When was the last time a team other than Celtic or Rangers won the league in Scotland?

Heart of Midlothian are ten games away from breaking a long streak of dominance from Scottish football's biggest clubs.

Derek McInnes' side have the finish line in sight after going top of the pile with Celtic and Rangers both faltering this season.

For many of us, a Hearts title win would mark the first time in a lifetime that someone other than those big two have laid their hands on the trophy now known as the Scottish Premiership - so just how long has it been?

Celtic and Rangers have had a duopoly over the Scottish league title since 1984/85, when Sir Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen made it back-to-back title wins.

That marked the fourth time in six seasons that a side other than Rangers or Celtic had claimed the league title (three for Aberdeen and one for Dundee United). Rangers were going through a particularly poor spell by their own standards: they finished between 3rd and 5th every year from 1979/80 to 1985/86.

Celtic were the runners-up each time they missed out on the league title in the early 80s, however, meaning that at least one of them and/or Rangers have been in the top two every single season since 1964/65, when Kilmarnock, Hearts and Dunfermline made up the top three.

In the entire history of Scottish football, there have only ever been four seasons where neither Rangers nor Celtic have finished in the top two, with the others coming in 1896/97 (Hearts and Hibs), 1902/03 (Hibs and Dundee), and 1903/04 (Third Lanark and Hearts).

Over the past 30 years, it has overwhelmingly been both sides, but with a couple of notable exceptions. The two Glasgow giants made up the top two every season from 1995/96 to 2011/12 with the exception of 2005/06, when Hearts beat Rangers into second place behind Celtic.

Rangers' expulsion from the top flight in 2012 also meant they were absent from the Premiership until 2016, and they finished third in their first two seasons after returning before the old status quo returned from 2018/19 onwards.

It looks very likely that at least one of the two will be in the top two this season, too.

With just ten games left to play, Hearts hold a four-point lead over second-placed Rangers, with Celtic a further point behind but with a game in hand.

The 12 Premiership teams are currently in the process of playing each other for a third time this season, which will run until every side has played 33 games.

For the final five games, the league splits into two halves, with the sides in each half of the table playing each other once each.