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Hearts book looks at the season that nearly was

A lifelong Hearts fan has released a book about how close his side came to upsetting the status quo in Scottish football last season.

Edinburgh music teacher Adam Kenicer has released his first book, Tynecastle Rising: Hearts, Belief and the Season That Changed Scottish Football. | Submitted

placeholder image — Edinburgh music teacher Adam Kenicer has released his first book, Tynecastle Rising: Hearts, Belief and the Season That Changed Scottish Football. | Submitted

Hearts were just minutes from becoming the first non Old-Firm team to win the league in more than 40 years when they lost 3-1 at Parkhead against Celtic, having only needed a point to take the title back to Gorgie for the first time since 1960.

Following an incredible season that all Jambos will never forget, Adam Kenicer, 39, had already decided to document what was already a Scottish football season like no other in October, with Celtic and Rangers seeming to implode simultaneously.

Adam's book looks back on Hearts' incredible run for the title last season, with the Gorgie side just three minutes from winning the Scottish Premier League title. | Submitted

The Edinburgh music teacher released his first book ‘Tynecastle Rising - Hearts, Belief and the Season that Changed Scottish Football’ last month, via a publisher with a connection to one of the catalysts of Hearts’ recent success - minority owner at Tynecastle and Brighton chairman Tony Bloom and his sports data analysis company Jamestown Analytics.

Adam said: “It’s my first book. I have always wanted to do this, being a Hearts supporter, writing about the team I love.

“I had a suspicion in October that it could be a memorable season, so I started the book and contacted the publisher Pitch Publishing and said that there might be something here worth writing a book on.

“The publisher actually knows Tony Bloom, he works part-time in the media team at Brighton. So it was a fortunate connection. He immediately saw this book as a good idea as he knew how successful Jamestown could be.

“I’m too young to recall 1986 when Hearts got down to the last day of the season but lost the league. But that season is in folklore, passed down by generations and well documented.

“So I just thought someone needs to document what’s going on now. Normally when Hearts are top in October I wouldn’t get too excited, but with Jamestown involved I had high hopes that the unthinkable could happen.

“I have been a Hearts fan all my life, since my first game in 1995, a derby match at Tynecastle which we won 2-0. And I remember being lifted into the air when we scored, so that’s why the title is Tynecastle Rising.”

Adam in front of a giant billboard next to Murrayfield Stadium promoting Tynecastle Rising. | Submitted

Explaining more about his first book, Adam added: “It’s the story of the season, but I didn’t want to write a season diary. I thought it would be more interesting to look at Hearts being at the top for so long and being a breath of fresh air.

“I looked into the wage bills, recruitment and other data, so its more interesting and in-depth than a season diary, looking at the wider story of Scottish football.

“It was a long story, so even as I was finishing the book Lawrence Shankland left, then McInnes, and Cammy Devlin was hanging around, so it was a case of ‘when do I stop?’ I hung on as long as I could and waited until the new manager took over.

“I didn’t add anything about the new boss as he wasn’t around last season, but I did mention McInnes leaving. As one of the main messages in the book is the control and power of the Old Firm over Scottish football.

“I’d say 95 times out of 100 the team with the highest wage bill wins the league, but that five per cent chance shows something could happen.

“Celtic were bringing players worth millions off the bench but still losing, whereas Hearts spent next to nothing in comparison and were so close in the end.”

Lifelong Jambo Adam pictured in the dugout at Tynecastle Park. | Submitted

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Adam, who grew up in the Chesser area of Edinburgh and went to Balgreen Primary and Tynecastle High schools, is already thinking about a follow-up book, looking in more detail about the Old Firm’s dominance of the national game in Scotland, with ‘The Impossible League’ as the provisional title.

He said: “Long-term I want this book to be something that can be re-read and I think it is a good way of understanding football in Scotland, because it’s quite a unique little eco system.

“Having two teams that just always win everything, it’s the way it has been for so many years, so what can be done to challenge that ‘norm’?

“I am planning to do a follow-up book looking at Scottish football as a whole, in particular other clubs who came close to breaking that status quo, like Dundee United and Aberdeen in the 1980s. I want to speak to players, managers and fans of other clubs about the Old Firm’s dominance.

“This latest book is about Hearts but it’s not just fans’ book. I hope fans of other clubs will pick it up and read it. But the next one will be more universal.

“I’m thinking of calling it ‘The Impossible League’, looking how other teams can end the duopoly of football in Scotland, which is quite unique. As although teams dominate leagues elsewhere for a period, then someone else is normally successful, in Scotland it’s just always Celtic and Rangers.”

Tynecastle Rising by Adam Kenicer, released by Pitch Publishing, is available to buy now here on Amazon.