THE JURY IS SPLIT

Fulton insists three-corner title fight is great for game but hopes Hearts prevail

- BY FRASER WILSON

AS a kid at Celtic, Steve Fulton grew up in the shadow of giants.

Now he looks at the Hoops and sees only a shadow of the team they used to be.

To be fair, it would be hard to match the level of legend that teenage Fulton was surrounded by in the east end of Glasgow.

People still don't believe him when he tells the story of being taught the game by two Lisbon Lions.

It's not the part about Bobby Lennox and Jimmy Johnstone being his coaches they find hard to imagine.

It's the bit where he admits his innocent self had no idea why the duo were famous.

That naivety never held the midfielder back though.

He was on the fringes of Billy McNeill's first team as Celtic won the title in their Centenary season 1987-88.

A Hoops side packed with more icons of their time, including Paul McStay, Roy Aitken, Tommy Burns and Packie Bonner.

Exactly a decade later, Fulton would become a legend in his own right with Hearts.

His tenacious style in the Tynecastle engine room combined with his wand of a left foot made him a fans' favourite.

Fulton's greatest moment was skippering Hearts to the 1998 Scottish Cup Final win over Rangers having pushed the Old Firm to the last few weeks in the Premier League race. And there's a familiarity to those seasons in 1988 and 1998 playing out right now.

Just like then, Hearts are scrapping with both Old Firm sides in a thrilling three-way title fight.

On both occasions Celtic came out on top, bookending Rangers' Nine-in-a-Row run.