It’s a shame fans will miss a rare treat

IT’S surprising Hearts and Celtic have only met in the Scottish Cup Final on four occasions.

In 1901, at Ibrox, Hearts beat Celtic 4-3. Six years later, Celtic won 3-0. We had a long wait for the third clash, in 1956, when Hearts were victorious by 3-1. The fourth arrived in 2019, when Celtic were 2-1 winners.

Attendances were pretty good – 15,000 for the 1901 match. The three others, all at Hampden, attracted bigger crowds – 50,000 in 1907, a massive 132,840 in 1956 and 49,434 in 2019.

This year, due to restrictions caused by Covid-19, there will be very few in the stadium, which is a shame.

Fans love seeing their team run out at the National Stadium on such a big occasion and the teams know every professional player is jealous of those involved in the final.

It should come as no shock Celtic are firm favourites. By midweek, the bookies had the Premierships side at 1-5 to win, with Championship Hearts 17-2. Both sides had good wins in their last league matches as Celtic beat Kilmarnock 2-0 and Hearts thrashed Queen of the South 6-1.

Hearts have nothing to lose and can go out and have a go, the management trying to convince their players fine play shown against the Dumfries side must be replicated again.

By contrast, Neil Lennon has tough decisions to make. Does he go along with the rejuvenated team which played Kilmarnock or stand by the guys who played earlier in the season, hoping they can shake off uncertain form?

As a participant in five Scottish Cup Finals, I would pass on one piece of advice to all the players involved: “Enjoy the day!” The bus trip through the south of the city, where I imagine crowds will be watching the teams go by, then the turn into the driveway to the stadium.

After the players disembark, walk up the steps and into the building, they’ll make their way through the foyer and down the tunnel to get their first glimpse of the playing surface.

Goodness, even describing it brings back memories of some good days – and the occasional bad one!

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