Edinburgh derby

The Meadows, where the first Edinburgh derby was played.

The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any football match played between Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian (Hibs), who are by far the two biggest clubs in Edinburgh, Scotland. The two clubs have a fierce rivalry that dates back to the clubs being founded in the mid-1870s, which makes it one of the oldest (and longest running) rivalries in world football. The first match between the clubs was played on the Meadows on Christmas Day 1875, with Hearts winning by 1–0.

The matches are normally played at either Easter Road or Tynecastle. It is currently played three or four times a year in the SPL, depending on whether both teams finish in the same section after the league splits near the end of the season. The teams sometimes also play against one another in cup tournaments such as the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup.

This has seldom happened in recent decades, although they did meet at Hampden Park in the 2006 Scottish Cup semi-final (Hearts winning by 4–0), and also faced each other in the quarter-final of the 2006–07 League Cup (Hibs winning 1–0). Their most famous cup meeting occurred in the 1896 Scottish Cup Final — the only final played outside of Glasgow — which was won 3–1 by Hearts.

Records in these matches

Paul Hartley prepares to take a free kick in a league derby match played on Boxing Day 2006

Rob Jones scores the only goal of the game in the 2006-07 Scottish League Cup quarter-final

Overall record

Hearts have the better record in derbies, with 128 wins to Hibs' 82 wins and 82 draws in 292 competitive matches. There have been approximately 600 Edinburgh derbies to date, meaning that as of 2007 more than half of all derbies have been played in local competitions and "friendlies". Hearts hold a lead of 140 wins to Hibs' 112 wins in these other games.

Single game records

Hibs recorded the biggest margin of victory in a competitive match with a 7–0 victory at Tynecastle on 1 January 1973. The biggest win in "other" matches was a 10–2 Hearts victory in a friendly match 12 August 1893. Hearts scored the most goals in a competitive match with a 8–3 win in the League on 21 September 1935.

Prolific goalscorers

John Robertson scored 27 goals against Hibs in competitive games. Robertson was nicknamed "The Hammer of Hibs" due to his prolific goal record in derbies. Both Bobby Walker (31) and Tommy Walker (29) scored more goals in derbies than Robertson taking account of 'local' cup and league games.

Hibs' top scorer with 15 goals was Gordon Smith, who later joined Hearts and Dundee, becoming the only player to win the Scottish League with three different clubs. James McGhee scored at least 24 goals for Hibs in the early years of the fixture. The real figure is probably higher as he played in a lot of games where only the result is known and not all the scorers were recorded.

Competitive Hearts Goalscorers
Rank	Player	Goals	First	Last
1	John Robertson	27	1983	1998
2	Bobby Walker	15	1897	1913
3	Jimmy Wardhaugh	14	1950	1958
4	Alfie Conn, Sr.	13	1946	1956
4	Tommy Walker	13	1932	1943
4	Willie Bauld	13	1949	1962
7	Jock White	8	1922	1932
7	Paul Hartley	8	2005	2006
9	Alex Young	7	1956	1960
9	Andy Black	7	1935	1945
9	Sandy Clark	7	1985	1987

Competitive Hibs Goalscorers
Rank	Player	Goals	First	Last
1	Gordon Smith	15	1941	1956
2	Lawrie Reilly	10	1949	1956
3	Arthur Duncan	8	1971	1976
3	Eddie Turnbull	8	1947	1957
5	Willie Ormond	7	1947	1959
5	Jim Scott	7	1961	1977
7	Alex Cropley	6	1971	1974
7	Arthur Milne	6	1938	1946
7	Garry O'Connor	6	2002	2006
7	Hamilton Handling	6	1899	1901
7	Jimmy Dunn	6	1921	1927
7	Joe Baker	6	1958	1959
7	Mixu Paatelainen	6	2000	2002

All Games Hearts Goalscorers
Rank	Player	Goals	First	Last
1	Bobby Walker	31	1897	1913
2	Tommy Walker	29	1932	1943
3	John Robertson	27	1983	1998
4	Jimmy Wardhaugh	22	1950	1958
5	Barney Battles, Jr.	19	1929	1932
5	Jock White	19	1922	1932
7	Willie Bauld	18	1949	1962
8	Andy Black	17	1935	1945
8	Charlie Thomson	17	1898	1907
8	Davie Baird	17	1888	1899

All Games Hibs Goalscorers
Rank	Player	Goals	First	Last
1	James McGhee	24	1883	1890
2	Gordon Smith	19	1941	1956
3	Hamilton Handling	15	1899	1901
4	Harry Ritchie	12	1921	1927
4	Jimmy McColl	12	1923	1929
4	Paddy Murray	12	1894	1901
7	Arthur Milne	11	1938	1946
8	Allan Martin	10	1893	1897
8	Lawrie Reilly	10	1949	1956
10	Arthur Duncan	9	1971	1976
10	Eddie Turnbull	9	1947	1957
10	Jimmy Dunn	9	1921	1927

Record attendance

The record crowd for an Edinburgh derby was 65,860 on 2 January 1950 when Hearts won 2-1 at Easter Road. This was also the biggest crowd for any Scottish game played outside Glasgow .

Major matches

A Hampden Park scoreboard shows the final score from the 2006 Scottish Cup semi-final, the most important derby of recent seasons.

The most important match between the clubs was the Scottish Cup final of 1896, which was played at Logie Green, Edinburgh. This is the only time the Scottish Cup final has been played outside of Glasgow as of 2007. Hearts won the final 3–1 before a crowd of 17,340.

The most important match in recent years was the Scottish Cup semi-final of 2006. Both clubs played in the knowledge that victory would lead to a final against Gretna, who were a Scottish Second Division club at the time. Hearts won the semi-final against Hibs by 4–0 and went on to win the competition on a penalty shootout in the final.

Hibs gained some revenge in the following season by winning a League Cup quarter final against Hearts by 1–0 and going on to win the competition with wins against St Johnstone and Kilmarnock.

Periods of dominance

Season 1886-87 was Hibs' best ever against their local rivals in terms of goal scoring, as they won 5–1 in the third round of the Scottish Cup at Easter Road on the way to becoming the first ‘Eastern’ club to win the Scottish Cup. This was followed by wins of 3–0, 5–2 and 7–1 in other competitions. In the 7–1 win, James McGhee scored 5 goals in the first 25 minutes. The defeat of the then cup holders in the following season 1887-88 marked the end of Hibs' domination over Hearts. Hibs did not enjoy a similar sustained period of success in the fixture until the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Hearts hold the record for consecutive derbies without a loss, a 22-game streak straddling the 1980s and 1990s. Hibs' longest unbeaten streak was 12 games from 1974 to 1978. Hearts hold the best winning streak of 7 games from 1916 to 1919. Hibs' longest winning streak is 3 wins, achieved on three occasions in the 1880s, 1920s and 1940s respectively.

Since the creation of the Scottish Premier Division in 1975 and the introduction of four league games between clubs in a season, neither club has managed to win all four league derbies in a season. Hearts have achieved 3 wins and a draw twice, in 1996-97 and 2006-07. Hibs' best is 3 wins and a loss in 1994-95.

Local competitions and other Edinburgh clubs

Hibs are presented with the East of Scotland Shield after winning the one-off match on May 7 2008

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, the clubs often met each other 10 times in a single season due to the plethora of local competitions, such as the East of Scotland Shield, Rosebery Charity Cup, Wilson Cup, and the Dunedin Cup. These competitions also involved the other clubs in Edinburgh and the surrounding area. Hearts and Hibs were the most frequent winners of these competitions.

St Bernards, Leith Athletic, Edinburgh City and Meadowbank Thistle have all represented the city of Edinburgh in the Scottish Football League. The first Scottish Football League derby was played between Hearts and Leith Athletic on October 24 1891, Hearts winning 3–1. This was because Hibs were in the process of being reformed and did not enter the Scottish Football League until the 1893-94 season. The first league derby between Hearts and Hibs was played at Tynecastle on September 28 1895, Hearts winning 4–3.

The East of Scotland Shield is the only one of the local competitions that is contested by Hearts and Hibs today, albeit by young reserve teams. The Shield is contested by a one-off match and gate takings are given to the Edinburgh Football Association.

Festival Cup

The Festival Cup was introduced in 2003 to tie in with the annual Edinburgh Festival. The local media speculated that clubs from cities twinned with Edinburgh, including Bayern Munich and Dynamo Kiev, would be invited to participate in an annual Edinburgh tournament. It was hoped this would be similar to the annual Amsterdam Tournament.

Eventually, the clubs settled for playing a single derby match on the last Saturday before the start of the 2003-04 SPL season. The SPL did not help the launch of the Festival Cup by scheduling a league derby match just two weeks after the Festival Cup match, also at Easter Road. Hearts won the first Festival Cup match 1–0 with a goal by Andy Webster.

The clubs then had difficulty scheduling the 2004-05 match, partly due to Hibs being involved in the Intertoto Cup. The Festival Cup match was eventually played at Tynecastle on September 4 2004. Both teams were below full strength because several notable players were training with their national squads as the match was played during an international break. Playing the game in September also meant that the game was played after the start of the league season and after the end of the Edinburgh Festival. Due to these factors, the match attracted a much lower crowd than would normally be expected for a derby. Hearts won the second and to date last Festival Cup match 3–1.

New Year derby

A derby match was traditionally played each New Year, either on 1 January itself or on 2 January, which is a bank holiday in Scotland. The New Year match has rarely taken place in recent years due to the scheduling policy of the SPL, dictated by live television coverage. This has similarly affected the Old Firm derby, which was also traditionally played at New Year. Of the 88 Edinburgh derbies played at New Year, Hibs hold a slight lead of 31 wins to 28 Hearts wins. Only two New Year derbies have been played so far in the 2000s: a 4–4 draw at Tynecastle in 2003 and a 1–1 draw at Easter Road in 2005, although there is an SPL match scheduled to be played at Tynecastle on 3 January 2009.

Selected games

Date	Score	Venue	Comp	Crowd	Notes
25 December 1875	Hearts 1 Hibs 0	East Meadows	Friendly		First ever match. Hearts play first 20 minutes with only 8 players.
06 October 1877	Hearts 1 Hibs 2	East Meadows	Scottish Cup 1st Round - Replay		First Scottish Cup tie between the clubs. "These clubs again contested for the Scottish Association Cup and resulted in a win for the Hibernians by two goal to one." - The Scotsman 8 October 1877
20 April 1878	Hearts 3 Hibs 2	Powburn	EFA Cup Final 4th Replay.	1,200	Hearts come from behind twice to win. The 5 games of the final establish Hearts and Hibs as the major clubs in Edinburgh.
23 October 1886	Hibs 5 Hearts 1	Hibernian Park	Scottish Cup 3rd Round	7,000	Hibs thrash Hearts on route to winning the Scottish Cup for the first time in their history.
16 May 1887	Hibs 7 Hearts 1	Hibernian Park	Rosebery Charity Cup Final	4,000	James McGhee scores 5 goals in the first 20 minutes.
22 October 1887	Hibs 1 Hearts 3	Hibernian Park	Scottish Cup 3rd Round (Replay)	8,500	Hearts knock out the cup holders. This game marks the end of Hibernian's 'domination' of the early Derby fixtures.
12 August 1893	Hibs 2 Hearts 10	Easter Road	Friendly match	8,000	First game between Hearts and the newly reformed Hibs, before a capacity crowd at Easter Road. Biggest margin of victory between the teams.
9 December 1893	Hibs 4 Hearts 3	Easter Road	East of Scotland Shield 1st Round		Hearts disputed 2 Hibs goals and refused to play on after 80 minutes, when the 7th goal of the game was scored. Hearts alleged that the ball had touched nobody from an indirect free-kick. A replay was called.
1 January 1895	Hearts 6 Hibs 1	Tynecastle	Friendly	8,000	First ever New Year game.
28 September 1895	Hearts 4 Hibs 3	Tynecastle	Scottish Football League Division 1	17,500	First ever Scottish Football League game.
14 March 1896	Hearts 3 Hibs 1	Logie Green	Scottish Cup Final	17,034	1896 Scottish Cup final.
5 December 1896	Hearts 1 Hibs 0	Tynecastle	Division 1	10,500	"League decider". If Hibs had won this game and subsequent games, they would have won the league. Hearts go on to win the league instead.
23 March 1901	Hibs 1 Hearts 2	Easter Road	Scottish Cup Semi-final (Replay)	18,000	Only Scottish Cup semi final between the teams until 2006.
17 April 1929	Hearts 8 Hibs 2	Tynecastle	Dunedin Cup Final	5,000	Barney Battles, Jr. scores 5 goals in the match.
1 January 1934	Hibs 1 Hearts 4	Easter Road	Scottish Football League Division A	30,000	Hearts first league win at Easter Road since 1919. Hearts first Ne'erday Derby win in 19 years.
21 September 1935	Hearts 8 Hibs 3	Tynecastle	Scottish Football League Division A	27,014	Hearts record margin of victory against Hibs in a league match. 13 goals scored in 2 league games by Hearts.
1 January 1937	Hearts 3 Hibs 2	Tynecastle	Scottish Football League Division A	38,908	Harrison scores the quickest ever Derby goal for Hibs after 11 seconds.
1 January 1940	Hibs 5 Hearts 6	Easter Road	Wartime match	14,000	Late Tommy Walker winner in a Wartime classic. Scores go 1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 2-3, 3-3, 4-3 at half-time. 5-3, 5-4, 5-5 then finally 5-6. John Cuthbertson scores a hat-trick for Hibs.
28 April 1941	Hearts 3 Hibs 5	Tynecastle	Wartime match	3,004	A 16 year old Gordon Smith scores a hat-trick to win the game for Hibs. "I was very proud to score a hat trick against big Jimmy Dykes in borrowed boots."
1 January 1942	Hearts 2 Hibs 2	Tynecastle	Wartime match	21,525	Matt Busby scored for Hibs.
24 September 1949	Hearts 5 Hibs 2	Tynecastle	Scottish Football League Division A	37,730	Hearts 5-0 up after 54 minutes.
2 January 1950	Hibs 1 Hearts 2	Easter Road	Scottish Football League Division A	65,860	Record attendance for a football match played in Edinburgh.
20 September 1952	Hibs 3 Hearts 1	Easter Road	Scottish Football League Division A	50,000	Lawrie Reilly scored a hat-trick for Hibs.
5 February 1955	Hearts 5 Hibs 0	Tynecastle	Scottish Cup 5th Round	45,770	Hearts' record margin of victory over Hibs in the Scottish Cup.
1 March 1958	Hearts 3 Hibs 4	Tynecastle	Scottish Cup Quarter-final	41,666	17 year old Joe Baker scored all of Hibs' four goals to deny Hearts a potential league and Scottish Cup double. Hibs reached the final, but lost 1–0 to Clyde.
1 January 1960	Hibs 1 Hearts 5	Easter Road	Scottish Football League Division 1	54,000	Alex Young scored a hat-trick for Hearts. Young claimed that he also scored a goal that was credited as an own goal.
18 September 1965	Hearts 0 Hibs 4	Tynecastle	Scottish Football League Division 1	22,369	Hibs went 4–0 up after just ten minutes.
1 January 1966	Hibs 2 Hearts 3	Easter Road	Scottish Football League Division 1	32,192	Hearts won 3–2 after being 2–0 down. Hearts last Ne'er Day victory for 20 years.
9 September 1967	Hearts 1 Hibs 4	Tynecastle	Scottish Football League Division 1	20,773	Pat Quinn scored a hat-trick for Hibs.
1 January 1973	Hearts 0 Hibs 7	Tynecastle	Scottish Football League Division 1	35,989	Hibs' biggest win over Hearts - the "Greatest Game in History" according to Hibees. It matched Hearts' record league defeat margin.
8 September 1973	Hearts 4 Hibs 1	Tynecastle	Scottish Football League Division 1	28,946	Hearts' first goals in 9 league games against Hibs.
13 April 1977	Hearts 2 Hibs 2	Tynecastle	Scottish Football League Premier Division	10,686	Controversial late goal for Hearts reprieved them from relegation, but only for 3 days.
10 March 1979	Hibs 2 Hearts 1	Easter Road	Scottish Cup Quarter-final	22,618	As of 2008, Hibs' last win over Hearts in the Scottish Cup.
3 September 1983	Hearts 3 Hibs 2	Tynecastle	Scottish Football League Premier Division	19,206	John Robertson scored twice in his derby debut, the first two goals of his record 27. Start of 17 games unbeaten against Hibs.
2 April 1985	Hearts 2 Hibs 2	Tynecastle	Scottish Football League Premier Division	17,814	John Robertson's fourth Goal against Hibs. Joe McBride scored twice in the last 6 minutes to earn Hibs a draw.
22 March 1986	Hibs 1 Hearts 2	Easter Road	Scottish Football League Premier Division	20,756	John Robertson's sixth Goal against Hibs. Hearts set a Scottish Premier Division record of 22 games unbeaten.
17 October 1987	Hibs 2 Hearts 1	Easter Road	Scottish Football League Premier Division	23,390	John Robertson's ninth Goal against Hibs, but Hibs won after 17 games without a win against Hearts.
20 February 1994	Hibs 1 Hearts 2	Easter Road	Scottish Cup 4th Round	20,953	Wayne Foster scored a late winner to extend Hearts' unbeaten run against Hibs to 21 games.
27 August 1994	Hearts 0 Hibs 1	Tynecastle	Scottish Football League Premier Division	12,371	Hibs end Hearts' 22 game unbeaten streak in the derby.
1 January 1997	Hibs 0 Hearts 4	Easter Road	Scottish Football League Premier Division	15,749	Hearts' biggest League win at Easter Road for 36 years.
11 April 1998	Hibs 2 Hearts 1	Easter Road	Scottish Football League Premier Division	15,530	John Robertson scored the last of his record 27 goals in the derby. Hibs severely dented Hearts' league title chances with the win, but were unable to save themselves from relegation.
19 December 1999	Hearts 0 Hibs 3	Tynecastle	Scottish Premier League	17,954	Hibs win the 'Millennium Derby'.
21 May 2000	Hearts 2 Hibs 1	Tynecastle	Scottish Premier League	17,391	Hearts clinched 3rd place in the SPL and a place in the UEFA Cup on the final day of the season.
22 October 2000	Hibs 6 Hearts 2	Easter Road	Scottish Premier League	12,926	Hibs biggest derby win for 27 years. Mixu Paatelainen scored a hat-trick.
11 August 2002	Hearts 5 Hibs 1	Tynecastle	Scottish Premier League	15,245	Mark de Vries scored four goals on his debut for Hearts.
2 January 2003	Hearts 4 Hibs 4	Tynecastle	Scottish Premier League	17,332	Hibs scored goals in 89th and 92nd minutes to go 4–2 in front, but two goals by Graham Weir in the last 42 seconds of injury time provide a dramatic comeback by Hearts.
7 August 2005	Hearts 4 Hibs 0	Tynecastle	Scottish Premier League	16,459	George Burley's 'Demolition Derby'.
29 October 2005	Hibs 2 Hearts 0	Easter Road	Scottish Premier League	17,180	Hibs ended Hearts' unbeaten start to the season one week after the sacking of George Burley.
2 April 2006	Hearts 4 Hibs 0	Hampden Park	Scottish Cup Semi-final	43,180	First Hearts v Hibs Scottish Cup semi-final since 1901. Paul Hartley scored a hat-trick, while Hibs had two players sent off. Hearts go on to win the Scottish Cup with a 4–2 win on penalties after a 1–1 draw with Gretna in the final.
8 November 2006	Hibs 1 Hearts 0	Easter Road	Scottish League Cup Quarter-final	15,825	Hearts have no shots at goal. Hibs' first win in the League Cup against Hearts. Hibs go on to win the cup with a 5–1 victory over Kilmarnock in the final.

Players with both clubs

Name	Hibs years	Hearts years	Notes
Thomson Allan	1963–1971	1979–1980	Allan was selected by Scotland for the 1974 FIFA World Cup while he was with Dundee.
Eamonn Bannon	1993–1994	1976–1979 1988–1993	Bannon was selected by Scotland for the 1986 FIFA World Cup while he was with Dundee United.
Roy Barry	1975–1976	1961–1966
Bobby Baxter	Wartime	1946–1947	Baxter guested for both Hibs and Hearts in Wartime matches while he was he registered with Middlesbrough.
Ian Black	1980	1977–1980
Jim Brown	1979–1981	1967–1979
Ralph Callachan	1978–1986	1971–1977	Callachan represented both Hearts and Hibs in Scottish Cup finals. 1976 with Hearts; 1979 with Hibs. Both finals were lost by the Edinburgh club.
Ian Crawford	1951–1953	1954–1961
Gordon Durie	1984–1986	2000–2001	Durie was selected by Scotland for the 1990 FIFA World Cup while he was with Chelsea and the 1998 FIFA World Cup while he was with Rangers.
Peter Flucker	1932–1934	1929–1932
Alan Gordon	1972–1974	1961–1967 1968–1969	Gordon, who scored twice in Hibs' 7–0 win at Tynecastle against Hearts, also played for both Dundee clubs.
Brian Hamilton	1989–1995	1995–1996
Willie Hamilton	1963–1965	1962–1963 1967–1969
Paul Hartley	1998–2000	2003–2007	Hartley scored a hat-trick for Hearts against Hibs in the 2006 Scottish Cup semi-final.
Darren Jackson	1992–1997	1999–2001	Jackson was selected by Scotland for the 1998 FIFA World Cup while he was with Celtic.
Willie Jamieson	1979–1985	1994–1995
Peter Kerr	1910–1926	1926–1931
Davie Laing	1956–1957	1942–1954
Peter Marinello	1966–1970	1981–1983
Gordon Marshall	1969–1971	1956–1963	Marshall's son is currently a coach with Hibs.
Willie Pettigrew	1970–1971	1981–1984	Pettigrew was a youth player with Hibs and did not play for the first team.
Harry Rennie	1902–1908	1898–1902
Malcolm Robertson	1982–1983	1977–1981
Chris Shevlane	1968–1971	1960–1967
Gordon Smith	1941–1959	1959–1961	One of Hibs' Famous Five, Smith won the Scottish League with three different clubs, none of which were either half of the Old Firm.
Jim Souness	1947–1953	1953–1956
Michael Stewart	2005–2007	2004–2005 2007–
Lawrie Tierney	1980	1976–1980
Robert Walls	early 1930s	late 1920s
Andy Watson	1987–1989	1983–1987	Watson later became assistant manager of Hibs while Alex McLeish was manager.
Willie Waugh	1936	1928–1939	Waugh was loaned to Hibs by Hearts.
Ian Westwater	2000	1980–1985	Westwater didn't play for Hibs, but he became a goalkeeping coach with the club until he retired from football completely in 2005.