Hearts verging on the spectacular as Neil Critchley aims to emulate Tynecastle heroes of 1989

Of course, Heidenheim, who Hearts play tomorrow night in the Conference League at Tynecastle, are not Bayern Munich. But they are now in the same league. That was certainly not the case in February 1989, when a Bayern team containing the likes of Johnny Ekstrom, Klaus Augenthaler and Olaf Thon visited Gorgie in the quarter finals of the Uefa Cup. Heidenheim were still in the amateur leagues at the time and a long way from starting their remarkable ascent of the German pyramid system.

Hearts, meanwhile, were British football’s sole surviving representatives in European football. English clubs remained banned following Heysel, but Alex MacDonald’s side had still got further than Rangers, Aberdeen, Dundee United and Celtic, with the last-named side bowing out of the European Cup-Winners’ Cup at the hands of Werder Bremen the previous November.

The Parkhead side had a happier experience against German opposition earlier this week and now Hearts are aiming to make it a perhaps unlikely double. “What game are you referring to?” teased Critchley, with reference to Celtic’s pulsating 3-1 Champions League win over RB Leipzig the previous evening.

“I'm not sure!….No, I watched that game last night and I thought Celtic were very good. I enjoyed watching that game. Celtic were fully deserving of their victory, I thought they were excellent on the night. Hopefully we can be the next Scottish team to win against German opposition.”

Hearts enjoy a very decent record against German opposition at Tynecastle. Lokomotive Leipzig were an East German team when they arrived in 1976 before being swatted aside 5-1 on a memorable evening. In doing so, Hearts overturned a 2-0 away defeat to surge into the second round of the Cup-Winners’ Cup. As The Scotsman noted the following morning, it was “a performance which will rank with the best in a long tradition of Tynecastle triumphs”.

An 8-3 aggregate defeat against Hamburg in the following round ended Hearts’ involvement in the tournament and the 4-1 home defeat stands as their only reversal against German opposition at Tynecastle to date, although Hearts did lose to Schalke in the Uefa Cup at Murrayfield 20 years ago.

It is a proud record. It must be noted they were unable to complete the jobs following impressive first-leg wins over Stuttgart in 2000 and Bayern Munich, the latter on a night that has since passed into folklore. 

What could put a victory on Thursday in a category of its own is the likely reward for overcoming the latest German side to visit Tynecastle. A place in the last 16 of the newly formatted Conference League would all but be guaranteed. That would mean Hearts enjoying European football after Christmas for the first time since 1989, when they came so close to ousting Bayern Munich and claiming a potential semi-final place against Diego Maradona’s Napoli.

Critchley, who only took charge last month, has been furnished with the details. “Yes, people have mentioned a Bayern Munich game to me before,” he said. “Iain Ferguson, is it? I'm aware…”

The new manager was only 11-years-old at the time and already on the books at local club Crewe Alexandra. He might not have been permitted to stay up to watch the highlights on BBC 1’s Sportsnight programme, when commentator Martin Tyler was heard to squeal: “Boy, did he hit that one!”

Such exhilaration was understandable. Ferguson’s winner in the 1-0 victory, at the old school end at Tynecastle, is still worth a viewing on YouTube. After Mikey Galloway won a free-kick after being the victim of a sandwich, Tosh McKinlay nudged the ball to Ferguson, who let fly from 25 yards with his trusty right foot. The ball arrowed into the net past Raimond Aumann.

It proved another famous winner for the striker, who started because John Robertson was nursing a pelvic injury. Ferguson had also struck for Dundee United against Barcelona in the Nou Camp two years earlier.

They were high times for Scottish football although Hearts, rather like now, were struggling in the league. “So far we've made a reasonably decent start together,” said Critchley, who has at least seen Hearts lift themselves off the foot of the Premiership for the time being. “Hopefully we can take another step forward on Thursday night.”

On the other end of the scale to Critchley is opposite number Frank Schmidt, who has been manager of Heidenheim for 17 years while leading them from the fifth tier of German football to the Bundesliga in the process.

“Something that I think all coaches and managers would want is time,” said Critchley. “The head coach at Heidenheim has obviously had that, and rightly so, because if you look at their journey, it's quite remarkable really where they've come from and where they are now. It's been an unbelievable journey.

“I was only mentioning this morning, I watched a documentary, it must have been about 10 years ago now, and I'm pretty sure Frank Schmidt was on that," he added. "It was following four managers that were in the background and Heidenheim were one of the teams. It was really enjoyable because it showed you the journey the club was on and where they were and where they were trying to get to.

“To be meeting 10 years later, it shows you that football is a small world and what a fantastic job he's done.”

Even ten weeks ago, with Critchley out of a job and fretting where he’d end up next, it seemed unlikely that the managers would meet on the side of a pitch in Gorgie.  Equally unimaginable is the image of Critchley scouring YouTube for footage of a Hearts goal from over three decades ago that still holds its charge in these parts. “Not bad, was it?” smiled an impressed Critchley. “Hopefully someone can score a similar type of goal for us and be remembered for a very long time.”