Tony Bloom has reaffirmed his ambition for Hearts to win the Scottish Premiership within the next decade, saying he would be “really disappointed” if the club failed to do so.
The Brighton chairman invested almost £10 million in Hearts last summer and immediately set out to challenge the established dominance of Celtic and Rangers in Scottish football.
Hearts came close in Bloom’s first season, leading the table from September before Celtic overturned a 1-0 deficit on the final day to snatch the title in the closing minutes.
The two clubs meet again at Celtic Park on Sunday, in their first meeting since that dramatic finish.
“The way it [last season] ended, in difficult circumstances from a Hearts point of view, is exceptionally disappointing for the club and for me as well,” Bloom said.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to accept what’s happened, if not be happy about how things ended.”
Asked whether he still believed Hearts could become the first club outside the Old Firm to win the top-flight title since 1985, Bloom replied: “Absolutely. I’d be really disappointed if Hearts have not won the Scottish Premiership within the 10 years.”
Hearts rebuild after title disappointment
The defeat triggered significant change at Tynecastle Park. Head coach Derek McInnes, captain Lawrence Shankland and midfielder Cammy Devlin all left for Rangers, while Alexandros Kyziridis and Alexander Schwolow were among the other players to move on.
Hearts used Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics network — which is also employed by Brighton — to appoint Wouter Vrancken and recruit a number of new players, including Calvin Miller, Malachi Fagan-Walcott and Beau Reus.
The new campaign began with defeats in Champions League and Europa League qualifying, followed by a Premiership loss to Aberdeen. Hearts have since recovered and enter Sunday’s game third in the league, two points behind Celtic and three behind Rangers.
They are also through to the Conference League and the League Cup semi-finals, giving the club several opportunities for success this season.
“We’ve started reasonably well, got a new head coach, so again we’ve got to be hopeful and optimistic for the season to come,” Bloom said.
“It was really difficult with the head coach coming in literally just before the start of pre-season, but as a football club you have to recover, and you have to recover quickly. I think we have done.”
Bloom’s wider football investments have brought success elsewhere. Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise won the Belgian Cup and later claimed its first top-flight league title in 90 years, while Como rose from the bottom of Italian football to Serie A and finished fourth last season.
Hearts are attempting to end a 66-year wait for the Scottish Premiership title, with Bloom maintaining that the club should achieve that objective within his ten-year timeframe.
