Heart of Midlothian leads the table in Scotland and can now extend their lead against Celtic and become the first Scottish champions since 1985 who do not come from Glasgow. How it came about.
Scottish club football has seen better times, much better times, sometimes brilliant times. Celtic Football Club won the European Champions Cup in 1967. Glasgow’s arch-rivals Rangers won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1972. In the semifinals they eliminated FC Bayern with Sepp Maier, Gerd Müller, Uli Hoeneß and Franz Beckenbauer.
The same trophy went into Aberdeen FC’s display case in 1983. A year later, the “Dons” from northeast Scotland became national champions, and a year later they successfully defended the title.
Alex Ferguson 1985 champion with Aberdeen – not yet as Sir
Their coach in those glory days was Alex Ferguson, who had not yet been knighted by the Queen and therefore not a Sir.
The statue of Alex Ferguson in Aberdeen, unveiled by Sir Alex Ferguson
The Scot Ferguson, who led the English team from Manchester United into the best times in the club’s history from 1986, is to date the last coach to win the championship with a Scottish team that does not come from Glasgow.
Celtic or Rangers, Rangers or Celtic
It has been called Celtic or Rangers since 1986. After Rangers were moved to the fourth division in 2012 due to bankruptcy, it was called Celtic with one exception. The Rangers became champions in 2021, a year later they almost won the Europa League, but in the final they lost the penalty shootout to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Scottish clubs last in Europa League and Conference League
On Thursday, the Rangers with their new coach Danny Röhl, former assistant to former national coach Hansi Flick, lost 3-0 at the Norwegian club Brann Bergen. After three matchdays they are bottom of the Europa League with zero points.
Aberdeen FC have not yet picked up a point in two games. The home defeat against Shakhtar Donetsk was followed by a 0:6 at AEK Athens.
Celtic still converted a 0-1 deficit into a 2-1 win against Sturm Graz, but it was only enough for 21st place in the Europa League.
Key game against Celtic
Internationally, things are bad for Scottish football, but at least the domestic league has a lot of appeal at the moment. Only eight of 38 matchdays have been completed, but a team that doesn’t come from Glasgow is already five points clear at the top. Heart of Midlothian has 22 points. They are followed by Celtic, Rangers are a distant second in midfield with just nine points.
The “Hearts” from Edinburgh are still on the long road to becoming the first champions since Aberdeen ’85 who do not come from Glasgow. A key game is coming up on Sunday (October 26th, 2025), as Celtic will come to Tynecastle Park in the Scottish capital. A win for coach Derek McInnes’ team means they are already eight points ahead of their pursuers and series champions, who recently lost 2-0 at FC Dundee.
Schwolow with a club record
A German professional played a certain role in the success of Hearts, who were last Scottish champions in 1960 and before that on several occasions. Goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow moved to Edinburgh at the end of the transfer window. His contract with 1. FC Union Berlin had expired. He had previously played for Hertha BSC, FC Schalke 04 and SC Freiburg in the Bundesliga.
Four games, zero goals conceded: Alexander Schwolow
Schwolow celebrated his debut with a 2-0 win at Rangers, and he also didn’t concede a goal in the following wins against Falkirk, local rivals Hibernian FC and in Kilmarnock.
The club celebrated him on Instagram as the first Hearts goalkeeper in the club’s history to keep a clean sheet in his first four games.
The role that Tony Bloom has in Hearts’ success is difficult to measure in sporting terms. The amount that the Englishman put into the club is known. It is 9.86 million British pounds (around 11.5 million euros) that Bloom paid in the summer of 2025 for 29 percent shares. However, these are “non-voting” shares, so Bloom officially has no direct influence.
What is likely to be important, however, is the know-how that Bloom brought in through “Jamestown Analytics”, an offshoot of the data analysis company Starlizard, which the professional poker player co-founded.
Poker player and data specialist: Tony Bllom
Bloom holds the majority of the shares in Brighton & Hove Albion from the English Premier League and Royal Union Saint Gilloise from the top Belgian league – two clubs that have stood out in recent years through consistent data scouting and, among other things, discovered German international Deniz Undav at SV Meppen.
1. FC Nürnberg hopes to achieve promotion to the Bundesliga again with the help of Jamestown Analytics.
Heart of Midlothian will also be hoping to use the data to become the first non-Glasgow Scottish champions since 1985.
Striker from Aalesunds FK and MFK Zemplin Michalovce
The beginning was promising. Before the season, Hearts signed Portuguese Claudio Braga from Aalesunds FK in the Norwegian second division and Greek Alexandros Kyziridis from MFK Zemplin Michalovce in the Slovakian top division as strikers.
Braga has scored five goals and provided one assist so far, Kyziridis has scored two goals and provided four assists.
Another advantage: Hearts don’t have to play in European competitions during the week, where there is usually nothing for Scottish clubs to win anyway.