THE imminent birth of UEFA's new Europa League has particular relevance for Hearts supporters contemplating a return to foreign shores.
Formerly the UEFA Cup, the renovated tournament will incorporate home and away group matches from next season, but how to get there is quite another matter.
Hearts' recent upturn in results has brought the tuneful "Gorgie boys are going to Europe"
chant emanating from the Tynecastle stands once again. Csaba Laszlo's side are currently third in the SPL and have begun gaining momentum to resemble the European challengers that they have aspired to be.
The stated target is the Europa League but, with this in mind, it is worth documenting precisely what Hearts could become embroiled in.
Four qualifying rounds will precede the competition's coveted group phase from next season, with SPL placings the determining factor in how many preliminary ties any club must play.
Those encouraged by the news that finishing fourth guarantees European football should analyse the hurdles still to be cleared before the tournament begins properly.
Fourth place in the SPL this season earns a place in the Europa League's second qualifying round along with teams from nations such as Portugal, Holland, Turkey, Ukraine, Greece and the Czech Republic. From there, three home and away ties require to be negotiated in order to reach the groups.
To say this is as a monumental and potentially hazardous assignment would be akin to stating that Vladimir Romanov quite likes making money.
Scotland's third-placed club gains entry one level further up in the third qualifier, but they could face opponents from any of Europe's top leagues – England, Spain, Italy, Germany or France.
The Scottish Cup winners will start at the fourth and final qualifying stage, just one round away from the money-laden groups. It is, therefore, in Hearts' interests to maintain their current league standing as the best of the rest, or better still, win the cup.
Losing finalists no longer achieve Europe as a result of the cup winners' league placing, as Queen of the South did last May.
All of the above assumes, perhaps unfairly given recent results, that Hearts will not break the Old Firm duopoly and finish second. Should they repeat their feat of three seasons ago, a place in the third of four qualifying rounds for the Champions League beckons.
Whichever scenario unfolds, there is little question that merely settling for fourth place as a way in to the European arena would not be advisable.
"Hearts need to finish as high as possible and avoid as many qualifiers as they can to get into the group stages," said John McGlynn, the Raith Rovers manager and veteran of recent UEFA Cup and Champions League campaigns with Hearts.
"It's a great incentive to get to the group stages. Financially it's massive. Celtic have got through the Champions League sections in the last two seasons because of their home form, they haven't won away. Your home form becomes so critical in that environment.
"But all those young players at Hearts gaining experience in the European arena will stand them in good stead for the future. We had an experienced team when we were in Europe but it would have been an education for the likes of Christophe Berra.
"Being associated with football at that level brings you on a ton, and confidence levels can soar the more games you play."
McGlynn points to the standard of opposition in qualifying rounds as the major incentive for avoiding them.
"The Champions League qualifer against the Bosnian team (Siroki Brijeg] was fairly comfortable but AEK Athens were a different proposition," he continued. "They showed a lot of quality and basically managed to finish the tie in the first leg at Murrayfield, yet they weren't even a big team in the group stages.
"That shows you the calibre of teams out there. Even after AEK knocked us out of the Champions League qualifiers we went to Sparta Prague in the UEFA Cup, which was every bit as difficult."
McGlynn took charge of Hearts in the UEFA Cup group stage two years previously, smoothing the transition between the Craig Levein and John Robertson eras. It remains one of his fondest memories.
"Craig left and Robbo came in just as we were about to play Schalke. He arrived so late that I was basically still in charge, although Robbo was on the bench.
"Schalke were a really top team, one of the best in Europe at the time. We didn't have to play them away from home due to the competition's format then but I felt overall we fared well.
"Basle was a good victory for us. I remember being with Robbo and Donald Park afterwards. The disappointment was losing the last game at Murrayfield against Ferencvaros (then under the tutelage of current Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo]. If we'd won that we could have gone through."
One issue which lingers in McGlynn's mind from Hearts' two most recent European campaigns is that they were played out at Murrayfield as opposed to Tynecastle.
Although capacity stands at a modest 17,000, the club's spiritual home is unrivalled for acoustics and would make even the most celebrated European footballer jump. Campbell Ogilvie, Hearts' managing director, is likely to request dispensation from UEFA to enable future European encounters to be played at Tynecastle, something McGlynn would wholeheartedly endorse.
"That would be a factor because Tynecastle is an intimidating stadium," he said. "People said at the time that if some of our European games had been at Tynecastle it might have made a difference. That would really be far more advantageous than Murrayfield.
"The fans who went to European games years and years ago know what sort of atmosphere you get at Tynecastle on a European night. They know how intimidated some big teams were.
"Tactically, you can set your team up for away games and try to nick something. For instance, Craig Levein did a great job in Bordeaux and managed to get a result over there.
"At Tynecastle they showed how good they were and eventually eliminated us, but getting a draw away from home can make a real difference to your points total.
"However, at home is where it matters and I think Tynecastle would be intimidating for any European team. Especially in a qualifying game."
McGlynn may be well qualified to comment on qualifiers, but the most crucial lesson he learned with Hearts is that it's always best to avoid them.
