Hearts stadium: Tynecastle Park awarded improved UEFA category in 'fantastic feat' for club

Tynecastle Park has been awarded UEFA’s highest stadium category, joining just four others in Scotland which hold that status.

The Gorgie ground is now rated as a Category 4 stadium, which allows it to be considered as a venue for other UEFA competitions in the future. It’s previous status, prior to this season, was Category 2.

Tynecastle Park is now the only football stadium outside of Glasgow and one of five Scottish venues, alongside Hampden, BT Murrayfield, Ibrox and Celtic Park, to hold UEFA’s highest rank. It ensures Hearts’ home continues to be fit to host European group stage football.

Andrew McKinlay, the club’s chief executive, said: “This is a fantastic feat for the club and it comes off the back of a tremendous amount of hard work undertaken by staff behind the scenes. While we all know how magnificent a stadium Tynecastle is, we were under no illusion of how big a task we faced to meet UEFA’s exacting standards in terms of hosting group stage European football.

UEFA has upgraded the status of Tynecastle Park to its highest status of Category 4, making it one of only five in Scotland. Picture: Mark Scates / SNS

“As soon as European football was secured towards the end of last season, club staff undertook a process of significant upgrades in and around the stadium and I cannot thank them enough for their efforts. The financial investment made in upgrading various facilities will pay dividends in the future and it opens Tynecastle’s potential for hosting matches across UEFA’s competitions.

“Above all else, this means Tynecastle will continue to play host to famous European nights under the floodlights and we hope that our fans will get to experience more of them in the near future as the first team continues its push for domestic success.”