One spectator at the Edinburgh Marathon may have produced Scottish football’s funniest sign of the weekend after a brutal reference to Hearts’ title collapse.
Celtic beat Hearts on the final day of the season to clinch the Scottish Premiership crown but it seems that the fallout from the win has clearly spilled beyond football.
And at the Edinburgh Marathon this weekend, a banner of encouragement for the runners will not be well received down Gorgie way.
Share us your message to Martin O’Neill, as Celtic down Hearts on the final day…
Celtic joke lands because every Scottish football fan knows the context
Hearts led the league for most of the season, but when it counted at Celtic Park, the Tynecastle club choked, and the banner summed that up perfectly.
The banner simply read: “HEARTS COULDN’T FINISH IT… BUT YOU CAN.”
That was enough for plenty of football fans to immediately understand the joke after Hearts’ dramatic end to the season under Derek McInnes.
Hearts came within touching distance of a historic title before their final-day defeat against Celtic ended the race.
The Edinburgh side had led the league for 250 days before eventually finishing second in the Scottish Premiership table.
The sign also avoids trying too hard. It is short, simple and instantly recognisable to anyone who followed the title race.
Celtic football humour always finds its way into everyday life
The image coming from the Edinburgh Marathon somehow makes it even funnier.
Scottish football banter rarely stays inside stadiums for long, especially after a title race like this one.
Importantly, there is no need to assume which club the supporter follows. The joke itself is enough to get people talking because the context around Hearts’ collapse remains so fresh.
Football fans are rarely slow when it comes to turning major moments into banter, and this banner managed to sum up the entire conversation in one line.
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