Scottish football braces itself for an almighty climax with Celtic v Hearts
A global audience is on our game - championship comes down to this
And now the end is near. They’ve followed Hearts all around the country, from Tannadice in the first away league game against Dundee United and now to Parkhead, among the most partisan arenas in world football. Rarely has so much onus been placed on a group of supporters to support.
Hearts are fan owned. Thousands pour money into the club in the form of donations to the supporters’ foundation. But it’s the select few, those whose devotion over the years means they have reached and surpassed the 144-loyalty points-threshold for a precious ticket, who will join the team in the east end of Glasgow this afternoon hoping to witness history against Celtic.
As for the rest? It’s boomtime for bar owners in Gorgie. Queuing systems are in place at the Tynecastle Arms and Diggers. The Tynie Arms, as it’s known, will open at 9am, first come first served. Doors will shut when the precise 191-person maximum has been reached. At the larger Corn Exchange premises down the road, they’re charging 15 quid for the bigger-crowd experience.
Commitment is unwavering, belief is building again. But it is very hard to make your support heard while staring up at a screen 55 miles from where the action is taking place.
It’s always the hope that titanic title shootouts such as Saturday's winner-takes all clash with Celtic will be decided on the pitch. That’s what you want and expect to happen when the two best teams in the country face off for the greatest prize in Scottish football.
Of course, the fear remains that officials sitting in a windowless room off the M8, looking at a screen, might yet have a crucial say. There’s another group that will try its hardest to exert an influence. The 752 Hearts fans – plus 56 complimentary tickets for players’ families and friends - shoehorned into that much disparaged away corner at Celtic Park might as well be handed strips with their names on the back. They are part of the almighty effort that will be required to bring the Scottish title back to Tynecastle for the first time since 1960.
As manager Derek McInnes stressed in those emotional hours following Wednesday night’s cruel denouement, when Hearts were undone by a penalty decision 35 miles away in Motherwell, “we know who we are representing”. He also urged the fans to “sing as loud as you can” at Celtic Park.
His latest message, delivered from Tynecastle following training on the eve of the match, was full of positivity. Told that fans would be unfolding deck chairs outside pubs waiting for them to open, he grinned: “Hopefully we're on the deck chairs on Sunday morning at 6am in the morning!”
His pre-match press conference was slightly delayed by two fire alarms. “An emergency situation has developed,” a recorded message droned. Apparently a hotel guest had managed to create enough steam while drying their hair to trigger the fire alarm. Two fire engines were quickly on the scene. Training was only briefly disrupted and Albert Kidd was not seen running from the premises, bubble perm slightly singed.
Sir Alex Ferguson is Hearts’ camp
Such false alarms only accentuated the tension as Hearts seek to avoid another devastating last-day title failure, adding to those of 1959, 1965 and 1986. Many, including respected club historian David Speed, one of "the 752", have argued that this is Hearts' biggest-ever match.
It will also be distinguished by the club’s longest-ever team sheet: captain Lawrence Shankland and his playing pals, including Cammy Devlin, in what could be his last game for the club, and goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow, who may well emerge as the most pivotal figure for Hearts. Also included in what needs to be a mammoth collective effort are the substitutes and those supporters physically present with them.
McInnes was a young player at Morton the last time such an enormous domestic club football match took place in Scottish football: Rangers v Aberdeen on 11 May 1991. The circumstances were similar. The away side heading into the lion’s den but with one crucial advantage. Like Hearts, Aberdeen needed only a point to clinch the title.
This was set against the huge disadvantage of knowing well over 90 per cent of the home crowd were willing them to lose. The Pittodrie side were permitted to take far more fans than Hearts will have at Celtic Park.
So many stories from that afternoon have passed into legend. Theo Snelders’ young goalkeeping replacement Michael Watt being bullied by Mark Hateley, whose towering header put Rangers on their way five minutes before half time. The England striker grabbed a championship-securing second goal in the second half after Watt failed to hold a shot from Mo Johnston.
Long before VAR, there was referee drama that day too. Kenny Hope, who had originally been selected to referee, was forced to retire early due to an Achilles tendon injury and was replaced at a late hour by Brian McGinlay.
McInnes would be at Rangers before long but was still playing in a Morton team with the likes of John Gahagan and Martin Doak, the late grandfather of current Scotland star Ben Gannon-Doak. The Cappielow side were at Firhill playing Clyde and McInnes created the winning goal with a defence-splitting pass for John Fowler. Just 400 were in attendance.
McInnes has since developed into an astute, much-admired manager who counts Sir Alex Ferguson among his contacts. The former Aberdeen manager is already in people’s thoughts having been taken ill at the recent Manchester United v Liverpool match. But McInnes was able to issue the good news that they have been in touch this week. “He sent me a brilliant message yesterday morning,” he said. “A brilliant message, actually. I took a lot from that.” He added that they will speak again before kick-off at Celtic Park. Having Ferguson in their corner helps counterbalance the wide disparity in supporter numbers inside the stadium.
Ferguson was the last manager of a non-Old Firm side to win the Scottish title, achieving this in his final full season with Aberdeen in 1984-85. He has nailed his colours to the mast in recent months, even attending a match against Aberdeen at Tynecastle wearing a maroon tie. “We know there’s a lot of goodwill out there for us,” said McInnes, in stark contrast to his immediate post-match manifesto of “it’s us against the world” following Wednesday night's 3-0 win over Falkirk.
The world is looking in. Bild, Europe's best-selling newspaper, has given its German audience a taste of the current bedlam in Scottish football. Beneath a photo of Motherwell's Sam Nicholson rising to clear a long throw with his head, hand, or a combination of both, a headline asks: “Has this decision prevented the fairytale championship in Scotland?” McInnes recognises that the story most are expecting to unfold is one that in normal circumstances would be dominating the agenda. Hearts’ bid to change the Scottish football narrative has made the prospect of the 74-year-old Martin O’Neill leading Celtic to a title seem almost unremarkable.
“There might be people out there who think everything's back on script - Celtic win their home game and win the league,” said McInnes. “That's what Celtic have done for the last wee while. They've been the team that win more titles, but we've ripped the script up so often this season. We've got one more in us, I think. It's up to us to try and make that happen.”
Half of Edinburgh is braced – make that all of Edinburgh actually, given Hibs fans have travel brochures to hand for last minute excursions to remote islands in the south seas. Everybody else is rapt.
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