The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

match played between Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian (Hibs), the two oldest professional clubs based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, 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 longest running rivalries in world football. The first match between the clubs was played on the Meadows on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

1875. The matches are normally played at either

Easter Road Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of , which makes it the fifth-larges ...

or Tynecastle. It has been regularly played in the top level of the

Scottish football league system The Scottish football league system is a series of generally connected leagues for Scottish football clubs. The Scottish system is more complicated than many other national league systems, consisting of several completely separate systems or 'gr ...

, although derbies were played in the second tier during the 2014–15 season. The teams sometimes also play against one another in cup tournaments, such as the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

. The clubs have met twice in

Scottish Cup Final The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is a knockout cup competition in Scottish football. Organised by the Scottish Football Association, it is the third oldest existing football competition in the w ...

s, in 1896 and

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, both of which were won by Hearts.

History

Hearts and Hibs were both formed during the mid-1870s. The first ever match between the clubs was played at East Meadows on 25 December 1875, with Hearts winning 1–0. Hibs won the first

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1877–78. The matches that established the two clubs as the principal sides in Edinburgh was the five game struggle for the EFA Cup later that season, which Hearts won 3–2 after four previous attempts ended in draws. Hibs beat Hearts on the way to their first national trophy, the 1886–87 Scottish Cup. Hibs also had wins of 3–0, 5–2 and 7–1 against Hearts in other competitions. Hibs had major financial problems and briefly ceased playing during the early 1890s. In the meantime, Hearts had become founder members of the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

in 1890–91. Hibs soon resumed operations and Hearts won 10–2 in a friendly match at

which marked their return. Hibs joined the Scottish Football League in 1893–94 and were promoted to the First Division in 1895. The first league derby was played on 28 September 1895, Hearts winning 4–3 at Tynecastle. The clubs contested the 1896 Scottish Cup Final, which Hearts won 3–1 at Logie Green in Edinburgh. It is the only time a Scottish Cup Final has been played outside Glasgow. The derby was played regularly in the league until 1930–31, when Hibs were relegated from Division One, although matches in other competitions continued. Hibs regained top division status in 1933–34, but all league football was suspended from 1939–40 to 1945–46 due to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The record crowd for an Edinburgh derby was 65,860 on 2 January 1950 when Hearts won 2–1 at

. This was also the biggest crowd for any Scottish game played outside

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. The post-war period was a golden age for football in Edinburgh, as Hibs won three league championships with their Famous Five forward line, while Hearts won several major trophies in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Hibs enjoyed a sustained period of success in the fixture in the late 1960s and most of the 1970s. Their record victory against Hearts, 7–0 at Tynecastle on 1 January 1973, was achieved during this period. Hibs then had their longest unbeaten streak in the fixture, 12 games from 1974 to 1978. Scottish league football was restructured from the 1975–76 season to create smaller divisions, resulting in the teams playing each other four times a season in the league, but it also increased the risk of the clubs being relegated. Hearts were a

yo-yo club A yo-yo club is a sporting side that is regularly promoted and relegated. The phrase is most typically used in association football in the United Kingdom, especially in reference to promotion to and relegation from the Premier League. The name ...

in the late 1970s and early 1980s, while Hibs were also relegated in 1979–80. This meant that there were few derbies until Hearts returned to the Premier Division in 1983–84. Hearts then took the upper hand in the derby, setting the record for consecutive derbies without a loss, a 22-game streak straddling the 1980s and 1990s. During this period, Hearts owner Wallace Mercer attempted to force through a merger of the two clubs by acquiring a majority shareholding in Hibs. This effort failed after protest groups set up by Hibs fans persuaded some shareholders not to sell to Mercer and new investment in Hibs was provided by

Tom Farmer Sir Thomas Farmer, (born 10 July 1940) is a Scottish entrepreneur. Early life One of seven siblings in a devoutly Catholic family, in 1964 Farmer founded his own tyre retailing business which he sold in 1969 for £450,000. Farmer retired to ...

. The clubs met in a

2005–06 Scottish Cup The 2005–06 Scottish Cup was the 121st season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition, also known for sponsorship reasons as the Tennent's Scottish Cup. The Cup was won by SPL club Heart of Midlothian who defeated Second ...

semi-final, in the knowledge that victory would lead to a final against Gretna, who were a

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club. Hearts won the semi-final against Hibs by 4–0 and went on to win the competition on a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. Hibs gained some revenge the following season by winning a 2006–07 Scottish League Cup quarter-final against Hearts 1–0, and went on to win the competition. The two clubs met in the 2012 Scottish Cup Final. The match was played at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

in Glasgow, despite some fans proposing that it should be moved to

Murrayfield Stadium Murrayfield Stadium (known as BT Murrayfield Stadium for sponsorship reasons, or popularly as Murrayfield) is a Rugby stadium located in the Murrayfield area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has a seating capacity of 67,144 making it the largest sta ...

, the largest venue in Edinburgh. Hearts won a one-sided final by 5–1, having also won all three league derbies in the 2011–12 Scottish Premier League. Hibs gained some revenge for this defeat six months later by knocking Hearts out of the 2012–13 Scottish Cup, winning 1–0 in a fourth round tie at Easter Road. It also ended a run of 12 games without a win for Hibs in the derby. Both clubs were relegated to the second tier after finishing in the bottom two positions of the 2013–14 Scottish Premiership. This meant that the city of Edinburgh was left without representation in the top tier of the Scottish league system for the first time in its history. Hearts won the 2014–15 Scottish Championship and earned an immediate promotion back to the top tier. Hibs won promotion in 2016–17, which meant that top-flight league derbies were resumed in 2017–18. Meanwhile, the teams were drawn together in the Scottish Cup in three consecutive seasons: 2015–16, 2016–17 and 2017–18. Hibs won the first two ties after replays and went on to win the 2015–16 competition, while Hearts won the third tie. Hearts were relegated to the Championship in 2020 after the 2019–20 season was curtailed by the Covid-19 pandemic in Scotland. In the semi-finals of the 2019–20 Scottish Cup, which were delayed until the autumn by the pandemic, Hearts won 2–1

after extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

against Hibs. Hearts won promotion in

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and then wn a 2021–22 Scottish Cup semi-final against Hibs.

Local competitions and other Edinburgh clubs

In the late 19th and early 20th century, the clubs often met each other ten times in a single season due to the plethora of local competitions, such as the East of Scotland Shield,

Rosebery Charity Cup The Rosebery Charity Cup was a football competition organised for senior clubs from the East of Scotland. History The tournament was organised by and named for an early patron of Scottish football Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery and ...

, Wilson Cup, and the

Dunedin Cup Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. ...

. These competitions also involved the other clubs in Edinburgh and the surrounding area. Hearts and Hibs were the most frequent winners of these competitions. 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 team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

s. The Shield is contested by a one-off match and gate takings are given to the Edinburgh Football Association. St Bernard's, Leith Athletic, the original Edinburgh City and

Meadowbank Thistle Livingston Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Livingston, West Lothian. Livingston currently play in the Scottish Premiership and were founded in 1943 as Ferranti Thistle, a works team. The club was admitted to the ...

all represented the city of Edinburgh in the

. As Hibs did not enter the league until the 1893–94 season, the first league derby was actually played between Hearts and Leith Athletic on 24 October 1891 (Hearts winning 3–1). The first league derby between Hearts and Hibs was played at Tynecastle on 28 September 1895, with Hearts winning 4–3. The four teams took part in the

Lord Provost's Rent Relief Cup The Lord Provost's Rent Relief Cup comprised two separate football tournaments played in aid of the Lord Provost's Rent Relief Fund in 1921. Held in Edinburgh and Glasgow, both were one-off competitions. Various other tournaments and events were he ...

in late 1921 to raise money for the unemployed (a Glasgow version was also played); the final was between Hearts and Hibs (won by Hearts), but was not played until May 1923. The introduction of the Scottish football pyramid system allowed Edinburgh City to gain promotion to the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) in 2016, but they have not yet played either Hearts or Hibs in a SPFL match. Civil Service Strollers and

Spartans Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referred t ...

take part in the ''North Edinburgh Derby'' in the

Lowland Football League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the ...

, while

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

are also involved in the league. The

East of Scotland League The East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL) is a senior football league based in the east and south-east of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–9 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. Fo ...

also features derby matches, with six clubs based in Edinburgh. The term is also used for matches in women's football, including games between Hibernian, Hearts and

Festival Cup

In 1985, an Edinburgh select team composing of players from Hearts, Hibs and Meadowbank Thistle played Bayern Munich in a " Festival Cup" challenge match at Tynecastle. The Festival Cup was reintroduced in 2003, to tie in with the annual

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

. The local media speculated that clubs from cities twinned with

, including Bayern Munich and

Dynamo Kiev Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society, the club as a separate business entity was officia ...

, would be invited to participate in an annual Edinburgh tournament. Eventually, the clubs settled for playing a single derby match on the last Saturday before the start of the 2003–04 Scottish Premier League season. The SPL did not help the launch of the Festival Cup by scheduling a league derby match two weeks after the Festival Cup match, also at

. 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 the clubs arranging other friendly matches. The Festival Cup match was eventually played at Tynecastle on 4 September 2004. Both teams were well below full strength because several players were training with their national teams. Playing the game in September also meant that the game was played after the start of the 2004–05 Scottish Premier League season and after the end of the Festival. Hearts won the second and to date last Festival Cup match 3–1. The Hearts goals were scored by Craig Sives,

Mark de Vries Mark Lyndon Patrick de Vries (born 24 August 1975) is a Dutch football coach and former player. During his playing career he played in Holland, England and Scotland and has since coached in the Faroe Islands and Hungary. After Cambuur, he starte ...

and

Dennis Wyness Dennis Wyness (born 22 March 1977) is a retired Scottish footballer. He played either as an attacking midfielder or as a striker. He has previously played for Aberdeen, Inverness CT, Hearts, St Mirren, Queen of the South, Dumbarton, Peterh ...

, while Stephen Dobbie scored a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

for Hibs. The match was not in played in 2005 as Hearts had a protracted search for a new head coach. It was not resurrected in 2006 and has not been contested since.

New Year derby

An Edinburgh derby match has traditionally been played at

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

, as both 1 January and 2 January are

bank holidays A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...

in Scotland. The New Year derby match has sometimes not taken place in recent years, due to a shutdown in early January being introduced to the schedule. Of the 94 Edinburgh derbies played at New Year, Hibs hold a slight lead of 32 to 30 wins by Hearts. During the 1940 New Year's Day match, Easter Road was covered with a thick fog that would normally cause a football match to be abandoned. Due to the match being played during wartime, and it being broadcast widely by the BBC for the entertainment of soldiers stationed overseas, the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

ordered play to go ahead to avoid alerting the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

to the bad weather conditions. Commentator

Bob Kingsley Robert Gibson Kingsley (March 19, 1939 – October 17, 2019) was an American country music radio personality and a member of the National Radio Hall of Fame. He was best known as the host of two nationally syndicated radio programs: ''American Cou ...

could not see the pitch either and had to improvise. Using a series of runners to tell him if there were any goals scored, he created his own version of the match. This was later described in ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' as "''

Fawlty Towers ''Fawlty Towers'' is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, broadcast on BBC2 in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The show was ranked first on a list of the 100 Greatest British Television ...

'' ahead of itself" and adapted into a BBC Radio Four play by Scottish playwright,

Andrew Dallmeyer Andrew Dallmeyer (10 January 1945 – 21 May 2017) was a Scottish playwright, theatre director and actor. He wrote over 75 plays, including the ''Opium Eater'' and directed more than 50 productions. His plays have won a number of awards, includi ...

Results and records

Hearts have the better record in derbies, with 146 to 86 wins by Hibs in 331 matches played in the three main Scottish competitions. There have been 656 Edinburgh derbies to date, meaning that just under half of all derbies have been played in other competitions and friendlies. Including these other fixtures, Hearts have won 288 derbies and Hibs have won 206. During the 2017–18 season, Hearts manager

Craig Levein Craig William Levein (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is currently a full-time advisor to the board of directors at Highland Football League club Brechin City. During his playing care ...

said that Hearts winning was the "natural order" of the fixture, with Hibs fans and manager

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player. During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he ...

making light of these comments in the subsequent derby, which Hibs won. Since the creation of the

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

in 1975 and the introduction of four league games between clubs in a Scottish season, neither club has managed to win all four league derbies in a season. Hearts have achieved three wins and a draw five times, in 1985–86, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1996–97 and 2006–07. Hibs' best record in a league season is also three wins and a draw, in 1975–76. Hearts whitewashed Hibs in the 2011–12 season, winning all three

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

games and the

; however, a fourth league fixture was not possible as the clubs were not in the same section of the league after the split.

League results

Scottish Cup results

League Cup results

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 on 12 August 1893. The largest number of goals scored in a competitive match was when Hearts won 8–3 in a league match on 21 September 1935. Hearts hold the record margin in the

with a 6–1 victory on 11 August 1956.

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 (33) and Tommy Walker (29) scored more goals in derbies than Robertson, when games in local competitions are considered.

Gordon Smith Gordon Smith may refer to: In politics *Gordon H. Smith (born 1952), former U.S. Senator from Oregon, and current Area Authority for the LDS Church * Gordon Elsworth Smith (1918–2005), Canadian politician * Gordon Smith (academic) (1927–2009), ...

is the top goalscorer in Edinburgh derbies for Hibs, with 15 goals. Smith played for Hearts and

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

later in his career and became the only player to have won the

Scottish league championship The Scottish League Championship (currently the Tennents League Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic rugby union league system within Scotland. Operated by the Scottish Rugby Union, the championship was founded in 1973 as the fi ...

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. Barney Battles Jr. scored 11 goals in less than a month versus Hibs in 1929; five in the 8–2 Dunedin Cup final victory on 17 April 1929, two in the 5–1 Wilson Cup Final victory on 30 April 1929 and four in the 5–1 Rosebery Charity Cup Final victory on 11 May 1929.

Hat-tricks

Sixteen hat-tricks have been scored in competitive Edinburgh derbies by fifteen players, nine for Hearts and seven for Hibs. Bobby Walker is the only player to score multiple hat-tricks, and

for Hearts and

Joe Baker Joseph Henry Baker (17 July 1940 – 6 October 2003) was an England international footballer. Born in Woolton in Liverpool, England, he spent virtually his entire childhood growing up in Motherwell, Scotland. He is notable for being the first ...

for Hibs are the only players to score four goals in one derby. The majority of these hat-tricks were scored in the first one hundred years of the derby's existence, with only three occurring in the last fifty years.

Players with both clubs

This is a list of players who played at least one competitive first team fixture for both clubs. Only four players have scored for both Hearts and Hibs in Edinburgh derbies –

Ralph Callachan Ralph Callachan (born 29 April 1955 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish former association football, footballer, who played for three senior clubs in Edinburgh; Heart of Midlothian F.C., Hearts, Hibernian F.C., Hibs and Meadowbank Thistle F.C., Meadowb ...

, Alan Gordon,

Darren Jackson Darren Jackson (born 25 July 1966) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played predominantly as a forward. Jackson played for several clubs in Scotland and England, including Newcastle United, Dundee United, Hibernian, Celtic ...

and

References

External links

A tale of one city: Edinburgh
– ''These Football Times'' (2015) {{DEFAULTSORT:Edinburgh Derby Scotland football derbies Heart of Midlothian F.C. Hibernian F.C. Football in Edinburgh Recurring sporting events established in 1875