Four famous European nights at Tynecastle Park

Hearts will be looking to make Thursday another memorable European night at Tynecastle Park when Swiss champions FC Zurich come to town for the Europa League play-off round second leg. Here are four famous European nights at Tynecastle to stir the memory banks and generate a positive vibe.

Hearts 5, Lokomotive Leipzig 1

Cup-Winners' Cup, 29 September, 1976

After a disappointing 2-0 first leg defeat in East Germany, Hearts needed a huge performance in Gorgie to progress beyond the first round and delivered in stunning fashion.

The 18,000-strong crowd witnessed a brilliant attacking display as the Jambos raced into a two-goal lead on the night inside the opening half hour.

Goals from Roy Kay and Willie Gibson levelled the tie on aggregate before the home crowd was briefly silenced when Joachim Fritsche pulled one back.

But Hearts drew level again 15 minutes from time through Jim Brown and the Jambos battered their opponents in an effort to find a winner. The explosion of noise when Drew Busby made it 4-1 on the night, putting the Gorgie side 4-3 ahead on aggregate, is remembered by many to this day.

Gibson put the icing on the cake on a pulsating night with the fifth after 84 minutes as Hearts completed a superb turnaround.

Gary McKay was there as a young fan and remembers being blown away by the atmosphere.

He recalled: “A midweek European game under the floodlights is when you really see the ground come into its own. That sort of thing gets the hairs up on the back of your neck as a fan or a player.

“I was at the Lokomotiv Leipzig game as a supporter in 1976 and saw a great 5-1 victory amid a brilliant atmosphere.”

Hearts 1, Bayern Munich 0

Hearts striker Iain Ferguson scores from a free kick past Bayern goalkeeper Raimond Aumann

UEFA Cup quarter-final, 2 February, 1989

Iain Ferguson’s 25-yard screamer in front of the old Shed has been voted Hearts’ best European goal and is one of the most memorable moments in the club’s history.

Tosh McKinlay rolled a free-kick into his path and the striker’s thunderbolt sent the Jambos to Germany with a 1-0 UEFA Cup quarter-final first-leg lead against a team featuring the likes of Klaus Augenthaler, Olaf Thon and Hans Pflugler.

“I managed to catch that one sweetly and knew the moment it left my boot it was going into the net,” Ferguson would later recall.

Iain Ferguson scores against Bayern Munich. it was Hearts´ greatest ever European goal.

Bayern would be crowned German champions at the end of the domestic campaign, but came unstuck on that wet but magical Tuesday night in Gorgie.

The tie ended in heartbreak – Bayern won the return leg 2-0 – but the home leg remains a treasured memory for Ferguson.

Looking back on it a few years ago, he reflected: “That goal ranks very highly in my career. It was voted the best Hearts European goal and that is something to be proud of. Depending on who you talk to about it my shot gets further out every time somebody recounts the story.

Ferguson recalled: “When they turned up at Tynecastle it was a total quagmire. You could see the Bayern Munich players in the tunnel beforehand looking as if they didn’t fancy it at Tynecastle.

“The old Tynecastle was a raucous arena and on European nights it was electric. All the circumstances were conducive to Hearts producing the result they did.”

Hearts 2, Atletico Madrid 1

Hearts midfield ace Colin Cameron battles for possession with Stuttgart's J Seitz in September 2000.

UEFA Cup round 3, 14 September 1993

Atletico didn’t have the European Cup pedigree they do now, but were still a formidable side when they arrived in Edinburgh 29 years ago.

Two second half goals in five minutes from John Robertson and John Colquhoun gave the Jambos 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 earned the hosts a 3-0 win and sent them through 4-2 on aggregate.

Colquhoun recently recalled being injured in the build-up to the match but declared himself fit and swept home the second goal.

He said: “I got injured on the Saturday and we trained up on the rugby pitch in North Berwick. I knew I was really struggling. But I wanted to play so much.

“It was the glamour! Atletico Madrid coming to town. And I can play against them, a kid from Stirling. I was so desperate to play.

“I might be guilty of retrospectively glorifying it, but I think Atletico Madrid was the biggest noise I heard at Tynecastle in my career.

“I scored a volley. And they called it offside. It wasn’t offside. And we didn’t know that ‘til we watched it on TV back at the hotel. It was so far onside. But that’s how it goes.”

Hearts 3, Stuttgart 2

Uefa Cup, 28 September 28, 2000

Anyone of a maroon persuasion in the 14,488 crowd at Tynecastle Park that night will forever have that Gordon Petric moment, that ‘what if’ etched in their mind.

Hearts came agonisingly close to dumping nine-man VFB Stuttgart out of the Uefa Cup on a pulsating night of European football at its best.

Jim Jeffries’ team trailed 1-0 after the first leg in Germany a fortnight earlier, but got off to a rip-roaring start in front of a raucous Gorgie crowd when Steven Pressley swept home from a long throw.

Sean Dundee levelled seven minutes before the break and Marcelo Bordon seemed to have put the contest beyond Hearts just before the hour as he flicked in a corner at the back post to make it 3-1 on aggregate.

But the Jambos came roaring back and after Petric made it 2-2 on the night, Colin Cameron set up a thrilling, chaotic end.

The Scotland midfielder converted from the penalty spot after Gary McSwegan was pulled down in the box, but only after the referee twice changed his mind about sending off defender Silvio Meissner for his part in the incident.

Stuttgart were then reduced to nine men late on when Thomas Schneider was dismissed and Hearts had one glorious chance in the dying seconds when the ball fell to Petric 16 yards out. He fired high into the Gorgie Stand.

Jefferies said afterwards. “We could have stolen at the death – I don't think Gordan Petric realised how much time he had."

Hearts narrowly missed out on a place in the second round on away goals.