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Team
Overview
Stadium:
Tynecastle
Stadium
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Honours:
League
Winners: 1895,
1897, 1958, 1960
FA
Cup:
1891,
1896, 1901, 1906, 1956, 1998
League
Cup: 1955,
1959, 1960, 1963
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Heart of
Midlothian FC are a badge of honour for the Scottish
capital's Protestant community. Despite languishing
behind the Glasgow duopoly of Rangers FC and Celtic
FC in the record books, Hearts have nevertheless
won four Scottish championships, six Scottish
Cups and four Scottish League Cups.
The club had an itinerant early history, playing
at the Meadows, Powburn and Powderhall before
finally moving to their present home at Tynecastle
in 1886. In 1890 they became the only side from
the east of Scotland to become founder members
of the Scottish League.
Hearts quickly found their feet and won their
first Scottish Cup in 1891, beating Dumbarton
FC 1-0 in the final. The Edinburgh side followed
that up with two Scottish league titles in 1895
and 1897, and added three more cup final victories
in 1896 - a 3-1 victory over their Catholic city
rivals Hibernian FC in the only final ever to
be played outside Glasgow - then again in 1901
(4-3 against Celtic FC) and 1906 (1-0 against
Third Lanark FC).
This period of success was due in no small part
to the great Bobby Walker, whose 29 caps for Scotland
marked him out as one of the greatest players
in the club's history. However, the entire squad
were true heroes as they all subsequently volunteered
to take up arms in the first world war, encouraging
many thousands of supporters to do likewise. Sadly,
seven players were killed in action and few of
the survivors ever played again. A monument to
the Hearts players' sacrifice today stands in
Edinburgh's Haymarket. The club took time to recover
from the loss of so many players and although
Hearts continued to enjoy a reputation for stylish
football, it was not until the 1950s that they
were to return to the top flight under manager
Tommy Walker. Then, in 1956, a side including
Alfie Conn, Willie Bauld, Jimmy Wardhaugh, John
Cumming, Dave Mackay and Alex Young lifted the
Scottish Cup - beating Celtic FC 3-1 in the final
- and Hearts went on to win the league title in
1958 (when they scored a record 132 goals in the
process) and, for a fourth time, in 1960.
Hearts had also won the Scottish League Cup in
1955, 1959, 1960 and 1963 but further success
proved hard to come by, with the club being relegated
from the top flight three times in the late 1970s
and early 1980s before returning to something
more like stability in recent times.
They had been losing finalists in the Scottish
Cup in 1968, 1976, 1986 and 1996, and suffered
another defeat in the Scottish League Cup final
in 1997, before the long wait for further honours
ended in 1998 when they beat Rangers 2-1 in the
final to lift the Scottish Cup for a sixth time.
There has been little i nthe way of success since
Jim Jeffries departed for Bradford City but now
under management of Chris Levein and with soem
talented players, Hearts are currently well placed
for a Uefa Cup spot next season.
QUICK
FACT
During
the 1st World War, the entire playing staff
volunteered to join the forces. |
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