Hearts Shake Scottish Duopoly - 15/10/2005

Hearts drew 1-1 with Celtic away today to maintain their lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership. The match was discussed beforehand in a way that was formerly reserved for clashes between the two dominant Glasgow clubs, Celtic and Rangers. Since 1985, when Sir Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen won, no club other than the Scottish giants has won the top title north of the border. The Edinburgh club have been revived by the involvement of Lithuanian banker Vladimir Romanov, no doubt to the chagrin of their capital city rivals, Hibernian. Why should Romanov be interested in investing £260m in Scottish football? Did he acquire an interest in the country when he patrolled its waters in a Soviet submarine during the Cold War? Perhaps it could provide a platform for his Ukio Bank Investment Group to gain a foothold in western Europe through the highly regarded Edinburgh financial community. But then Romanov initially courted even less glamorous clubs, Dunfermline and Dundee United (who are one hundred metres away from rivals Dundee on the other side of the road). Romanov has transferred the club's £19.6m debt to his own bank. His ambition to take the Scottish title away to the east coast may be helped by the fact that the Old Firm are having to live within their means after spells of extravagant spending. Meanwhile, Romanov has been able to pay wages in the £10,000 a week bracket for key signings such as Edgaras Jankauskas and Takis Fyass. The January transfer window could be the key to whether the Scottish title race reverts to business as usual. Hearts will have to strengthen their talented but thin squad if they are to last the distance and Celtic and Rangers will have to spend to shake them off. Scottish football is suddenly more interesting.