The 2011–12 season was the 131st season of competitive football by Heart of Midlothian, and their 29th consecutive season in the top level of Scottish football, competing in the Scottish Premier League. Hearts also competed in the Europa League, Scottish Cup & the Scottish League Cup.
Overview Hearts finished fifth in the Scottish Premier League. They reached the Play Off Round of the Europa League, the third round of the League Cup and won the Scottish Cup after a 5–1 victory over Edinburgh Derby rivals Hibernian.
Financial problems The club began experiencing severe financial problems in November 2011 which meant they were unable to pay the players wages and the club was put up for sale. The squad's October salaries were late and the November wages were paid twenty nine days late just one day before their December salaries were due. The December wages were not paid on time, and a complaint was lodged with the Scottish Premier League by the players' union. As part of cost-cutting measures, Hearts advised Calum Elliot, Jason Thomson and János Balogh that they were free to find new clubs. On 4 January 2012 the SPL ordered Hearts to pay all outstanding wages by 11 January 2012 and January's wages must be paid on time on 16 January. Hearts paid all outstanding wages that day following the sale of Eggert Jónsson to Wolves. On 17 January the day after Hearts wages were due to be paid it was revealed all players had been paid. Despite this the SPL issued a statement saying Hearts had failed to pay all players on 16 January and an emergency board meeting had been called, Hearts refuted this saying payment of the remuneration had been made to all players. Hearts were charged by the SPL with failing to behave with the utmost good faith to the SPL. A hearing of the SPL Board sub-committee was held on 27 January, and the case against the club was dismissed as they believed the club were acting in good faith.
On 3 May, Hearts released their financial figures. Showing that they had made a profit of £511,000 and debt had been reduced from £36.1m to £24m. Hearts said that this had come down due to a debt restructuring plan. They also reduced operating costs by 19% to £3.63m and employment costs by 12% to £8.03m. Turnover at the club fell by £1m to £6.9m, this was mainly due to an outsourcing of retail merchandise as well as a lack of significant player sales or European competition.
Pre-season
Hearts returned for pre-season training on 22 June, before travelling to Il Ciocco in Tuscany for a week at their pre-season camp. Hearts returned to Scotland to play East Fife before travelling to Berlin to take on Ludwigsfelder and Union Berlin. Once back in Scotland they completed their pre-season taking on Cowdenbeath and Livingston before a glamour friendly at Tynecastle against Royal Antwerp, to contest for the Tynecastle 125th anniversary trophy.
Results and fixtures
Pre-season / Friendlies
Scottish Premier League
The fixture list for the first 33 SPL matches in the 2011–12 season was announced on 17 June. Hearts were given a tough away game to start the season against Rangers.
Scottish League Cup
Having qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League the previous season, Hearts entered the Scottish League Cup at the third round stage. The third round draw was held on 29 August where Hearts were paired with Scottish First Division side Ayr United. Hearts lost to Ayr United on penalties after a 1 – 1 draw after extra time. After the match Hearts asked the SFA to clarify the decision by referee Iain Brines after appearing to give the goal on three separate occasions. to disallow an Eggert Jonsson goal for handball
Scottish Cup
Hearts entered the Scottish Cup at the fourth round stage. The draw was conducted on 22 November and paired Hearts with Junior side Auchinleck Talbot. Hearts won 1–0 through a Gordon Smith goal after Fraser Mullen had a first half penalty saved. The fifth round draw took place on 9 January, drawing Hearts with fellow Premier League side St Johnstone, a repeat of the fourth-round tie between the clubs the previous season. Hearts were held to a 1–1 draw. David Templeton scored early in the first half before St Johnstone equalised through Cillian Sheridan in the 78th minute forcing a replay. The draw was held for the quarter-finals on 6 February 2012 drawing Hearts against either Ross County or St Mirren should they beat St Johnstone in the replay. Hearts won the replay 2–1 in extra time. Murray Davidson scored for St Johnstone in the 83rd minute before Suso Santana was brought down in the box during the last minute of injury time. Jamie Hamill scored the resulting penalty to take the match to extra time, before captain Marius Žaliūkas scored in the 117th minute to win the match. St Mirren beat Ross county in their replay setting up another all Scottish Premier League tie in the quarter-finals.
Hearts were held to a 2–2 draw in the quarter-final tie with St Mirren forcing a replay. St Mirren went ahead through a Graham Carey free kick before Craig Beattie equalised. Hearts should have gone in at half time with a 2–1 lead but a further strike by Beattie was wrongly ruled off side by linesman Gary Cheyne. Rudi Skácel put Hearts in front before a Marius Žaliūkas own goal in the 84th minute levelled the tie. The draw for the semi-finals was held on 11 March 2012, with the winner of the replay drawn against Celtic. In the replay Nigel Hasselbaink had the ball in the net for St Mirren in the 12-minute, however the referee had blown for a penalty for St Mirren a split second before. The resulting Graham Carey penalty was saved by Jamie MacDonald. Hearts went on win the tie 2–0, through goals from Jamie Hamill and Rudi Skácel. The victory put Hearts through to the semi-finals for the first time in 5 years.
Hearts won the semi-final 2–1. After a goalless first half the introduction of Craig Beattie at half time made Hearts more of an attacking threat. After just 70 seconds he set up Rudi Skácel to score the match's opener. Gary Hooper equalised in the 87th minute, although he appeared to be offside. With the match in injury time, referee Euan Norris awarded Hearts a penalty for a handball in the Celtic box by Joe Ledley. Beattie stepped up to score the Penalty, before getting booked for taking his shirt off and his impromptu lap of honour in his celebration of the goal. Celtic had an appeal for handball turned down in the dying minutes of the game and Hearts progressed to the final.
Hibernian beat Aberdeen in their semi final, to set up the final Edinburgh Derby of the season. This is the first time the two Edinburgh clubs have met in the Scottish Cup Final since 1896.
UEFA Europa League
Hearts entered the Europa League during the third qualifying round having qualified after finishing third in the SPL During season 2010–11. Hearts would have entered at the 2nd qualification round but thanks to Celtic winning the Scottish cup and gaining a higher qualification place their place went to Hearts. Hearts have been seeded for the third qualifying round. Hearts drew Paksi and travelled to Hungary, playing out a 1–1 draw. In the second leg goals from Ryan Stevenson, Andy Driver and Rudi Skácel were enough to win the tie 4–1 and progress to the play-off round with a 5–2 aggregate. Unseeded for the Play Off round Hearts drew English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in a tie billed in some contemporary coverage as a "Battle of Britain". In the home leg at Tynecastle, Hearts were outclassed by Spurs who won the first leg 0–5. Hearts were much improved in the second leg but weren't able to claw back the tie earning a 0 – 0 draw, making them only first team since Real Madrid to leave White Hart Lane with a clean sheet. Hearts were eliminated on aggregate.
Third qualifying round
Play-off round
First team player statistics Captains {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align: center;" |- ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=60|No ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=60|Pos ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=60|Country ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=150|Name ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=80|No of games ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=80|Notes |- |1||DF||||Marius Žaliūkas||47||Team Captain |- |2|||DF||||Andy Webster||3||Club Captain
Squad information This section includes all players who have been part of the first team during the season. They may not have made an appearance. Last updated 19 May 2012 {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 100%; text-align: center;" |- ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" rowspan="2" width="10%" align="center"|Number ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" rowspan="2" width="10%" align="center"|Position ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" rowspan="2" width="10%" align="center"|Nation ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" rowspan="2" width="20%" align="center"|Name ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" colspan="2" align="center"|Totals ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" colspan="2" align="center"|SPL ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" colspan="2" align="center"|League Cup ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" colspan="2" align="center"|Scottish Cup ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" colspan="2" align="center"|Europe |- ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=60 align="center"|Apps ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=60 align="center"|Goals ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=60 align="center"|Apps ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=60 align="center"|Goals ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=60 align="center"|Apps ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=60 align="center"|Goals ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=60 align="center"|Apps ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=60 align="center"|Goals ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=60 align="center"|Apps ! style="background:maroon; color:white;" scope="col" width=60 align="center"|Goals
Appearances (starts and substitute appearances) and goals include those in the Scottish Premier League, League Cup, and the Scottish Cup.
Goal scorers Last updated 19 May 2012 PlacePositionNationNameSPLLeague CupScottish CupEuropeTotal1MFRudi Skácel12051182MFJamie Hamill202153MFRyan Stevenson20024DFAndy Webster400044FWCraig Beattie20103FWStephen Elliott30003FWRyan McGowan20103FWJohn Sutton300035MFIan Black20002MFArvydas Novikovas20002MFSuso Santana20002MFMehdi Taouil20002MFDavid Templeton10102DFMarius Žaliūkas101026DFDarren Barr00101MFAndrew Driver00011FWGary Glen10001DFDanny Grainger00101MFJason Holt10001DFEggert Jónsson10001MFDavid Obua10001MFScott Robinson01001FWGordon Smith00101 Own goals20100 Total45115566
Disciplinary record During the 2011–12 season, Hearts players were issued eighty-six yellow cards and four red cards. The table below shows the number of cards and type shown to each player. Last updated 19 May 2012