Friendlies Hearts returned for pre-season training on 21 June, with the first preseason friendly scheduled to take place against
Arbroath at the start of July. was cancelled.
Premiership The
Scottish Premiership fixture list was announced on 15 June 2018. Hearts began the season with a 4–1 away victory against
Hamilton Academical at
New Douglas Park.
Scottish Cup Heart of Midlothian entered the competition in the fourth round of competition as one of the sixteens teams to enter in this round of the competition. Their first opponent was at
Tynecastle Park to
Premiership side
Livingston where a goal from
Sean Clare saw the team win the match 1–0. In the fifth round they was drawn against
Junior club
Auchinleck Talbot at home who had knocked out a
Championship side in the previous round. The match saw four different goal scorers with
Christophe Berra scoring the opener in the tenth minute of play. Two more goals from
Demetri Mitchell and
Steven MacLean opened the gap to three goals before the break. A goal in the second half from
Aidan Keena secured the 4–0 win but not before an injury forced them down to ten men for the final twelve minutes. The quarter final saw the team travel to
Firhill Stadium for the match against
Championship side
Partick Thistle. After an early goal from
Christophe Berra, the team dominated the game with 59% of the possession. The tie though headed into a replay after
Christie Elliott scored to level the match in the 72nd minute. The replay at Tyncastle Park saw the away team getting the opening goal in the 17th minute from a
Scott McDonald tap to give the championship side the early lead. But a goal from
Uche Ikpeazu and the penalty conversation from
Sean Clare saw Hearts qualify for the semi-final. For Hearts, this meant a semi final with another Championship side in
Inverness in the first of two matches at
Hampden Park. After a lacklustre first half,
Uche Ikpeazu broke deadlock for the Hearts in the 49th minute with the shot coming off a deflection. After
Jamie McCart goal was deemed offside in the 61st minute,
John Souttar doubled the lead only four minutes later.
Sean Clarke gave Hearts a 3–0 victory after Ikpeazu was brought down by
Mark Ridgers to give a penalty which was converted.
League Cup Having not qualified for Europe Hearts entered the
League Cup at the group stages. On 25 May, Hearts were drawn in
Group C, alongside
Cove Rangers,
Cowdenbeath,
Inverness Caledonian Thistle and
Raith Rovers. On 18 July 2018, Hearts played
Cove Rangers, which marked the first competitive match at
Balmoral Stadium.
Olly Lee opened the scoring after 11 minutes, before fellow debutante
Steven MacLean doubled the advantage in the second half. Cove pulled one back via
Paul McManus with 15 minutes remaining, but were unable to equalise. During the 65th minute of the match
Andrew Irving entered the field of play, replacing
Olly Lee. Irving's contract extension had not been correctly lodged with the
Scottish Football Association, rendering him ineligible to play as his registration expired on 9 June. An
SPFL disciplinary hearing took place on Monday 23 July, as a result of which Hearts were deducted two points from the group stages and fined £10,000, with £8,000 of the fine suspended until the end of the next season. Hearts next group match was against
Raith Rovers.
Kevin Nisbet opened the scoring early in the second half for the home side, before
Michael Smith equalised from 25 yards out. In the 90th minute Christophe Berra had a goal disallowed for impeding the keeper, however replays showed the foul was committed by a fellow Raith player. With the sides level at 1–1 penalties were taken, with Hearts taking the bonus point 4–2 on penalties. The group stage was wound up with two 5 – 0 wins at
Tynecastle Park against
Cowdenbeath and
Inverness Caledonian Thistle,
Group stage Knockout stage ==First team player statistics==