Brave Hearts — Terrace Edition

Words: Ross Flannigan

Images: Ross Flannigan

The Scottish Premiership didn’t end up in Gorgie after ninety seven and a bit minutes of play at Celtic park.

What did land, when the players arrived back to the plaza in front of Heart of Midlothian FC’s Tynecastle Park, was an outpouring of support and gratitude for a group of men, who have provided the club and, it seems, many around the world, a season of hope.

Hope that the Old Firm stranglehold on the Scottish Premiership, which in a Hearts sense, has lasted longer than many of the gathered support have been alive, could be broken.

The plans for that challenge must have been amplified at the July 2025 pre-season camp, when Derek McInnes walked in with the freshly inked signature of re-signed skipper Lawrence Shankland in July 2025.

What transpired has been a rollercoaster ride that saw Hearts lead the league for two hundred and twenty odd days, until the final day of the season, Callum Osmand broke into an open goal and scored Celtic’s third, putting a dent in the Gorgie dream.

©Ross Flannigan/ Terrace Edition. Hearts fans assemble to meet team bus at Tynecastle.

Yes, for many, the day was was full of hope that the title drought would be broken. The Jambo faithful lined the pavements of Gorgie from 7.30am to take up their vantage points for a pint, and to watch the game.

Gorgie Road, just a few miles from the West End of Edinburgh, is full of ‘Hearts Pubs’ including the talismanic Tynecastle arms.

All were all bouncing well before kick-off, but when who other than Lawrence Shankland fired Hearts in the lead in the forty-second minute with a bullet header,.

Those plans and dreams look well and truly alive and the entire Gorgie centre erupted in seismic fashion.

However, as you already know, the fairytale wasn’t to be.

What came about in the aftermath was an assembly of Hearts fans back at Tynecastle Park, the iconic stadium, where every other week this season eighteen thousand or so Jambo faithful witnessed an undefeated home season.

©Ross Flannigan/ Terrace Edition. Hearts Song singer Colin Chisholm.

The hurt, whilst not overtaken by all the emotions that this game brings, had grown men crying and consoling each other.

It was a group of supporters who just wanted to say thanks, and, in their own way, share the palpable pain with the players as they alighted from the team bus.

As a lifelong Jambo from Australia that only recently decided to make Edinburgh home, to witness that, capped off what bleeding maroon blood means.

Now to the point. Yes, would winning the league mean everything? Aye it would. Would it be good to have another winner other than the Old Firm, and shake up the system? Aye of course.

Well, the Jambos may not have won the league, but the eyes of world football were on one big game in Scotland and that was courtesy of Heart of Midlothian Football club.