Chairman Roman Romanov Premier League Tenth place | Stadium Tynecastle Stadium | |
Manager John McGlynn
(Until 28 February 2013)
Gary Locke
(From 28 February 2013) Europa League Play-off round, lost to Liverpool League Cup Final, lost to St Mirren | ||
The 2012–13 season was the 116th season of competitive football by Heart of Midlothian. It was the 15th consecutive season of play in the Scottish Premier League in which Hearts have competed since its inauguration in 1998–99. Hearts also competed in the Europa League, League Cup and the Scottish Cup.
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Season
Hearts finished tenth in the Scottish Premier League. They reached the Play-off Round of the Europa League, the Fourth round of the Scottish Cup and reached the Final of the League Cup losing 3–2 to St Mirren at Hampden.
Europa League
Hearts entered the Europa League during the Play-off round having won the 2011–12 Scottish Cup. The draw took place on 10 August 2012, Hearts were unseeded and were drawn against English Premier League side Liverpool. The tie is the club's second all British affair in two seasons having been drawn against Tottenham Hotspur in the same round the previous season.
League Cup
Having qualified for the 2012-13 UEFA Europa League, Hearts entered the League Cup at the third round stage. The draw was held on 3 September and the club were drawn against First Division side Livingston, Hearts won the tie 3–1 and progressed to the quarter-final. Hearts went ahead through a deflected goal from Danny Grainger, before Marc McNulty equalised following a defensive mistake. Marius Žaliūkas then scored twice in quick succession to cancel out his earlier error.
Hearts were drawn away to Dundee United for the quarter final. Callum Paterson opened the scoring before Johnny Russell equalised for the home side, before Hearts had Darren Barr sent off but managed to force the match to extra time. Hearts went on to win the match 5–4 on penalties in a dramatic shoot out, with 14 penalties being taken in total.
The draw for the Semi-final took place on 8 November, and Hearts were drawn against fellow Scottish Premier League side Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Andrew Shinnie put the Highlanders ahead shortly after half time, but debutant Michael Ngoo struck the equaliser before Scott Robinson was sent off for a two footed tackle on Inverness player Owain Tudor Jones. The teams could not be separated and the match went to penalties with Hearts going through for the second round in a row, with Philip Roberts missing the last penalty. The result meant Hearts would return to Hampden nine months after lifting the Scottish Cup, and would face either St Mirren or Celtic in the final. The following day St Mirren beat Celtic 3–2 setting up a non Old Firm final. Following completion of the round Inverness asked the Scottish Football Association (SFA) for clarity over whether Hearts player Danny Wilson should have been suspended for the tie, due to speculation over whether he had served a ban from his time at Rangers. The SFA later confirmed that he was eligible and had served the ban when he joined Liverpool in 2010.
Hearts were led into the final by Gary Locke in his first game as the club's official manager, with Andy Webster captaining the side. Hearts went ahead early on through Ryan Stevenson, although their early dominance faltered with Esmaël Gonçalves equalising just before half time. Hearts were struck hard in the second half with Steven Thompson and Conor Newton scoring consecutively to make it 3–1, before Stevenson struck again to make it 3–2. The result meant the cup returned to Paisley for the first time.