Spurs to play Hearts in special 150th anniversary match in Edinburgh in July

We are delighted to have been invited to play Heart of Midlothian in a pre-season match at Tynecastle Stadium, as part of the Edinburgh club’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

The friendly for our Men’s First Team will take place on Wednesday 17 July (kick-off 7pm UK), and ticket details will follow in due course.

One of Scotland's most storied clubs, founded in 1874, four-times Scottish champions, Hearts have just completed a fine season in the Scottish Premiership where they finished third behind the Glasgow giants of Celtic and Rangers, qualifying for European football in the process.

The biggest link between the teams is the magnificent Dave Mackay. One of the most impactful and important players in our history, Dave is seen as one of Bill Nicholson's biggest signings and was often described as 'the heartbeat' of our double-winning side in 1960/61.

A stalwart of Hearts' most successful team in the 1950s, where he helped them the Scottish title in 1957/58, Dave won the league title, three FA Cups and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 318 appearances for us between 1959-68. Dave's career was celebrated when we played a friendly at Tynecastle to mark Hearts' centenary in 1974. Hearts later hosted Mackay's funeral in 2015.

However, our links with the Edinburgh club go all the way back to 1886, when Tom Purdie, Hearts' first-ever captain, joined our playing staff. He's known to have featured in the first big game at our new Northumberland Park enclosure in 1888 - before we moved to White Hart Lane - a London Senior Cup tie against Old Etonians. He later joined our management committee before returning to Hearts in 1894.

The teams first met in 1901/02 after winning their respective FA Cups in 1901. We made history by becoming the first non-league team to win the FA Cup when we toppled Sheffield United and remain the only non-league club to achieve that feat. Meanwhile, Hearts beat holders Celtic 4-3 to claim the Scottish Cup for the third time. Dubbed the 'World Championship Final' at the time, we drew 0-0 at White Hart Lane on 1 September, 1901 before Hearts won the return 3-1 on 2 January, 1902.

Our last encounter came over two legs in the UEFA Europa League play-off back in August, 2011. We were outstanding in the first leg at Tynecastle, with five different goalscorers - Jake Livermore, Jermain Defoe, Aaron Lennon, Gareth Bale and Rafa van der Vaart - in a 5-0 win. The second leg was a goalless draw at the Lane, most notable for Harry Kane's debut.

This special pre-season match will be televised live by SPURSPLAY (subject to availability in your region), our exclusive live and on-demand video service.

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