Tynecastle Park

Wikipedia contributors · CC BY-SA · EN · 04/10/2026

Tynecastle Park, also known as Tynecastle Stadium or colloquially as Tynie, is a football stadium in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). A UEFA category four stadium, it has also hosted Scotland international matches, and been used as a neutral venue for Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup semi-finals.

Tynecastle has a seating capacity of , which makes it the sixth-largest football stadium in Scotland. Hearts have played at the present site of Tynecastle since 1886.

History

Heart of Midlothian

After Hearts was formed in 1874, the club played at sites in the Meadows, Powburn and Powderhall. Hearts first moved to the Gorgie area, in the west of Edinburgh, in 1881. This pitch, known as "Tynecastle Park" or "Old Tynecastle", stood on the site of the present-day Wardlaw Street and Wardlaw Terrace. As this site was then regarded as being 'out of town', Hearts would sometimes stage two matches for the price of one, or set an admission price much lower than Edinburgh derby rivals Hibs. In 1886, with the city continuing to expand, tenements replaced the old ground and Hearts moved across Gorgie Road to the present site (also known as "Tynecastle Park", or "New Tynecastle"), which was leased from Edinburgh Corporation. Hearts inaugurated the new ground on 10 April 1886 with a 4–1 friendly win over Bolton Wanderers. The new ground initially had two pitches running east to west. In 1888, Hearts laid out a single north–south pitch and built two open stands and a pavilion on the McLeod Street side. Tynecastle staged its first Scottish Football League match on 23 August 1890, when Hearts lost 5–0 to Celtic.

Hearts won the Scottish Cup in 1891, which provided the club with sufficient finances for a new clubhouse. Tynecastle hosted its first international fixture in 1892, a 6–1 victory for Scotland against Wales. Only 1,200 fans attended the match because a snowstorm had led many fans to assume that it would be postponed. 1892 also saw a roof constructed on the original "South" stand. In 1895 Tynecastle hosted a "World Championship" match between the winner of the English Football League First Division, Sunderland, and the Scottish league champions, Hearts. The trophy was won by Sunderland, who beat Hearts by a 5–3 score. Tynecastle hosted another "World Championship" game in 1902, when Hearts beat Tottenham Hotspur 3–1.

Redevelopment

Tynecastle underwent substantial changes in the early twentieth century. A small stand and pavilion were built in 1903. Before a 1907 Scottish Cup semi-final against Queen's Park, Hearts removed the cycle track and enlarged the terracing. The ground was measured at a capacity of 61,784, an estimate the club's historian later described as exaggerated. In 1911, a covered enclosure was erected on the western "distillery" side. The two old stands and pavilion were replaced in 1914 by a pitch-length grandstand designed by the stadium architect Archibald Leitch. To partly fund the cost of the new stand, Hearts sold Percy Dawson to Blackburn Rovers for a British record transfer fee of £2,500. A number of items were omitted from the first estimate of the stand, which meant that its cost doubled to £12,000.

During the First World War, Tynecastle was used for military recruitment. Volunteers for McCrae's Battalion paraded around the ground at half-time of a match against Hibernian in 1914.

In 1923–24, Hearts proposed rebuilding the Main Stand at the school end and turning the pitch east–west. Edinburgh Corporation rejected the plan because the stand would block light from Tynecastle School. At the start of the 1924–25 season, Hibernian and St Bernard's played home matches at Tynecastle while their own grounds were being improved.

Hearts bought the ground in the mid-1920s. Edinburgh Corporation retained an option to buy it back if the club moved away. A Scottish Cup tie against Celtic in February 1926 caused severe congestion at the Gorgie Road end, with spectators spilling onto the pitch. Hearts then accelerated their plans to enlarge the ground. Over the next four years, the terraces were expanded using ash from the nearby Haymarket railway yards. In 1927, Hearts gave the BBC permission to broadcast match commentaries from the ground. Club historian David Speed dates the first broadcast from Tynecastle to October 1929. New turnstiles were built on Wheatfield Street and subways created to allow access to the terraces. Tynecastle's record attendance was achieved in 1932, when 53,396 attended a Scottish Cup tie against Rangers. Tynecastle was now tightly squeezed on three sides, however, by narrow streets, Tynecastle High School and bonded warehouses of the North British Distillery. Hearts considered moving to Murrayfield Stadium, which had opened in 1925. There was also a proposal to move to a new ground in Sighthill. The start of the Second World War halted these schemes, however.

The terraces were concreted in 1951 and Tynecastle became Scotland's first all-concrete stadium in 1954. Following the modernisation of the stadium, the club architects said that the capacity stood at 54,359, but for safety reasons only 49,000 tickets were printed and sold for big matches. Floodlights were installed at Tynecastle in 1957. A roof was constructed along part of the "distillery" side and in the north-west corner of the ground in 1959. This work was paid for by the sale of Dave Mackay for £32,000 to Tottenham Hotspur. The covered section of the western terrace became known as The Shed, where Hearts supporters gathered during matches.

No further changes were made to Tynecastle until stricter ground safety regulations came into effect in the 1970s. Hearts also lacked the finances to redevelop Tynecastle, as the club were relegated from the Premier Division twice in five seasons in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Hearts began to perform better under the ownership of Wallace Mercer, who took control in 1981. The capacity was cut to 29,000 with the installation of benches on the "distillery" covered terrace and in the Main Stand paddock in 1982 and 1985 respectively. Also around this time, lounges and facilities were installed in the Main Stand.

1990s relocation and redevelopment

The Taylor Report required all major sports grounds to become all-seated by August 1994. Hearts explored relocation as well as rebuilding Tynecastle. In September 1990, chairman Wallace Mercer said he favoured a site at Hermiston and was also considering Ingliston. Hearts also discussed a shared ground with Hibernian and the local authorities. In 1991, the club proposed a 30,000-seat stadium at Millerhill, south-east of Edinburgh, as part of a development with offices, a hotel, a supermarket, restaurants and a business park. Some Hearts supporters opposed leaving Tynecastle, while campaigners objected to development on the green belt. The Millerhill scheme did not obtain approval. Hearts continued to consider Hermiston and other sites in 1992, but none led to a move.

In December 1992, Hearts announced plans to redevelop Tynecastle as an all-seater stadium. The possibility of sharing Hibernian's proposed ground at Straiton resurfaced in 1993, but Hearts rejected it that October. In 1994, the entire western and northern sides of the ground were demolished, removing The Shed and allowing the Wheatfield Stand to be built that year. The Roseburn Stand followed in 1995. Temporary 'bucket' seating was installed on the (southern) Gorgie Road end terracing. That terracing was itself razed in 1997 and replaced by the Gorgie Stand. During this period of redevelopment, the ground was officially renamed as Tynecastle Stadium.

Sale and redevelopment proposals

In 2004, then club chief executive Chris Robinson proposed selling Tynecastle and leasing Murrayfield from the Scottish Rugby Union, as Hearts sought to address debts of about £20 million. The proposal was opposed by supporters, including through the Save Our Hearts campaign. An agreement was reached to sell the ground to property developer Cala Homes for £20.5 million.

After Vladimir Romanov began investing in Hearts, shareholders voted in January 2005 to exercise an escape clause in the agreement with Cala. The club formally withdrew from the sale the following month after receiving financial assurances that it could remain at Tynecastle; the agreement entitled Cala to £75,000 in compensation. Later in 2005, the pitch was lengthened to meet UEFA requirements, requiring the removal of 280 seats from the Gorgie and Roseburn stands. The stadium's listed capacity was subsequently 17,420.

In 2007, Hearts proposed a £51 million redevelopment centred on replacing the Main Stand with a 10,000-seat stand. The scheme also included hotel, leisure, hospitality and commercial facilities and would have increased Tynecastle's capacity to about 23,000. A planning application was submitted to the City of Edinburgh Council in early 2008. In February 2009, managing director Campbell Ogilvie said work would not begin that summer and gave no new start date; the scheme was still in planning and funding was being arranged. The proposal did not proceed. In 2011, the club and council were again considering the future of Tynecastle. Redeveloping the Main Stand to increase capacity to about 19,000 was then estimated to cost around £20 million, compared with an estimated £30 million for a new 30,000-seat stadium in west Edinburgh. The earlier redevelopment plans had been repeatedly scaled down because of planning difficulties and costs.

When Hearts entered administration in June 2013, the club owed £15 million to the bankrupt Lithuanian bank Ūkio bankas, which held Tynecastle as security for the debt. In 2014 the bank agreed to sell its Hearts shareholding and its security over Tynecastle to Ann Budge's Bidco 1874 as part of the deal to rescue the club. Hearts exited administration in June 2014.

Main Stand replacement

In December 2015, Hearts decided to remain at Tynecastle and redevelop the Main Stand, with the aim of increasing the stadium's capacity to at least 20,000. In March 2016, the club submitted a pre-application notice to the City of Edinburgh Council for a stand of about 7,000 seats, beginning a public consultation; the proposed facilities included a club shop and ticket office. The scheme also included a nursery and club offices. In May, its cost was estimated at £11–12 million, with a September 2017 opening envisaged. The council approved the redevelopment on 12 October 2016. The plans approved by the council provided for a 7,290-seat stand and a projected stadium capacity of 20,099.

Preparatory demolition of buildings adjoining the stand began in November 2016; the old Main Stand was demolished between May and July 2017 while its replacement was under construction. In April 2017, Hearts announced that the ground's original name, Tynecastle Park, would be reinstated when the stand opened. The planned September opening was delayed after the club failed to order seats for the stand in time. Hearts also postponed a proposed 5 November opening to allow more time to test the new facilities. Four home league fixtures were played at Murrayfield. Tynecastle reopened on 19 November 2017 for a 1–1 league draw with Partick Thistle.

At the club's December 2017 annual meeting, Ann Budge put the stand's cost at about £15 million, compared with the original £12 million estimate, and said anonymous benefactors had contributed £4.5 million. The Foundation of Hearts completed a separate £3 million contribution to the Tynecastle Redevelopment Fund in May 2018. By November 2018, Hearts reported nearly £18 million spent on Tynecastle as a whole, including the stand, a hybrid pitch, undersoil heating, a supporters' bar and a television studio.

Structure and facilities

Tynecastle is an all-seated stadium, split into four sections known as the Gorgie Stand, Main Stand, Wheatfield Stand and Roseburn Stand. The Main Stand was rebuilt in 2017, replacing the 1914 stand designed by Archibald Leitch. Built largely of brick with a steel superstructure, the old stand still had some of its original entrance turnstiles when it was surveyed in 2016. Its Hearts mosaic was retained during the redevelopment. The three other stands were constructed between 1994 and 1997, with all having a distinctive goalpost roof structure made out of steel tubes. Unusually, the framework sits at the front of each stand, which means that the support towers sit within 10 yards of the corner flag, forming an arch over the stand. The stadium floodlights sit on top of the support towers, angled down towards the pitch, like the lighting rigs used at concerts. In 2021, the halogen lamps on the towers were replaced with 56 LED lights. The Wheatfield Stand, which seats just under 6,000 people, slopes at just under 34 degrees, the maximum angle permitted. The Roseburn Stand (School End) was completed in August 1995 and cost £1.4 million to build. The Roseburn Stand seated 3,676 when it was opened, but 280 seats were removed from both it and the Gorgie Stand when the pitch was lengthened in 2005 to meet UEFA requirements. The Gorgie Stand, which was completed in September 1997, contains the Gorgie Suite.

Jim Clydesdale designed the replacement Main Stand, as well as the three stands built in the 1990s. The Main Stand redevelopment added changing rooms, a club shop and hospitality areas. In 2018, Hearts completed Tynecastle's first full pitch relay for about 20 years, at a cost of nearly £1 million. The hybrid surface combined natural grass with synthetic reinforcing fibres; the reconstruction also included drainage, irrigation and undersoil heating. A monitoring system was installed to measure moisture across the pitch, air temperature and light levels for grass growth. A 25-bedroom hotel opened within the Main Stand in February 2024.

Source and attribution

Adapted from “Tynecastle Park” by English Wikipedia contributors. Main paragraphs and sections are retained; tables, reference markers and technical markup are omitted. This is an encyclopedic adaptation, not a personal review. Original revision and contributor history ↗. Text is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗. Check current visitor access, tickets and transport with the relevant operator.