Championship leaders Hearts face closest challengers Rangers at Ibrox on Friday evening, live on BT Sport with a 7.45pm kick-off.
Here are 10 things you may, or may not know, about Heart of Midlothian.
1 The name Heart of Midlothian comes from the Old Tolbooth that stood in the Royal Mile, next to St Giles’ Cathedral. It was a multi-purpose building that was also used as a meeting place for the Parliament, the Town Council, the Privy Council and the High Court so the building became known as the "Heart of Midlothian”. It was demolished in 1817 but it had become such a landmark that it was remembered in a famous novel, ‘Heart of Midlothian’, written by Sir Walter Scot.
2 The Edinburgh side were formed in 1874 but there is a record of a Heart of Mid-Lothian side playing cricket in 1864 although it is not known what role they played in the football club’s formation. What is known is that members of the Heart of Midlothian Dancing Club were involved in founding the football club.
3 Hearts originally played at the Meadows, Powburn and Powderhall before moving to the Gorgie area of the capital in 1881. Tynecastle became their home in 1886 and has a capacity of just over 17,000 – it is generally considered to be one of the most atmospheric stadiums in the country.
4 The Edinburgh derby with Hibernian first took place on Christmas Day in 1875 in a challenge match. Hearts won 1-0 in what was Hibs’ first ever fixture.
5 Seven members of the Hearts first-team squad died in the First World War, with the Tynecastle club making up a substantial part of McCrae’s Battalion. The soldiers that lost their lives and the Battalion are remembered every year at a service at the Heart of Midlothian War Memorial in Haymarket, Edinburgh. The monument was donated to the city by the club in 1922.
6 Hearts have been league champions in the top flight of Scottish football four times – in 1894/95, 1896/97, 1957/58 and 1959/60. They missed out on the title in heart-breaking fashion to Kilmarnock on the final day of 1964/65 and to Celtic in 1985/86.
7 Hearts possessed a potent strikeforce in their championship season of 1957/58, with the ‘Terrible Trio’ of Jimmy Wardhaugh, Willie Bauld and Alfie Conn helping the team score 132 goals.
8 The Scottish Cup has been lifted eight times, to leave Hearts sitting fourth in the table of all-time winners behind Celtic, Rangers and Queen’s Park. Hearts have been in the final 14 times and won in 1890/91, 1895/96, 1900/01, 1905/06, 1955/56, 1997/98, 2005/06 and 2011/12. Hearts have claimed the League Cup on four occasions but not since 1962/63.
9 Scottish internationalist Gary Mackay is the club’s record appearance holder, playing 640 games between September 1980 and March 1997.
10 John Robertson is the club’s greatest ever goalscorer in the league. Robertson found the net 214 times in two spells with the club but Willie Bauld holds the overall goalscoring record of 277 goals, just six ahead of Robertson and Jimmy Wardhaugh.
Craig Stewart
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