The 2013–14 season was the 133rd season of competitive football by Heart of Midlothian, and their 31st consecutive season in the top level of Scottish football, in the newly established Scottish Premiership, which replaced the Scottish Premier League. Hearts also competed in the League Cup and the Scottish Cup.
Summary
Financial problems On 23 May 2013, Hearts held their Annual general meeting where it was revealed the club faced a £2.5million shortfall in funds for the new season. At the AGM a vote was cast on the resolution to reappoint director and chairman Roman Romanov to the board, despite an almost unanimous vote against at the meeting the vote was passed by 99.91% on the back of the majority share holders vote. In early June it was revealed the club had failed to pay a one hundred thousand Paye bill and had been given a deadline of 5pm on 11 June to pay the bill. Hearts managed to pay the majority of the sum owed by the deadline but a sum was still owed to HMRC.
On 13 June, the club released a statement saying that the club was facing a significant shortfall in funding, this was depute large deductions in the playing salary at Hearts. The reasons given by the club were lower than expected season ticket sales, increased costs in relation to the upkeep of the stadium and the club's worst league finish in over 30 years the previous season. The club needed around five hundred thousand just to make it to the start of the season, to pay players and any other outstanding bills and as a result, the club's entire playing squad were effectively up for sale. The following day staff wages were due to be paid, and a number of players did not receive their salaries. The club was handed a player registration ban, meaning they would be unable to sign any new players until all payments are brought up to date.
Administration On 17 June, the club announced they planned to appoint an Administrator, having lodged their intention to do so in court. On 19 June, the club formally entered Administration with administrator BDO being appointed, and as a result were deducted fifteen points for the coming season by the Scottish Premier League and banned from registering players until out of Administration. The club were also cited by the Scottish Football Association for breaking their rule Rule 14(g): "suffering an insolvency event by entering into administration". Administrators set fans a target of 3,000 further season ticket sales in order to raise around £800,000 to keep the club running during Administration, with the target being reached by 12 July.
On 27 June, BDO set a deadline of 12 July for bids for the club to be submitted to them. Three bids were received, one from the Foundation of Hearts, one from HMFC Limited backed by American firm Club 9 Sports and former Livingston owner Angelo Massone through Five Stars Football Ltd. On 29 July 2013, HMFC Limited's bid was rejected and the remaining bidders advised that the current CVA offers would need to be increased as they were “not satisfactory” to Ukio Bankas one of Hearts main creditors. On 15 August, The Foundation of Hearts a fan backed group were awarded preferred bidder status.
On 6 January 2014, Bryan Jackson revealed that BDO had tried to get the SFA to lift the transfer sanctions against the club, however this has been rejected. He also backed the manager, despite poor results and the club dropping 20 points behind their nearest rival. He said: "We're sticking with Gary and hopefully Gary's sticking with us. He's shown fantastic loyalty since we went into administration and we have to show the same to him". Commenting on whether a new manager could do any better he said: "Gary's doing incredibly well with the resources that he has. Anybody else coming in, they're going to have the same resources. You also have to remember that we're here, hopefully in a temporary capacity. So, that's a major decision and something to be considered for the future. That would be for new owners rather than the administrators"
Friendlies Hearts returned for pre-season training on 27 June, before heading to England to take on Romanian side Dinamo Bucharest. On return to Scotland the club travelled to Dunfermline to compete in a fundraiser with gates been shared equally by both clubs and to compete for the Supporters Direct Cup. Hearts pre-season preparations continued with trips to face Raith Rovers and Queen of the South, before heading to Belfast to take part in a mini tournament against Crusaders and a Liverpool XI.
The only friendly to take place at Tynecastle Park was held as a fundraiser, on an international week in November, against German side Wolfsburg. Hearts held the Bundesliga to a 0–0 draw with the game marking the first team debuts of Adam King, Angus Beith and Jack Hamilton.
Results and fixtures
Pre-season / Friendlies
Scottish Premiership
The fixture list for the first 33 Scottish Premiership matches in the 2013–14 season was announced on 19 June. Hearts were given an away game to start the season against St Johnstone, and as a result of entering Administration Hearts started the season on minus fifteen points. It took Hearts until 25 January 2014, to reach positive points, where a win over Ross County put them on plus two points.
The club's relegation from the Scottish Premiership was confirmed on 5 April 2014, for the first time since 1981. Hearts won 4–2 away to Partick Thistle, however St Mirren beat Motherwell 3–2, subsequently making it impossible for Hearts to catch up. Hearts were sat on thirteen points, seventeen behind nearest rival Partick Thistle.
Scottish League Cup
Having not qualified for the Europa League, Hearts entered the League Cup at the second round stage. The draw was held on 7 August 2013 and the club were drawn away from home against Raith Rovers, just over a month following their pre-season win over the Championship side. Liam Fox opened the scoring early in the second half for the home side before Jamie Hamill equalised from the penalty spot. Raith Rovers then had Dougie Hill sent off and with the sides level at 1–1 following extra time penalties were taken. Hearts went on to win the match 5–4 on penalties in a dramatic shoot out, with 16 penalties being taken in total.
The club were then drawn for the third round with another pre-season opponent Queen of the South. Hearts went ahead early on through Kevin McHattie before Ryan McGuffie equalised just six minutes later. The second half continued where the first began with Jamie Hamill scoring from the Penalty Spot just six minutes into the half after Jamie Walker was taken down in the box before Michael Paton leveled the game forcing extra time. Just two minutes in to added time club captain Danny Wilson put the side ahead for the third time before once again being pegged back with Chris Higgins scoring the equaliser just 3 minutes before the end of extra time forcing the match to penalties. Hearts progressed defeating Queens 4–2 in the shoot out, meaning the club had won four out of their last five league cup fixtures on Penalties.
The draw for the Quarter-final took place the following day with Hearts being drawn against Edinburgh Derby rival Hibernian (Hibs) at Easter Road. Hibs dominated the early stages of the encounter, however Ryan Stevenson scored against the run of play from 25 yards out after 34 minutes to separate the two sides. The Easter Road could not recover and their captain James McPake was sent off in the 84th minute for a two footed tackle on Callum Paterson. Hibernian manager Pat Fenlon resigned two days later.
For the Semi-final the club were drawn with fellow Scottish Premiership side Inverness Caledonian Thistle, a repeat of the same round the previous season.
Scottish Cup
The draw took place on 5 November and the club were given a home tie against Scottish Champions Celtic.
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||||Danny Wilson||37||Team Captain |- |2|||MF||||Ryan Stevenson||4||Vice-captain |- |3|||MF||||Jamie Hamill||2||Vice-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 10 May 2014 {| 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"|Premiership ! 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" 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 Premiership, Scottish Cup and the League Cup.
Goal scorers Last updated 10 May 2014 PlacePositionNationNamePremiershipLeague CupScottish CupTotal1FWCallum Paterson1100112MFJamie Hamill54093FWRyan Stevenson7108 4FWDale Carrick6006 5DFDanny Wilson4105 6MFJamie Walker3003MFBilly King30037MFSam Nicholson20028MFJason Holt1001DFKevin McHattie0101DFJordan McGhee1001MFScott Robinson1001MFDavid Smith1001 Own goals0000 Total457052
Disciplinary record