Immortality beckons - but Hearts must overcome Celtic & weight of history

Breaking news from the world of sport: Immortality beckons - but Hearts must overcome Celtic & weight of historyPublished5 hours agoImage source, SNSByTom English Scotland's chief sports writerFor Heart of Midlothian, the tantalising, scarcely-believable, bottom line is this: after 66 years they may be crowned champions of Scotland on Wednesday. A large asterisk must sit beside that sentence, of course. For history to happen, Hearts must beat Falkirk at Tynecastle and Celtic lose to Motherwell at Fir Park.

Few can see it turning out this way, but Hearts' home record is exceptional and Motherwell have already beaten Celtic this season. Schooled them, in fact. That was in Wilfried Nancy's time, though.

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A relative lifetime ago. There's been so much change at Celtic, Martin O'Neill's wise counsel dragging the team forward and back into contention after the dismal days under Nancy. They're still playing catch-up, though.

Still chasing and knowing all the while that one slip of their own against Jens Berthel Askou's impressive and dangerous side and it could be curtains. Despite trailing Hearts by a point, Celtic are the bookies' favourite to win the title again. The cold-blooded odds-layers have rarely bought into the Hearts fairytale, most of them reckoning that Celtic would come good in the end.

The mere fact that Hearts have come this close is trippy. Thirty-six games played, 3,240 minutes across 10 months, table toppers since September and they have arrived at this point. In their greatest league season since falling on the last day 40 years ago, they've been doubted along the way.

Reactions and Expectations

Laughed at in the beginning when Tony Bloom bought into the club and said they could split the Old Firm in one season, and questioned in December when they dropped points in four games in a row. Scepticism came in waves in late spring when they lost to two of the bottom six and then drew with Livingston, plumb last in the Premiership. Injuries hampered them then as they hamper them now, but Hearts kept the show on the road.

'Believe' is the Tynecastle mantra, the gospel the manager Derek McInnes has preached. McInnes and O'Neill keeping cool as Premiership title race catches fire Published12 hours agoWhat is it like for players in a title race? Published1 day agoFormer The Voice singer who is Hearts' 12th man in title bid Published1 day agoFans want to believe but fear heartbreak On Monday afternoon, it was quiet in the Tynecastle Arms, the storied boozer in the footprint of the stadium.

A pub but also a strange kind of museum. A pair of boots in a glass box (John Robertson's first pair, local legend has it); a plaque commemorating the 5-1 Scottish Cup final win against Hibs; walls full of photographs, glorious moments captured in time. Will there be more recent ones now?

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.