Hearts join Celtic and Rangers in achieving top UEFA rank in 'fantastic feat for club'

Tynecastle Park, the home of Hearts, has become the first Scottish stadium outside of Glasgow to be awarded UEFA’s top category ranking.

The Edinburgh venue is now rated as a Category 4 stadium – a leap from the Category 2 status it previously held prior to this season – and is now classed on the same level as Hampden, Murrayfield, Ibrox and Celtic Park.

It means Tynecastle is permitted to host European group stage football and can be considered as a venue for other UEFA competitions in the future.

Hearts chief executive officer Andrew McKinlay said: “This is a fantastic feat for the club and it comes off the back of a tremendous amount of hard work undertaken by staff behind the scenes.

Hearts' Tynecastle Park stadium has been awarded UEFA's highest category. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group)

“While we all know how magnificent a stadium Tynecastle is, we were under no illusion of how big a task we faced to meet UEFA’s exacting standards in terms of hosting group stage European football.

“As soon as European football was secured towards the end of last season, club staff undertook a process of significant upgrades in and around the stadium and I cannot thank them enough for their efforts. The financial investment made in upgrading various facilities will pay dividends in the future and it opens Tynecastle’s potential for hosting matches across UEFA’s competitions.

“Above all else, this news means that Tynecastle will continue to play host to famous European nights under the floodlights and we hope that our fans will get to experience more of them in the near future as the first team continues its push for domestic success.”