There was no link at all. I'm pretty sure we'd never played Hearts at that point and they were a relatively unsuccessful team who would have been little-known outside Edinburgh. Why we would have picked a sort-of similar shirt to the one they briefly wore makes no sense.
Well, at the time it would've been the kit they'd used for practically their entire history -
http://historicalkits.co.uk/Scottish_Football_League/Heart_of_Midlothian/Heart_of_Midlothian.htmhttp://historicalkits.co.uk/Aston_Villa/Aston_Villa.htmAnyways, my point was more that a Rangers+Hearts link was unlikely given Hearts played in claret & blue anyway. Hearts might be plausible still, although as you'd mentioned it's not likely to be a tribute to them seeing as they'd have been small fry compared to the Villa.