“Rip up the script”: Hearts can set all-time Scottish football league record in Celtic title showdown

Hearts can etch their name into Scottish football history if they “rip up the script” and beat Celtic in Saturday’s Premiership title showdown in Glasgow.

The Jam Tarts know that they will be crowned top-flight champions for the first time since 1960 if they can avoid defeat against the defending champions at Celtic Park.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s Aberdeen back in 1985 were the last time not named Celtic or Rangers to win the Scottish Premiership title, and Hearts are now in a strong position to break that 40-year streak.

Derek McInnes’s side beat Falkirk 3-0 at Tynecastle on Wednesday to maintain their position at the top of the table, but Celtic are breathing down their necks in second place, sitting just one point behind after a dramatic 3-2 victory at Motherwell last time out.

Hearts have reason to be optimistic heading into Saturday’s enormous encounter, as they have already beaten Celtic twice in the 2025-26 season, winning 3-1 at home in October last year and 2-1 at Celtic Park two months later.

The Edinburgh outfit have also beaten Rangers three times this term, and another triumph on Saturday would see Hearts become the first team in Scottish football history to win six matches against the two Old Firm clubs in a single league campaign.

McInnes demands “one big performance” as Hearts chase immortality

McInnes is looking forward to the final-day title decider and has encouraged his Hearts players to deliver “one big performance” against Celtic to get them over the line.

"It's a perfect ending to a season for the league, for Scottish football, for drama and excitement," McInnes told reporters on Friday.

"It's pure box office. I felt for a while it would go the full way, and we've been preparing for that.

"We knew we'd have to get good wins, and obviously Celtic in the last wee while have shown improvements. Fair play to them and to our boys for making this the situation.

"It's important now that we have that one big performance in us to try and get over the line. The confidence I feel in the players is so strong. We have to go there with courage, with belief and be bullish."

Less than 800 away supporters will be cheering Hearts on in Celtic’s 60,000-seater stadium, but McInnes has no doubts that his players will rise to the occasion.

McInnes: “We've ripped the script up so often this season”

"It'll be bedlam, it'll be an unbelievable atmosphere," McInnes said. "There might be people out there who think everything's back on script - 'Celtic win their home game, they win the league'.

"But we've ripped the script up so often this season, and we've got one more in us I think, and it's up to us to try and make that happen.

"There's been a lot of pressure on our lads for a long time now, but the players have dealt with it brilliantly.

"Of course the game's huge, and it'll be different in so many aspects, but it's also exciting. Regardless of what happens tomorrow, it has been a brilliant campaign, but it could be the most special campaign.

"It's up to us to try and create our own history and our own legacy with a big performance."

If Hearts do win the title, it will represent their fifth top-flight triumph, and would see them move above Aberdeen and Edinburgh rivals Hibernian into outright third position on the all-time list in Scotland behind Celtic and Rangers locked on 55 titles each.