Anthony Brown, journalist, author and boyhood Jambo, belatedly reflects on a memorable season for Hearts...
Is this the way to Barcelona? Well, kind of. If Hearts are to keep the dream alive of playing in Camp Nou in next season's Champions League, they will have to do it the hard way after a special season ended in excruciating fashion. That song first aired by fans on an intoxicating winter's evening at Tannadice - to the tune of Tony Christie's (Is This The Way To) Amarillo - can remain in the Gorgie Ultras' songbook for now, and will be belted out with gusto either in Austria or Turkey in late July. For the next month or two at least, the Champions League awaits for Hearts, although Sturm Graz or Fenerbahce may have something to say about that.
The opportunity to compete in the qualifiers of Europe's premier competition for the first time in 20 years ended up being the most tangible reward for Hearts' most exhilarating campaign in living memory. That it did not result in a first top-flight title in 66 years remains a source of trauma and exasperation for supporters at the end of a month that began amid a blaze of hype and expectation, with Derek McInnes' team three points clear at the top with just four games to play.
May 2026 has been one of the most emotionally-draining months for everyone connected with the Edinburgh club. The first three days involved the giddy anticipation of welcoming Rangers for a Bank Holiday Monday showdown widely viewed as holding the key to the title. Then there was the unbridled euphoria of coming from behind to defeat Danny Rohl's team on one of Tynecastle's most unforgettable evenings. As supporters danced in the Tynie Arms and Diggers, and all around west Edinburgh and beyond, the title seemed in touching distance. It felt like Heart of Midlothian, perennial also-rans, were at the centre of the footballing universe as eyes from all across the globe became fixed on Scotland in the hope of seeing one of the greatest underdog stories come to fruition.
All was well with the world until Saturday May 9, when things gradually began to disintegrate for Hearts as two of their most important players, Marc Leonard and Craig Halkett, succumbed to long-term Achilles injuries in Motherwell on the night when they were controversially denied a penalty that would have given them a chance to turn a 1-1 draw into a 2-1 victory. Stress levels were heightened among supporters the following day when Celtic came from behind to defeat Rangers and close to within a point with just two to play.
Sleepless nights, lumps in throats and teary eyes became the norm in that harrowing final week as Hearts' people struggled to focus on normal life with their team standing on the the brink of history while simultaneously dicing with the prospect of last-day devastation. The glory seemed so tantalisingly close, but all the while they remained in full view of Martin O'Neill's momentum-gathering Celtic side. Nobody at Hearts wanted a last-day shootout at Celtic Park, everyone craved for it to be over against Falkirk at Tynecastle.
And it so nearly was. The surge of energy that went through the stadium when news of Motherwell's equaliser against Celtic came through just before Blair Spittal made it 3-0 to Hearts will never be forgotten by anyone present. For a few magical minutes, it felt like Hearts had one hand on the trophy. Then came news of that game-changing, stoppage-time Celtic penalty at Fir Park. From the utter euphoria of completing a first unbeaten campaign at Tynecastle in 40 years with an emphatic victory, to leaving the stadium with a sense of dread about what may be about to unfold a few days later at Celtic Park.
A declaration from the SFA's KMI Panel that Hearts should, as most people thought on the night, have had a penalty at Fir Park emerged on the eve of the Celtic match. Yet another kick in the teeth as the team arrived at their Mar Hall base before the biggest game of their lives. Hearts' bold quest for glory, however, unravelled in the most brutal manner imaginable as - depleted by injuries to Leonard, Beni Baningime, Oisin McEntee, Tomas Magnusson and Ageu, among others - they ultimately ran out of midfield legs in the dying moments of a match in which they had a good element of control in the first half.
Amid the shock and fall-out of how things ended, it has been largely overlooked that Hearts played out the critical last quarter of the match with an XI that bore little resemblance to the side that had led the way for most of the campaign. Of the more senior players on the pitch, Claudio Braga was struggling with a groin issue and Cammy Devlin, who had been rushed back from injury to try to help Hearts over the line, could barely run by the time Marcelo Saracchi breezed away from him in the build-up to Daizen Maeda's decisive goal.
It was reflective of a second half to the season in which Hearts - already hamstrung by the traditional disadvantages any club has to contend with when going up against the heavyweights from Glasgow - had to overcome the absence of a string of key players. Celtic, although badly hindered by injuries themselves earlier in the campaign, had the majority of their players - including their final-day difference-maker, Callum Osmand - back in the mix when it mattered most.
By the time I left Celtic Park to drive back to Edinburgh after covering the match from the press box, I felt - amid the deep disappointment that Hearts had been unable to get over the line - a sense of relief that it was all over. Since becoming a reporter professionally, I've generally managed to remain relatively dispassionate when covering Hearts, a club I first grew to love after attending my first match as an eight-year-old against Dnipro in 1990.
I've seen them win three Scottish Cups, I've seen them relegated twice, I've seen them recover from administration, I've seen them finish second in the league on two previous occasions and third numerous times. I've seen them win in Bordeaux, I've seen them win in Basel. I've seen them draw at White Hart Lane and Anfield in back-to-back seasons. I've seen them draw in Braga to qualify for the UEFA Cup group stage.
But this was a season that stirred my senses like no other, pretty much from the start, when they defeated Aberdeen on that Monday night after Tony Bloom had sent belief levels soaring with his bold boasts about what he anticipated Hearts doing in the seasons ahead. I genuinely started to believe Hearts could contend for the title in October. While others - including many Hearts supporters - remained sceptical, it seemed pretty clear to me that there was an opportunity opening up when they followed up that stunning 3-0 win at Kilmarnock by beating Celtic 3-1 the following weekend to go eight points clear.
Until that head-frazzling final week, the only two occasions when I thought the game might have been up for Hearts were after the home draw with Kilmarnock in early December and the defeat at Killie in March. Even after the frustrating 2-2 draw at Livingston in April, I still believed Hearts, having repeatedly overcome setbacks and with Lawrence Shankland back in the groove after injury, could go again for the run-in.
Life over the past seven or eight months did not revolve only around following Hearts' fortunes - all the ups and downs, injury issues, transfer activity, vibes among the support, fixture quirks; it was also about keeping a close eye on what was going on at Celtic and Rangers - and even for a brief period, Motherwell - and trying to get a feel for whether or not this Hearts challenge really could go all the way.
By the end, as enjoyable as the journey was, the emotion of it, the stress of it, the all-consuming nature of it had become exhausting. Family members who usually care little for football, never mind Hearts, were fully invested in it, asking for updates and opinions on what might happen. Then there was my 14-year-old son, a season-ticket holder who had travelled to most of the matches around the country with me and clicked the turnstiles to bounce into those packed away ends at Tannadice, Dens Park, Rugby Park, Easter Road and Fir Park with his mate while I headed to the relative calm of the press box.
I felt an obligation to brace him for the possibility that things might not end the way he wanted, but also not to kill the dream for him. It was a tough balancing act.
Then there were thoughts of my little sister, a big Hearts supporter who died in 2017 and would have loved to have been part of this adventure. The whole thing felt much bigger than just what was happening on the football pitch; it was about what it meant to the people around you, the feelings stirring inside everyone, particularly in that barmy post-split period when everything felt heightened. After Shankland's winner against Rangers earlier this month, I found myself embracing with legendary former St Mirren striker Mark Yardley, who covers Hearts' matches for a data company.
Hearts fans (with laptops or not) were not built to be exposed to such high-stakes situations. The days after the season ended were akin to entering a decompression chamber. On the Sunday after Celtic Park, I made a late decision to attend the Scottish Football Writers' Association dinner in Glasgow, partly to get out of the house and partly because I felt compelled to hear from the Hearts camp as nobody had spoken publicly since the match had ended the previous day.
Derek McInnes, collecting his manager of the year award, made an amusing quip about how he had been three minutes away from lying upside down on Princes Street, instead of being at this event. Then Braga, the SFWA Player of the Year, had everyone in the room collectively wishing to reach out and offer him a hug as he delivered an emotionally-charged speech laced with humility. The Portuguese forward was visibly overcome by a mixture of sadness at missing out on the title in such agonising fashion and pride at having been part of such a remarkable story.
The healing process for Hearts supporters has not been helped by the KMI Panel's suggestion last week that Celtic's penalty at Motherwell should not have been awarded, nor the shock departure of talismanic captain Lawrence Shankland to Rangers. Similarly, confirmation that Beni Baningime and Frankie Kent, among others, have left Tynecastle has merely underlined the harsh reality that this was the one and only chance for this particular group of players to have won the title with Hearts.
The saving grace for wound-licking supporters as attention starts to turn towards next season is that the club is in better fettle than ever, alive with ambition and clearly well positioned to become more regular challengers going forward. While there is no guarantee that their progress will be linear - Hearts may struggle to replicate their record-breaking 80-point tally next season, particularly if they make inroads in Europe - the involvement of Jamestown, Tony Bloom and James Anderson ensures they have the means and expertise to build on this season more effectively than they did after previous campaigns of promise, such as 2005-06 and 1997-98.
The 2025-26 season has given an early glimpse of Hearts' potential at the beginning of what promises to be a bright new era. Although it ended in heart-break, when the dust settles and the lingering despair of Celtic Park on the final day and grievances about those two huge decisions in the Fir Park penalty area subside, the campaign should be remembered as one of Hearts' best ever, given the number of magnificent moments and memories they produced in going tantalisingly close to ending four decades of firmly-established Glasgow dominance.
Everyone will have their own highlights of the past year; mine include the following:
- Chatting with Tony Bloom at Tynecastle on the morning of the opening league match, realising that something bigger than initially anticipated might be about to happen at Hearts. That rousing Monday-night victory over Aberdeen, with Bloom watching on, set the tone for the season.
- As a general point, covering Hearts press conferences this season has been a pleasure, largely because of Derek McInnes. Always personable, engaging and eminently quotable. Probably the most important individual in Hearts becoming a force over the past year.
- Claudio Braga (and his brilliant song). A fantastic footballer who quickly endeared himself to supporters with his quality and relentless work-rate in attack. More than that, however, he was a humble, passionate, charismatic character who embodied the spirit in the Hearts dressing-room. The down-side of Jamestown is that the model relies heavily on players like Braga being sold at optimum market value, which - given that he is 27 later this year - suggests the poster boy of their stunning season will be moving on if any suitable bids come this summer. Our number 10 is Claudio.
- Kyziridis' goal against Falkirk in September. Sensational. That was the day Hearts went top of the table as Celtic drew at home to Hibs.
- Kilmarnock away in October. One of my favourite games, possibly because the 3-0 victory evoked memories of 1997-98 when Hearts also won comfortably at Rugby Park. They looked like a serious team that night as Braga and Kyziridis ran riot in the second half.
- The December revival. While many feared the bubble was bursting after a four-game run without victory, that three-game run when they won at Celtic Park, Falkirk Stadium and at home to Rangers in December offered reaffirmation that Hearts - six points clear at Christmas - were not going to fall away easily.
- That Craig Gordon save. Hearts had been down to 10 men for more than half the game when the 43-year-old goalkeeper - on for his first league appearance in more than eight months - made one of the greatest saves of his career to deny Dundee sub Emile Acquah in stoppage time and secure a wildly-celebrated 1-0 away win. Apologies to my big Dundee-leaning mate Alan Pattullo for my lack of press-box decorum that day when Braga fired in the only goal!
- Beating St Mirren with 10 men. There had been a big play in the build-up for an improved atmosphere at Tynecastle after everybody seemed to get overly antsy in the previous home game against Livingston. When Baningime was sent off after just 15 minutes, just a few days after Hearts had played with 10 men against Dundee, things looked bleak. But Hearts showed they were a team of real substance by running out deserved 2-0 winners, with the crowd playing their part.
- Dundee United away in January. Possibly my most enjoyable away game, for a few reasons. Hearts were widely expected to trip up on a horrible pitch, on a winter's night, without several key players, but - aided by two United red cards - they eased to a 3-0 win in front of a huge, buoyant travelling support who spent much of the second half singing about "Bayern Munich, Lazio, Roma". Everything felt possible as I met my son and his friend outside the ground shortly before midnight to drive back down the road.
- The penultimate weekend of February. Hearts looked to be wobbling. They'd just lost 4-2 at Rangers on the same day that Celtic fought back from two down to win 3-2 at Kilmarnock. Both Old Firm teams were ominously breathing down their necks. Hearts responded by edging out Falkirk in their next match through an Islam Chesnokov goal. But even better was to come the following day as Celtic lost to Hibs and Rangers drew at Livingston. That weekend eased the tension slightly and provided a much-needed reminder that the Old Firm, even having tooled up in January, remained susceptible to unexpected slip-ups.
- Colin Chisholm's first on-field performance of The Hearts Song against Aberdeen at the end of February. Spine-tingling. The guy was a gentleman and it was lovely to see him return to the limelight for the closing home matches of the season.
- Exhilaration on the Paris metro. We'd gone on a family break to Paris in the first week of the Easter holidays, which meant missing the Motherwell home game before the split. We were flying home that evening. My hope was that a potentially-fatal Hearts slip-up wouldn't tarnish what had been a great few days in one of the best cities in the world. Unable to get the game on the television screen in the Auld Alliance pub, me and my son had to be content with one Airpod each to listen to Laurie Dunsire's commentary from Hearts TV. It was arguably more stressful than being at Tynecastle to watch events unfold. When Motherwell went ahead, it felt like the dream was dying. Then Braga scored just as we were leaving the pub with our luggage to head down into St Paul's metro station to make our way across the city for our bus to Beauvais Airport. Deep in the bowels of Paris, possibly somewhere underneath the Arc de Triomphe, word entered our ears that VAR appeared to be checking for a possible penalty as Landry Kabore might have been kicked in the head. What a moment. Me and my son could barely contain our delight. Then just as we were walking up the stairs out of the underground into the grey Paris daylight, Kabore made it 3-1. That was the only home league game I didn't get to all season, but that day will stick in the memory. For what it's worth, I think Kabore - excellent in that first half at Celtic Park - could become a big player next season.
- The pre-match carnage on Easter Road. Some 90 minutes before their first post-split fixture away to Hibs, the Hearts team bus rolled down off Regent Road on to the top of Easter Road before pulling up for a few moments, allowing the police to set up an escort. Hearts' supporters had taken over the area all around Middleton's pub in huge numbers, ready to welcome their table-topping team into enemy heartlands. I stood on the other side of the road to take it all in and it was a spectacular scene as the bus hurtled down the crowd-filled street, with maroon pyro filling the air and supporters singing "We always do, love you, Heart of Midlothian, we'll follow you..." while banging on the bus and roaring their appreciation. Moments later, Motherwell took the lead at Ibrox on what would be one of the most dramatic days of Hearts' season.
- Everything about that Bank Holiday blockbuster against Rangers (apart from the first-half performance). The pre-match was electric, the second half was incredible on and off the pitch. Just The Way You Are being played as the team completed their lap of honour before being roared into the tunnel. One of the best nights Tynecastle has ever staged. I had a great time in the Tynie Arms afterwards, then headed up to Diggers and Montpelliers with friends and colleagues. A special night.
- Spittal's goal against Falkirk. Probably the highest point of the season (Shankland's goal at Celtic Park was cancelled out too swiftly to have ever felt truly decisive). In that moment, Hearts would be champions as long as they did not lose by three goals at Celtic Park. Tynecastle felt like it was going to lift off its foundations as Hearts chased a fourth goal that would mean Celtic having to win by four on the last day.
The way it ended means there will obviously be no book forthcoming to commemorate the 2025-26 season, but I felt, for my own cathartic reasons, that I needed to write something to acknowledge a campaign that I felt privileged to be a part of both as a reporter and a supporter. Hopefully this proves to be the precursor to a sustained period of Hearts success, but even if it doesn't, the past season has more than enough merit to stand alone as one for the ages.