 143 −22

Notes

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  1. ^ Round or group progressed ( ) or eliminated ( )

References

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  1. ^ "Hearts European Results". London Hearts Supporters Club. Retrieved 24 November 2015.