Hearts Most Memorable European Nights
Hearts are gearing up for their all-important Europa League play-off decider against FC Zurich this week.
The Jambos currently trail 2:1 after the first leg, but fans are hoping the added benefit of a home crowd can help steer the club to an emphatic win - and a place in the Europa League Group Stages.
Here we look back at some of Hearts’ most memorable European nights to help inspire a victory for the Jam Tarts!
Hearts 5 - Lokomotive Leipzig 1
Cup-Winners' Cup (second leg), September 1976
The pressure was on for the Jambos in this second-leg tie against Lokomotive Leipzig. Hearts suffered a 2:0 defeat in the first leg and needed a huge performance at Tynecastle to pull themselves through.
Thankfully, they did just that. A crowd of 18,000 watched as Hearts burst out in attack to take a two-goal lead within 30 minutes. The goals from Roy Kay and Willie Gibson had levelled the score on aggregate, and hope began to build. However, Joachim Fritsche dampened excitement by pulling one back for Leipzig – moving the aggregate score in their favour once more.
Hearts responded with a Jim Brown goal 15 minutes from time, and both sides knew that they were in for a tough fight to find a winner.
When Drew Bushby made it 4:1 to edge ahead on aggregate, the Tynecastle crowd erupted - with fans recalling the exact moment to this day.
Gibson then added a second to his tally in the 84th minute to seal the deal and send Hearts through to the next round on a magnificent night in Edinburgh.
Hearts 1 – Bayern Munich 0
UEFA Cup Quarter-Final (first leg), February 1989
Hearts legend Iain Ferguson scored a 25-yard screamer at Tynecastle to clinch victory against German giants Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup Quarter Final in 1989.
The strike has gone down in history as one of Heart’s best European goals. With Ferguson later commenting: “I managed to catch that one sweetly and knew the moment it left my boot it was going into the net.”
Although Bayern Munich went on to win the second leg in Germany and progress to the semi-finals - the instant Ferguson’s thunderbolt hit the back of the net is one of the most celebrated moments in Hearts history.
Hearts 3-1 Braga
UEFA Cup First Round (first leg), September 2004
Hearts entered the unknown when they hosted Portuguese side Braga at their new ‘European home’ of Murrayfield in September 2004. Tynecastle did not meet UEFA criteria at the time, however an 18,000 strong crowd packed into the rugby stadium to provide a home-away-from-home advantage.
Goals came after the break, with Andy Webster scoring on 51 minutes and Paul Hartley adding a second just ten minutes later to give the Jambos an advantage.
Braga’s Paulo Sergio pulled a goal back to apply the pressure, however, Patrick Kisnorbo scored in stoppage-time to put Hearts back in the driving seat for their second leg encounter.
The Jam Tarts became the first Scottish club to reach the group stages of the UEFA Cup after securing a 3:3 draw in the second leg.
Hearts have certainly produced some memorable moments on the European stage, and we can’t wait to see what more can be added down the line.
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