Heart of Midlothian F.C.

Football club infobox clubname Hearts fullname Heart of Midlothian
Football Club nickname The Jam Tarts founded 1874 ground Tynecastle Stadium,
Edinburgh, Scotland capacity 18,008 chairman George Foulkes (MP) manager John Robertson (Heart of Midlothian footballer) league Scottish Premier League season 2003-04 position Scottish Premier League, 3rd pattern-la1 pattern-b1 pattern-ra1 leftarm1 772244 body1 772244 rightarm1 772244 shorts1 FFFFFF socks1 772244 pattern-la2 pattern-b2 pattern-ra2 leftarm2 FFFFFF body2 FFFFFF rightarm2 FFFFFF shorts2 70BBEE socks2 FFFFFF Heart of Midlothian Football (soccer) Club is based in Edinburgh and is one of the two principal clubs in the city, the other being Hibernian F.C.. They are currently managed by former hero John Robertson (Heart of Midlothian footballer). The club plays at Tynecastle Stadium, though FIFA regulations dictate that European competition matches are played at Murrayfield Stadium, the national rugby union ground. Lithuania Vladimir Romanov recently became the major shareholder of Hearts when he took over Chris Robinsons stake.

History

Hearts (the common abbreviation) were founded in 1874 and are named after a dance hall which in turn took its name from the novel The Heart of Midlothian by Sir Walter Scott. They initially played at the Meadows, Powburn and Powderhall before moving to the Gorgie area in 1881. They moved to their current Tynecastle site in 1886. Hearts had considerable success in the early years of the Scottish Football League winning the league championship in seasons 1894-1895 and 1895-1896. They also won four Scottish Cups in an 11 year period between 1895 and 1906. However the club then went from 1906 to 1954 without winning a major trophy. They then had their most successful years winning the 1958 League title with a record 62 points, with 132 goals scored in 34 matches. They also won the League title 1960 and during this period won the Scottish League Cup four times in 1955, 1959, 1960 and 1963. This successful period for the club contianed many top, now legendary, names such as Alfie Conn, Jimmy Wardhaugh and Alex Young. From the mid 1960s Hearts went into decline and with the advent of the 10-team Premier Division in terran19401975 spent several seasons outside the top flight. The arrival of chairman Wallace Mercer led to a revival in the clubs fortunes, narrowly failing to win the league in 1986 and being runners up again in 1988. Since then the changing economics of football have made it almost impossible for Hearts, like other Scottish clubs, to compete with the dominant Old Firm clubs (Celtic F.C. and Rangers F.C.). The only recent trophy win was the Scottish Cup in 1998 won under the management of Jim Jefferies. In recent seasons Hearts have occupied the third place in the Scottish Premier League. Current manager, and playing legend, John Robertson (Heart of Midlothian footballer) will be looking to sustain this success achieved by Craig Levein before he departed to manage Leicester City F.C..

Current squad

1. Craig Gordon
2. Marius Kizys
3. Patrick Kisnorbo
4. Steven Pressley
5. Kevin McKenna
6. Andy Webster
7. Dennis Wyness
8. Phil Stamp
9. Lee Miller acrobat distiller(footballer) - on loan from Bristol City F.C.
10. Paul Hartley
11. Neil MacFarlane
12. Robbie Nielson
13. Teuvo Moilanen
14. Jamie McAllister
15. Ramon Pereira
16. Stephen Simmons
17. Graham Weir
18. adobe acrobat readerNeil Janczyk
19. Joe Hamill
20. Mark Burchill
21. Cristophe Berra
22. Michael Stewart (footballer) - on loan from Manchester United F.C.
23. Saulius Mikoliunas
25. Conall Murtagh - on loan at Raith Rovers F.C.
26. Chris Gardiner willard2267- on loan at Clyde F.C.
28. Craig Sives
35. Calum Elliot
39. Lee Wallace
45. Hjalmar Thorarinsson
48. Deividas Cesnauskis

Famous former players

Bobby Walker
Tommy Walker
Alex Massie
Jimmy Wardhaugh
Willie Bauld
Alfie Conn
Dave Mackay
Alex Young
Willie Wallace
John Robertson

Past managers

Peter Fairley (1901-03)
William Waugh (1903-08)
James McGhee (1908-09)
John McCartney (1910-19)
William McCartney (1919-35)
David Pratt (1935-37)
Frank Moss (1937-40)
David McLean (1941-51)
Tommy Walker (1951-66)
John Harvey (1966-70)
Bobby Seith (1970-74)
John Hagart (1974-77)
Willie Ormond (1977-80)
Bobby Moncur (1980-81)
Tony Ford (1981)
Alex MacDonald (1982-90)
Joe Jordan (footballer) (1990-93)
Sandy Clark (1993-94)
Tommy McLean (1994-95)
Jim Jefferies (1995-2000)
Craig Levein (2000-2004)
John Robertson (Heart of Midlothian footballer) (current)

Honours

Scottish League Champions: (5) Division One (old format): 1894-95, 1896-97, 1957-58, 1959-60, (new format): 1979-80 Scottish Cup: (6) 1891, free adobe acrobat reader1896, 1901, 1906, 1956, 1998 Scottish League Cup: (4) 1955, 1959, 1960, 1963 adobe acrobat 70Scottish adobe acrobatPremier League