Before the start of every season in Scottish football, Rangers or Celtic are inevitably made favourites to win all three domestic competitions. There’s no surprise in that of course, as the Glasgow clubs are the biggest teams in the country, and invariably have the best squads to choose from. And no other Scottish club has won the league title in Scotland since Aberdeen won their fourth title at the end of the 1984-85 season.
In that same spell, there have only been 6 Scottish Cup finals that haven’t featured either Old Firm side (with a further three in which one side or the other lost), while the League Cup has been won by a team from outside Glasgow just 8 times.
It is those statistics that make last weekend’s Scottish Cup semi-final results so good for Scottish football. On Saturday, Hibernian beat Aberdeen 2-1 after a late Leigh Griffiths goal to reach the Scottish Cup final for the first time since 2001. On Sunday, Hearts beat Celtic 2-1, and this time the finish was even more dramatic, with Celtic equalising in the 87th minute (although Gary Hooper was offside), before referee Euan Norris awarded Hearts a penalty after Victor Wanyama handled in stoppage time. Former Celtic striker Craig Beattie converted the penalty to win the game for Hearts, sending Hearts to the final for the first time since they won it in 2006.
Those results set up the first Edinburgh derby Scottish Cup final since the 1895-96 season (and what a day that was!), and it has already been dubbed the ‘biggest Edinburgh derby of all time’. And while Aberdeen and Celtic fans will probably disagree, a Hibs vs. Hearts cup final is great for Scottish football.
The Old Firm rivalry hogs the limelight in Scottish football, but the rivalry between Hibs and Hearts is just as fierce. These are two clubs who simply don’t like each other, and the same is true of the supporters. Clashes between the teams are usually feisty and full blooded, with no quarter given and none asked for. Because neither club has won the SPL in decades, there hasn’t been a head-to-head match between the two that means so much in a very long time.
At the clash comes at the end of a season that neither team can claim to have particularly enjoyed.
Hibs have struggled all season, and are currently second bottom of the SPL. They are 7 points clear of bottom club Dunfermline, but their form under manager Pat Fenlon has not been impressive. Fenlon is the second man to manage Hibs this season, having replaced Colin Calderwood in November. Hibs have won just three league games under Fenlon, and there have been rumours of player unrest. But they found some form in the Scottish Cup, beating Cowdenbeath, Kilmarnock and Ayr United before facing Aberdeen in the semi-final.
Hearts have also had a turbulent season, mostly with events behind the scenes. Eccentric owner Vladimir Romanov sacked Jim Jefferies early in the season, replacing him with former Sporting Lisbon manager Paulo Sergio. Sergio refused to speak to the press after feeling that remarks he was marking were being unfairly reported, but of more concern was Hearts players not receiving their wages on several occasions this season, with Romanov announcing he would no longer invest in the club. The players deserve a lot of credit for their cup run, having beaten Auchinleck Talbot, St. Johnstone and St. Mirren (both after replays) before their shock win over Celtic.
Hearts have dominated the Edinburgh derbies this season, winning all three games. Ryan Stevenson and Andy Webster scored as Hearts won 2-0 at Tynecastle in August, and the second game was 1-1 going into the last 10 minutes, before Andy Webster and Rudi Skacel scored to give Hearts a 3-1 victory. The most recent match was against at Tynecastle, with a late Suso Santana goal adding to Craig Beattie’s opener as Hearts again won 2-0.
A fourth win of the season in the Scottish Cup final would give Hearts bragging rights for a long time, so the pressure will be on Hibs to make up for a poor season by beating their city neighbours. It makes for a fascinating final, and one that is a refreshing change for Scottish football.
This will be a hard fought and passionate final, as Edinburgh takes over Glasgow for the day.
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Wanyama handled ? How dare you ? He had no idea where the ball was.Look at Celtic’s Cup fixtures-away to Peterhead,away to ICT,away to Dundee Utd-cherry picked for maximum difficulty ! Norris should be SACKED NOW.5 pens in 6 Rangers games-on two occasions he awarded Rangers 2 pens.It’s perfectly clear where his filthy prejudices lie.He should stay in his Orange lodge permanently with the rest of the neanderthal bigots.Presumably were Hibs to be winning the Final with mins to go,the ref will finesse another non-existent Hearts pen ? This is Futbol.You are a Rangers site ?
This is a joke, right?
David David David, you know fine well what your doing Totally Unprofessional, but what do we expect?
What, talking about Hibs vs. Hearts is unprofessional? This is not an article about Celtic or Rangers. Celtic are only mentioned because Hearts beat them to reach the final. The world does not revolve around Celtic.
Thats the sort of stupid reply i expected, anyway when you writing your article about rangers being stripped of titles
Writing articles about something that hasn’t happened and isn’t likely to? Again, I’ve written an article about Hibs vs. Hearts in the Scottish Cup final. Anything you’re talking about is irrelevant to this article.
lets just say your true colours shone through david, now the mock surprise
Well, whatever keeps you happy Lee. I’m not surprised by any comments left on my articles any more, particularly those about Scottish football.
I WONDER WHY