You have to go back to 1984/85 to find the last time that a team other than Celtic or Rangers won the Scottish Premiership title.
That was plucky Aberdeen, then managed by a little-known Scotsman by the name of Alex Ferguson. Whatever happened to him?
Since then, it’s been a Glasgow monopoly on the Scottish Premiership title, with Celtic the dominant force of this modern era – they’ve won 13 of the last 14 editions.
So more of the same was expected this term, and when the Bhoys won their opening two games of the campaign, Paddy Power had seen enough.
The Irish firm, no strangers to making bold decisions, decided to pay out early on bets backing Celtic to land yet another Scottish Premiership title.
But things are starting to go awry, with Hearts – backed by a savvy new investor – currently leading the way at the top of the table.
And with Celtic in disarray, with Brendan Rodgers having quit as manager this week, could we be about to see another entry into Paddy Power’s hall of shame of early payouts that went badly, and expensively, wrong?
Hearts on the Attack
Hearts, or Jam Tarts to call them by their outstanding nickname, currently lead the Scottish Premiership table by eight points, at the time of writing.
| Team | P | W | D | L | GR | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hearts | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | +15 | 25 |
| 2 | Celtic | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | +4 | 17 |
| 3 | Hibernian | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | +5 | 14 |
| 4 | Dundee United | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | +3 | 13 |
| 5 | Rangers | 9 | 2 | 6 | 1 | +1 | 12 |
| 6 | Falkirk | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | -3 | 12 |
They’re blessed with one of the most prolific goalscorers in Scottish football in Lawrence Shankland, while new signing Claudio Braga has also hit the ground running with five goals in his first eight starts.
The Jam Tarts have defeated both Celtic and Rangers already this term, with a 3-1 win over the Bhoys – with Shankland once again on the scoresheet – ultimately seeing Rodgers fall on his sword.
Hearts have been bolstered by the investment of Tony Bloom, who acquired a shareholding of around 30% in the summer of 2025. Bloom is the owner of Brighton & Hove Albion, where he’s transformed the Seagulls from League One mediocrity to being firmly established in the Premier League’s top half.
He’s an innovator in the use of analytics and AI, first as a professional punter and then latterly as a football club head honcho – Hearts will be leaning into that experience at a time in which Bloom has sensationally claimed they can win the Scottish Premiership ‘within the next ten years.’
Maybe, just maybe, they can win it in 2025/26…
But Paddy Power will certainly hope that’s not the case. For all their PR grandstanding, paying out early on what could well be a losing bet can be a financial catastrophe for the firm.
They once had to fork out an unnecessary £800,000 after paying out early on Hilary Clinton winning the 2018 US election… as well having to stump up £4 million to Donald Trump backers as well.
Could the Irish firm be left with egg on their face once again?
The Early Bird
We can count more than a dozen times that Paddy Power have paid out early on bets over the past decade or so.
Sometimes, their decision is vilified. Barack Obama’s election triumph of 2012, Jordan Spieth’s victory at the 2015 Masters and Floyd Mayweather’s win over Conor McGregor in 2017 just some of the examples of Paddy’s PR campaign coming up with the goods with accurate predictions.
And, back during the 2017/18 season, they paid out on Celtic to win the Scottish Premiership… before a ball had even been kicked. The Bhoys ultimately romped to the title by nine points.
But Paddy Power also has a knack for paying out early incorrectly; a knack that has cost them millions over the years.
One of the earliest examples came when they paid out on Stoke City to be relegated from the Premier League during the 2008/09 season after just one game. The Potteries side ultimately finished comfortably in mid table, with Pulis revealing:
“I thought it was the greatest thing to happen to us.
“I thought I couldn’t have asked anybody to have written anything better for us. I really do think that was the spur that got everyone in Stoke-on-Trent thinking, ‘Let’s get down there and win, lose or draw, let’s get behind the lads.’
“We joined everything together and we should have paid Paddy Power.”
Another expensive loss came when they paid out on Liverpool to win the 2022/23 Premier League, having watched the Reds defeat main rivals Manchester City in the Community Shield.
However, Liverpool would finish a lowly fifth… costing the Irish firm a small fortune.
The early payout curse has struck many others too; will Celtic be next?