Hearts were beaten to the title by Celtic on a dramatic final day (Image: Getty)
The eyes of the football world have been firmly fixated on the Scottish Premiership over the last few weeks. That is a sentence rarely written or uttered, given just how boring, low-quality and monotonous the league usually is. Very rarely do you see two teams fighting tooth and nail at the very top, leading to a seismic winner-takes-all encounter on the final day.
For the neutral, it was certainly a nice change from the tedious status quo of Celtic running away with it every single year. It was set up to be a fitting finish to an extraordinary campaign and there was certainly no shortage of drama, but the way it ended was a monumental shame, especially with the world watching.
Celtic scored two late goals to snatch the title away from Hearts, which was no issue in itself. While it wasn’t the result that most people wanted, few can begrudge the Hoops for hitting form at the right time and winning when it mattered.
Hearts, meanwhile, should have taken more points from the teams at the bottom of the league over the course of the season. If they had, they wouldn’t have been relying on a final-day victory at Parkhead to deliver their first league title since 1960.
While the result of the title race wasn’t a problem, even though pretty much everyone apart from Celtic fans wanted Hearts to win, the way the decisive match finished (or didn’t finish?) certainly left a sour taste.
Just seconds after Callum Osmand strolled the ball into an empty net, with Hearts goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow nowhere to be seen, thousands of Celtic fans streamed onto the field to celebrate their fifth title in as many years.
There was still time left to be played, but the sheer number of supporters invading the pitch made that impossible. The match was initially stopped before being ended early and it’s still unclear if the referee ever actually blew the final whistle.
Some thuggish Celtic fans allegedly attacked the devastated Hearts players, including their goalscorer Lawrence Shankland, as they trudged back into position expecting the match to resume.
Some thuggish Celtic fans ruined the day through their own foolish actions (Image: Getty)
It would come as no surprise if Hearts end up going down the legal route to force a punishment against Celtic, given the statement they released later that evening.
In it, they condemned the ‘shameful scenes’ that unfolded, claiming it was an ’embarrassment’ to Scottish football and stating they expected the relevant authorities to take the ‘strongest possible action’.
It’s hard to disagree with that assessment and Hearts have every right to be furious with what unfolded at the end of the game.
However, whether or not Scottish football chiefs are brave enough to risk the wrath of Celtic, the country’s biggest and most influential club, is another question entirely.
Any talk of stripping the title and giving it to Hearts should be disregarded, as to do so would turn Scottish football into an even bigger circus than it already is. But something must be done, otherwise it will send a message that such scenes are perfectly acceptable.
In an ideal world, Celtic supporters would have acted like adults and waited until the final whistle to kick off the celebrations. Unfortunately, they just couldn’t help themselves and their title will forever be tainted because of their own actions. What a shame!
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