The final moments of last season’s Scottish Premiership title race will eventually be forgotten, lost to history amongst an ocean of Celtic trophies.
For just a few weeks, Scotland had the attention of the football world. The prospect of Celtic winning a 56th championship wasn’t the draw.
A midweek match between Motherwell and Celtic attracted viewers because Celtic had a challenger but what happened next was no more than a moment in time for most of the onlookers.
The cost of dominance
It’ll be remembered forever in Edinburgh, where a fully-kitted Heart of Midlothian arrived barely an hour after the final whistle wasn’t blown on their dream in Glasgow on the final day.
The Premiership is hardly unique among European leagues when it comes to being a closed shop at the top but it might be uniquely committed to the bit. Celtic and Rangers have now won 111 league titles between them.
As enjoyable as that must be for their fans, as thunderous as it makes the rivalry between the two, it will take more than a meaningful championship tilt from Rangers to give the Scottish game a shot in the arm.
Derek McInnes and Lawrence Shankland, the manager and captain who led Hearts to within a whisker of their fifth title, are now the manager and captain at Ibrox.
They’re both Rangers men but it’s still hard to shake the idea that the wayward half of the Old Firm were able to watch Hearts run Celtic close and then tuck into the Jam Tarts without chewing.
The wellbeing of Scottish football is an extremely complicated matter. A healthy game means not only a more diverse title picture but an improved national team, depth in the division and beneath, arses on seats, and an unbreakable bond between clubs and their communities.
Saying that the Premiership needs title challengers beyond the norm is far too simplistic – football contributes to life in Scotland regardless – but last season hinted at a thrilling alternative.
The importance of a competitive capital
Occasional pushes from outside Glasgow won’t cut it. In the last 10 seasons, the Old Firm have been the top two seven times. Rangers were still rebuilding when Aberdeen finished second in back-to-back seasons.
Last time a team from outside Glasgow cracked the top two, Celtic and Rangers went on to lock up first and second for the next seven years. Celtic won all but one of those titles but the catalyst for a more open Premiership is more than just a competitive city rival.
Aberdeen occasionally have a say but, in FourFourTwo’s opinion, Edinburgh is the key. Hearts almost showed what’s possible. Hibernian – also with four titles – have a similar level of potential.
Hearts and Hibs are never going to be as wealthy as the Old Firm clubs. They’re trying to be smarter and that’s the only option. Given the chaotic management of Celtic and Rangers in the last two years, the odds might not be as stacked against Edinburgh as they should be.
Their blueprints emerged not in Scotland but on the south coast of England, where two of the Premier League’s more progressive upstarts have been changing the landscape.
Black Knight, Bill Foley’s multi-club empire that includes AFC Bournemouth as well as Lorient and Moreirense, bought into Hibs in 2024. Foley’s involvement lasted under two years but offered an insight into the fresh outlook required to bring success to Easter Road.
The potency of an alternative strategy
Hearts now count Brighton & Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom among their shareholders. Bloom’s co-ownership means that Hearts are the only club in Scotland running Jamestown Analytics, Bloom’s data platform and the secret sauce in Como’s success under Cesc Fabregas.
Wouter Vrancken, the new Hearts boss, won’t have been selected without significant predictive data backing his appointment at Tynecastle.
Old Firm fans won’t take kindly to the idea of losing a piece of their slice but football is a dynamic sport and a social phenomenon that thrives on competition. Stasis is the enemy of growth and greater unpredictability would energise the whole shebang.
Glasgow’s grip isn’t going away but it can be, must be, loosened by more advanced thinking in Edinburgh. Maybe that comes from having football’s leading poker whizz in the boardroom. Maybe it requires a visionary manager at Hearts or Hibs.
Wherever it originates, Scottish football would be enriched from root to tip by capital clubs who are at least primed to capitalise on Celtic and Rangers in flux.
Edinburgh standing up to battle with the bigger boys could be the making of the modern Scottish game, boosting the entertainment baseline and filling those seats more readily.
Hearts fired a shot last season and narrowly missed the target. Every community project and every jaded fan questioning the worth of their dedication must be hoping beyond hope that it was the first mission of many.
