Rob DawsonMay 14, 2026, 11:23 AM ET

EDINBURGH, Scotland -- It's customary in Edinburgh to spit on the Heart of Midlothian whenever you walk past.

Hiding among the cobbles outside St Giles' Cathedral on the Royal Mile, just down the hill from Edinburgh Castle, doing so supposedly brings good luck. There's likely to be more saliva than usual on the pavement in the run up to this weekend.

Heart of Midlothian football club are one game away from winning the Scottish top-flight title for the first time in 66 years. It's been more than 40 years since it was won by anyone other than Celtic or Rangers, when Alex Ferguson lifted the last of his three titles with Aberdeen in 1985 before moving south to begin his dynastic reign at Manchester United.

Hearts, who have topped the table since September, only need a draw against Celtic -- currently second, one point behind -- to make history. By the time the final game of the Scottish Premiership campaign kicks off at Celtic Park on Saturday, the mosaic Heart of Midlothian in the centre of the Scottish capital will be covered by Hearts seeking a little extra fortune.

Their first title in a generation is agonisingly close.

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For a few minutes on Wednesday night, with Hearts leading Falkirk and Celtic losing at Motherwell, Hearts were champions with a game to spare. As news of Motherwell goals filtered through from Fir Park and with Hearts fans celebrating goals of their own from Frankie Kent and Cameron Devlin, there were grown men in tears in the stands at Tynecastle.

But by the end of the night, the joy had turned to excruciating anxiety.

With their job done against Falkirk following a 3-0 win, Hearts players huddled around a phone on the pitch learned that Kelechi Iheanacho had scored a controversial 99th-minute penalty for Celtic, and that their cushion -- three points ahead and a superior goal difference heading into the final day -- had been reduced to a solitary point.

Sensing a change in atmosphere around Tynecastle, the Hearts stadium announcer picked up his microphone to deliver a rallying cry.

"Keep believing Hearts fans," he bellowed into the cold Edinburgh air. "We can still do this!"

That Hearts are in this position at all is a feat in itself.

Celtic's total revenue last year was £143 million. Rangers' generated £94m. Hearts' was just a fraction of those numbers at £24m. Last summer, Rangers spent close to £40m on new players. Celtic's transfer spend was £25m. Hearts spent £4m, although you wouldn't know it looking at the Premiership table.

"We're mixing it with teams who've got way more advantages than us," said Hearts manager Derek McInnes, also the last manager to split Celtic and Rangers at the top when he finished second with Aberdeen in 2018.

"You see the spend of Rangers and the quality of Celtic and the spend that they've got putting their squad together. For us to be above both at this stage of the season takes a lot of doing."

Before a ball was kicked this season, Hearts, who finished seventh last season 42 points behind Celtic, were 150-1 outsiders with the bookmakers. And while McInnes and his team have surpassed all expectations, their emergence as contenders has coincided with Celtic and Rangers both enduring turbulent seasons which have bordered on the farcical.

Rangers sacked Russell Martin after just 17 games, despite only appointing him in the summer. By the end, fan anger directed at Martin had reached such a level that he needed a police escort to leave the stadium after what turned out to be his final game in charge.

Celtic, meanwhile, parted company with Brendan Rodgers in October, appointed former boss Martin O'Neill as a caretaker, hired and then sacked Wilfried Nancy all in the space of 33 days, then re-appointed O'Neill until the end of the season.

It says everything about the might of Glasgow's "Old Firm" that despite seemingly doing everything possible to self-sabotage, both teams were still in the title race until last weekend. Rangers' 3-1 defeat at Celtic Park on Sunday finally saw off their challenge, while also guaranteeing Hearts a place in the Champions League qualifiers for the first time in 20 years.

For all their problems, Celtic could yet end the campaign with a league and cup double, with the Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline Athletic to come on May 26.

"We've already broken a club record in terms of points tally," said McInnes, enjoying a remarkable first season in charge after his arrival last summer. "We've got Champions League qualification already secured.

"Obviously we want to go one better and win the league. We've been trying to hold off a couple of heavyweights for a long time now. We've managed to see off Rangers, and we've got to try to see off Celtic."

But Hearts' potentially historic season is not all down to the calamity 50 miles west in Glasgow. There's hope that this is just the start of things to come and that Hearts will eventually transition from plucky disruptor to established challenger.

The confidence in the club's long-term prospects is largely down to Tony Bloom. The 56-year-old billionaire invested close to £10m in June 2025, acquiring 29% stake from fan ownership group The Foundation of Hearts, which helped take the club out of administration in 2014.

But it's not so much Bloom's money that has helped revitalise Hearts. Rather, it's what he brings to the table.

Bloom first contacted Hearts about possible investment in 2023 and in November 2024, the club announced an agreement with football data analysis company Jamestown Analytics, a subsidiary of Bloom's sports betting consultancy, Starlizard. The statement detailing the partnership said the relationship would "aid not only the club's player recruitment but also enhance opposition analysis." It's worked wonders.

What Jamestown actually does is a closely guarded secret, but there's a growing track record of success. Jamestown has helped Brighton, owned by Bloom since 2009, consistently punch above their weight in the Premier League. Last year, Belgian side Royale Union Saint-Gilloise, another with access to Bloom's data analysis services since his investment in 2018, won their first league title for 90 years.

The idea is that Hearts, like Brighton and Union, can go toe-to-toe with more traditional heavyweights because they're better equipped to spot value in the transfer market.

Greek winger Alexandros Kyziridis was found playing for Zemplin Michalovce in Slovakia. Portuguese forward Claudio Braga was picked up from the Norwegian second division for a nominal fee last summer. After 17 goals in all competitions, the 26-year-old was named PFA Scotland Premiership Player of the Year.

More bang for your buck is vital when you're competing against far richer rivals. Though Celtic and Rangers have more money, with Jamestown on board, Hearts now believe they can spend what they have more efficiently.

"I was a wee bit horrified that we were thinking of giving some shares away," recalls Garry Halliday, a supporter for 50 years and one of the founding directors of fan ownership group The Foundation of Hearts.

"But it's a fantastic opportunity. We had an event at Tynecastle and Tony Bloom agreed to do it. He walked onto the stage in front of 600 people and said 'we're going to win the league within the next 10 years' and the roof nearly came off.

"It started as a wee bit of fun when he got to the top of the league, but as the weeks have gone by the belief that it could actually happen has grown."

Stability and ambition is welcome after a rollercoaster period in Hearts' history. Placed into administration with debts of £25m in June 2013, the club were pushed to the brink of extinction. They were only saved because of the efforts of The Foundation of Hearts, which has grown to more than 8,000 members and raised more than £20m since being formed in 2010.

"We were minutes away from not being in existence," says Halliday. "We were definitely on the brink. The club was probably dead just a few months before we managed to get it saved."

Hearts have been relegated to the Scottish second tier twice in the last 12 years -- in 2014 and again in 2020 when the season ended early because of the Covid-19 pandemic. On both occasions they bounced straight back up.

Other times, there have been near misses at the other end of the table. In October 2005, Hearts were clear at top of the Premiership after 10 games only for controversial former owner Vladimiar Romanov to sack manager George Burley. They finished second to Celtic by 17 points.

As painful as that was for Hearts fans, it's nothing compared to events 40 years ago.

In May 1986, Hearts played Dundee on the final day needing just a draw to win the title. Eight minutes away from securing the crucial point, they lost 2-0 to end an unbeaten run that had stretched 27 games. Celtic took advantage, beating St Mirren 5-0 to be crowned champions on goal difference.

"I don't even want to say the date," said Halliday. "There's a generation of fans who still carry those scars and that's where the nervousness comes in and the feeling of disbelief that this is happening."

It's not just in the stands where there are nerves; even Hearts captain and Scotland international Lawrence Shankland isn't immune to the pressure of an enthralling title race.

"There will be nerves, that's totally normal," he said. "When you're in this position, there are going to be nerves for everybody. You're a human being after all. When you get this close to achieving something great it's only normal.

"Everywhere you go, people want to talk about it."

After four decades of Glasgow dominance, most of Scotland -- with the exception of Hibernian, the other team in Edinburgh -- are cheering Hearts on. Even O'Neill, the 74-year-old Celtic manager, begrudgingly accepts that their rise this season is positive for Scottish football. This season, Premiership attendances are set to pass four million for the first time.

"If you're looking at it from a neutral viewpoint, which I certainly am not, then there's been excitement this season because Hearts have thrown down the gauntlet to the two big teams and I think that can only be good," said O'Neill.

Whatever happens at Celtic Park on Saturday, many Hearts fans are taking comfort in the feeling that this is just the start.

"We're definitely ahead of schedule," said Halliday. "If we don't win it this year, it's only the start of the journey. Maybe we're all saying that to each other to mitigate the pain in case it doesn't happen this year.

"I just pray that we get over the line. I'll be absolutely devastated if we don't."

With the title and 60 years of history on the line, there will be a few extra visitors looking for luck at the Heart of Midlothian this week.

Source: https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/48768146/hearts-heart-midlothian-scottish-premiership-celtic-rangers-scotland