Heart of Midlothian remain one of Scottish football’s established institutions: founded in 1874, rooted at Tynecastle Park, and rarely short of edge when Celtic are in town. Their honours record includes one Scottish Cup, a modest line here but still part of a long club identity built around Edinburgh weight and a difficult home ground.
The 2025-26 season ended with Hearts sixth in the Premiership after all 38 rounds. Their campaign also took in the second qualifying round of Champions League qualifying. Recent league form was mixed but competitive, including a 2-1 win over Rangers, a 2-1 win away to Hibernian, and a final 3-1 defeat at Celtic.
Tynecastle was the sturdier side of their season. Hearts averaged 1.9 goals scored and only 0.6 conceded per home match, a defensive return that explains much of their resilience there. Away from home they were still a decent attacking side, scoring 1.6 goals per match while conceding 1.2.
Lawrence Shankland led the scoring with 20 goals, followed closely by Cláudio Rafael “Cláudio Braga” Soares Braga on 17. Stuart Findlay, Craig Halkett and Alexandros Kyziridis each added six, giving Hearts a spread beyond the obvious names. The squad was sizeable, with 42 players and an average age of 27, and was valued at around £25.5m by Transfermarkt.
For Celtic supporters, Hearts remain a familiar domestic opponent with enough structure, home strength and attacking output to require proper attention, even after a sixth-place finish.
