Hearts will be able to host some of the biggest names in European football after Tynecastle was awarded UEFA's highest stadium status.
The Edinburgh club, who travel to the east end of Glasgow to take on Celtic tonight, is celebrating following UEFA's decision to rate its stadium as Category 4. Previously Tynecastle was rated as Category 2, however a number of upgrades during pre-season has elevated the ground according to the governing body.
Tynecastle becomes the first football stadium outside of Glasgow to be awarded the highest ranking. Hampden, Ibrox, Celtic Park and Murrayfield are currently hold Category 4 status. The Jambos will now be in place to offer up their stadium for any UEFA competition such as a Euro tournament or a final. Andrew McKinlay, chief executive, 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.
“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.”
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