It’s been a while, but Hearts are gearing up for their first European adventure for six years.
Robbie Neilson is set for another crack at the Europa League after finishing third and reaching the Scottish Cup final.
He’ll be hoping it goes better than the last one, which ended in an embarrassing exit at the hands of maltese minnows Birkirkara.
The Jambos are in a much better place now though, and will enter the competition at a far later stage.
Win the Play-Off round, and they’re into the Europa League group stages.
The Tynecastle team became the first Scottish club to make it back in 2004. With Neilson at right back and Craig Gordon in goals, they overcame Braga to land themselves in a group alongside Feyenoord, Schalke and Csaba Laszlo’s Ferencvaros.
Football Scotland takes a look back at some of their best moments in continental competition.
Hearts 1-0 Bayern Munich, 2 Feb 1989
The names don’t come much bigger in European football.
The German giants, managed by the legendary Franz Beckenbauer, rolled into Gorgie for the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-final as heavy favourites.
But they were given a rude awakening as Iain Ferguson’s rocket gave the Jambos a slender lead to take to Bavaria,
Ten minutes after half-time, Mike Galloway rolled a free-kick into Ferguson’s path and he sent an unstoppable effort flying past Raimond Aumann to send most of the 26, 294 crowd inside Tynecastle wild.
The second leg was to end in disappointment though, as Bayern scored the two goals they needed to progress to the semis.
They were handed an almighty scare though, Jon Colquhoun hitting the inside of the post as Hearts missed out on a last four date with Diego Maradona’s Napili by inches.
Hearts 2-1 Atletico Madrid, 14 Sept 1993
Fast forward four years and it was Spanish opposition for Hearts in the first round of the UEFA Cup.
Atletico didn’t have the European Cup pedigree they do now, but were still a formidable side.
The Jambos looked to have given themselves an outstanding chance of progressing after two second half goals in five minutes from John Robertson and Colquhoun gave them a commanding lead.
But Roman Kosecki pulled one back two minutes later to half the deficit.
It all went wrong in the Spanish capital however, as goals from Martinez, Delgado and Postigo sent the hosts through 4-2 on aggregate.
Bordeaux 0-1 Hearts, 6 Nov 2003
Craig Levein took his team to the south of France more in hope than expectation, but a determined rearguard action saw the Edinburgh side leave with a narrow first leg advantage.
Deploying an unorthodox 6-3-1 at times, the Jambos had to ride their luck on occasions as the hosts, featuring future Rangers striker Jean-Claude Darcheville, Mauricio Pochettino and a young Merouane Chamakh piled on the pressure.
But their big moment came with just 12 minutes left.
Kevin McKenna met Paul Hartley’s free-kick, only to see the ball come back off the bar. Mark De Vries was quickest to react though, turning the ball home to send the travelling support wild.
As was the case in the previous campaign however, Hearts couldn’t finish the job in the second leg.
Albert Rieria wiped out their away-goal advantage early on with one of the most sensational strikes ever seen at Tynecastle, sending a physics-defying effort past Craig Gordon from distance.
Phil Stamp thought he’d regained the lead, only for his goal to be ruled out by the offside flag.
Pascal Feindouno added a second after half-time and Hearts couldn’t find a way back from then on.
Hearts 3-1 Braga and Braga 2-2 Hearts, Sept 2004
A two-for-one as Hearts finally managed to make a first leg advantage count.
The first leg was played at Murrayfield due to Tynecastle not meeting UEFA criteria, but the lack of true home advantage didn’t matter as the Jambos went 2-0 up thanks to goals from Andy Webster and Paul Hartley ten minutes apart.
Paulo Sergio [not that one] brought the familiar nerves flooding back when he halved the deficit three minutes later, but Paddy Kisnorbo’s 91st minute strike gave his team some valuable breathing space.
It looked like it might be the same old story in Portugal when Joao Tomas netted an early opener, but De Vries turned things around either side of half-time, meaning the Portuguese needed four goals to progress.
They managed one more through Jaime Junior, but it was too little, too late as Hearts became the first Scottish club to reach the group stages of the competition.
Liverpool 1-1 Hearts, 30 Aug 2012
After a hammering by Tottenham the previous year, Hearts could be forgiven for fearing the worst when drawn against English Premier League opposition once again.
But they took the game to Brendan Rodgers’ side at Tynecastle and were unfortunate to lose 1-0 after an Andy Webster [who Rodgers referred to as “Bobby ” after the match] own goal.
That the Red reinstated Steven Gerrard and Lewis Suarez for the second leg illustrated how well Hearts had done in Edinburgh, although they were still expected to lose at Anfield.
But they struggled to break down John McGlynn’s side, who took advantage with just six minutes left.
David Templeton shifted the ball onto right foot for a shot, but it looked to be an easy one for Spanish ‘keeper Pepe Reina.
But he made a mess of things and allowed the ball to trundle into the corner, sparking scenes among the large travelling support that are unlikely to be topped for some time.
Extra-time loomed, but the inevitable Liverpool response came and with the visitors looking out on their feet, Luis Suarez beat Jamie MacDonald at his near post to squeak them through.
