Hearts On This Day revisits the most magical and memorable moments from the club's distinguished history, mixing in a maelstrom of anecdotes and characters to produce an irresistibly Jambos diary – with an entry for every day of the year.

Author Steve Weddell follows up his critically acclaimed A Tale of Two Seasons with the ultimate gift book for any Hearts fan.

Relive this week in Hearts history: Hibs thrashed 10-2, Man City dispatched 5-1, a new main stand and Hearts’ first League goal. Not a bad week!

SUNDAY 10th August 2014

Hearts’ relegation and Rangers’ promotion set both sides on a Championship collision course and they met in a highly charged opening day clash at Ibrox. Hearts looked to have thrown two points away when Nicky Law popped up at the start of injury time to equalise Danny Wilson’s opener. In fact, Rangers’ fans were still milking the celebration for all they were worth when, ten seconds after the restart, Hearts’ new Swedish striker, Osman Sow, took a pass from Sam Nicholson and slid the winner past Cammy Bell.

SUNDAY 11TH August 2002

New signing from Dordrecht 90, Mark de Vries, made a glorious first start for Hearts in a hugely enjoyable Edinburgh derby which went, emphatically, the way of Craig  Levein’s side by five goals to one. The big man got his head onto an Antti Niemi punt after 18 minutes and Andy Kirk ran through to lob Tony Caig for one-nil. Another new boy, Frenchman Jean Louis Valois, was delivering a masterclass in wing-play and from his assist de Vries made it two on 41 minutes. There was a minor jolt, five minutes after the restart, when Ian Murray headed Hibs back into contention but within 15 minutes Hearts had their two-goal lead back. Caig was unable to hold a Valois pile-driver and de Vries made no mistake. The 90-minute mark was looming when significant gloss was applied to the final score courtesy of two more de Vries goals. On 89 minutes, the Surinamese striker completed his hat-trick from a Gary Wales pass and then, deep into stoppage time, he got his head onto a Steven

Boyack cross to notch his fourth goal.

SATURDAY 12th August 1893

Hearts visited Second Division champions Hibernian for an early season friendly and registered the biggest score ever seen in an Edinburgh derby, winning by 10 goals to 2. Davie Baird and Johnny Walker both notched trebles, Willie Taylor grabbed a brace and George Hogg and Isaac Begbie completed the turkey shoot.

SATURDAY 12th August 1995

Rampant Hearts tore English First Division side Manchester City to shreds in this pre-season friendly in front of 6,879 at Tynecastle. New manager Jim Jefferies’ second home match in charge ended 5-1 to his latest charges but it’s no exaggeration to say Hearts could have quite easily reached double figures against a side destined for the drop. Before the end, the visiting City fans were singing ‘we’re shite and we know we are’ in a squeaky approximation of then-manager Alan Ball’s notoriously high-pitched tone. In the absence of John Robertson, who had been called up for Scotland’s Euro 96 qualifier at home to Greece, John Colquhoun led the attack, scoring twice. Hearts’ other goals came from Brian Hamilton, Allan Johnston and David Hagen. Nicky Summerbee restored a modicum of pride with a consolation for City.

SATURDAY 13th August 1949

Under Davie McLean, Hearts were fast earning a reputation for thrilling, attacking football. All that appeared to be lacking was a staunch defence to ensure their unquestionable talent wouldn’t be repeatedly undermined. The season began with a bang as Willie Bauld smashed a hat-trick past Stirling Albion in the League Cup at Annfield. Goals from Bobby Flavell and Jimmy Wardhaugh brought a final score of 5-1. Even though Hearts matched that scoreline in their next tie, at home to Raith Rovers, subsequent reversals 5-4 at home to Stirling and 4-3 away at East Fife undid all their good work and, infuriatingly, they missed out on the quarter-finals.

SATURDAY 14th August 1982

Sandy Jardine made his competitive debut for Hearts in this opening League Cup sectional tie at Fir Park. The match finished 2-1 to the Steelmen with Alfie Conn junior netting the winner against both his and his father’s former team. Hearteningly, Hearts’ fortunes in the competition improved considerably and they went on to win all five remaining ties, sending them into the draw for the quarter-finals for the first time since 1977/78.

SATURDAY 15th August 1914

Archibald Leitch had been commissioned to design a new main stand which was partially opened for the season 1914/15 curtain-raiser against Celtic. Despite Hearts having sold top scorer Percy Dawson to Blackburn Rovers for a then British record fee of £2,500 to help fund the massively over-budget project, they still had enough firepower to see off the reigning league champions. The 18,500 in attendance saw Harry Wattie and Tom Gracie score the goals in a 2-0 win and Hearts went on to win their first eight successive league games.

SATURDAY 16th August 1890

The first day of the inaugural Scottish League campaign saw founder members Hearts and Rangers meet in Glasgow. Isaac Begbie achieved the honour of scoring Hearts’ first ever league goal and, at one point, the Edinburgh side led 2-1 through Willie Taylor. Unfortunately, Rangers turned the match around and ended up winners by five goals to two. The match was watched by a crowd of 3,400 at the original Ibrox.

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