Scotland's Hearts want to break 41-year hegemony and become champions

Founded in 1874, the Edinburgh representative is very close to breaking the 41-year hegemony of Celtic and Rangers, known as the "Old Firm" in Island football, where Leicester City became champions in the English Premier League 10 years ago with a big surprise.

Hearts, who led the last week in Scotland 40 years ago but lost the championship to Celtic by losing 2-0 to Dundee in the last match, do not want to disappoint their fans this time.

In Scotland, where Aberdeen, coached by Alex Ferguson in the 1984-85 season, was the last different champion, Celtic won the cup 22 times and Rangers 18 times.

66 years of championship longing

Hearts, who have 4 championships in their history, had their last victory in the league in the 1959-60 season.

The capital representative, who experienced one of his most successful periods between 1950-60, took 2 league, 4 League Cups and 1 Scottish Cup to his museum.

Hearts, which was transferred to a trustee in 2013 due to the financial crisis and overcame economic difficulties with the great sacrifice of its fans, came to the last week without running out of breath, just like Aberdeen, which suffered a huge decline after winning 10 of its first 11 games last season.

£10 million investment from Tony Bloom

Tony Bloom, owner of Premier League club Brighton Hove Albion, became a 29 percent shareholder of the club in the summer of 2025 with an investment of £10 million.

Bloom, who bought Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium when they were in the second division and led them to their first title in 90 years, signed Claudio Braga from the Norwegian 2nd League and he has played an important role in the team's success with 17 goals this season.

Celtic chasing 56th title

Celtic, whose wage budget is more than five times that of Hearts, want to turn the 55 league titles they share with arch-rivals Rangers in their favor.

Celtic, who have won 14 of the last 15 titles, have not won against Hearts this season.

Of the 3 matches played between the two teams in the league, 2 were won by the capital team and one ended in a draw.

O'Neill gets the team back in the race

Celtic, who have had an inconsistent season, have changed their manager four times this season, bringing in 74-year-old Martin O'Neill for the second time.

Celtic, who started the season with Brendan Rodgers, fired the experienced coach after a 3-1 defeat to Hearts in October, while O'Neill bought the club time.

The Green-Whites, who won seven of their eight games under O'Neill, handed the bench to Wilfried Nancy but lost 2-1 to Hearts in the first home game.

The Glasgow team, who parted ways with Nancy after 33 days following the poor results, got back into the championship race by bringing O'Neill back in charge.

The Irish manager recorded 18 wins and four draws in 25 matches in his second term.

Murray backs Hearts to avoid backlash

Scottish tennis player Andy Murray, who is known to be a fan of the club's arch-rival Hibernian, was one of those who supported Hearts on their way to the championship.

Murray, who has 3 grand slam championships in his career, stated that it would be good for Hearts to win for the sake of Scottish football and said, "I'll probably get a lot of flak for saying this but personally I think it would be a good thing for Scottish football if Hearts can win. It's been a long time since a team other than Celtic or Rangers won the league. People ask me about Scottish football and that doesn't normally happen. So there is clearly a lot of interest in that."

Even a draw will be enough for Hearts to win the title

There is one point difference between the two teams in the league.

Hearts are in the lead with 80 points, while second-placed Celtic have 79 points.

Even a draw will be enough for Hearts to win the title.

Celtic, on the other hand, will only play for a win to continue their winning streak.