Hibernian Football Club (informally known as “Hibs”) is a Scottish football club from Edinburgh. Along with city rivals Hearts, they represent Edinburgh in the Scottish Premier League. The club is currently managed by John Collins with Tommy Craig as his assistant.
Contents
1
History
2 Tony Mowbray era
o 2.1 2004/05 season
o 2.2 2005/06 season
o 2.3 2006/07 season
3 John Collins takes over
o 3.1 Building for the future
4 Nicknames
5 Managers
6 Current squad (season 2006-07)
o 6.1 Players out on loan
7 Famous players
8 In literature
9 Club records
10
Honours
o 10.1 Notes
11 UEFA ranking
12 External links
History
The club was founded in 1875 by Irish born football enthusiasts, the most prominent being Canon Edward Joseph Hannan and Michael Whelahan. The team originally played at a ground near the Meadows in the south of Edinburgh’s Old Town, moving to its current home, Easter Road in Leith, in the 1880s. They were the first major club in Scotland formed out of the immigrant Irish Catholic population (hence the name, from Hibernia, the Latin name for Ireland). A strict translation of the name Hibernian FC would be “Irishmen Football Club.” As the first such team, their example led to the creation of Dundee Hibernian (now Dundee United) and Celtic, who when they were formed were nearly called Glasgow Hibernian. The club is seen as being less of a Catholic institution now than it was in the past, and geography rather than religion is the primary reason that association fans support the team (Hibernian being the club for East Edinburgh).
On August 13, 1887, Hibernian defeated Preston North End in a match co-billed by the FA and SFA as the Association Football Championship of the World decider, due to the two teams’ achievements in their respective domestic cup trophies.
Hibs introduced white sleeves to their shirts on 13 August 1938 against Hamilton Accies after a major brightening up of Easter Road had taken place. The harp and shamrocks at the entrance had been repainted as had the stand and the wall round the pitch and the terracing barriers had all been painted white. The goalposts had been replaced with oval ones with green nets. On that day, Harry Swan addressed the large crowd over new loudspeakers about “the brighter Easter Road” before the team appeared in their new strip.
Hibs were the first British club to appear in European competition,in its inaugural 1955/56 season. This actually took place by default as Hibs did not actually qualify for the competition, but decided to enter after being invited to take part, after the 4 teams who finished above the in the Scottish championship decided not to become involved.UEFA’s European Cup, Hibernian finished 5th in the Scottish League in the previous season, but were invited by the organisers. Playing their first game against German side Rot-Weiss Essen, Hibs won 4-0 in Essen and the return tie in Scotland ended in a 1-1 draw. That year, (1955) Hibs went on to reach the semi-finals, only to be defeated by a Stade de Reims side inspired by the great French footballer Raymond Kopa.
The last major trophy won by the club was the 1991 League Cup, when they defeated Dunfermline in the final. They also reached the League Cup final in 2004 losing to Livingston. Hibs have not won the Scottish Cup since 1902. Their last appearance in the final was a 3-0 loss to Celtic in 2001.
Hibernian’s most recent relegation to the First Division came at the end of the 1997-98 season. They immediately won promotion back to the SPL, however, in the 1998-99 season. A run of 12 wins in a row helped Hibs to the First Division championship They earned a total of 89 points (a record), and finished 23 points ahead of second-placed Falkirk.
The team colours are emerald green and white. The strip is a green body, with white sleeves, with a white collar, and green cuffs. The shorts are white, and the socks are green with white tops. For the 2004/2005 season the colour of the shorts was changed to a green which matches the shirt colour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the club’s 2-0 win over Real Madrid, as this was the kit originally worn for this friendly match.
Tony Mowbray era
Tony Mowbray was appointed Hibs manager on 24 May 2004, replacing the unpopular Bobby Williamson. His appointment came as a surprise because the media had been speculating about many other possible candidates, such as John Gorman , David Hay and Tommy Burns .
Mowbray placed an emphasis on playing attacking, passing football, despite the relative youth of the team and the pressure for results.
The Mowbray era ended on 12 October 2006, when he left Hibernian to become manager of West Bromwich Albion.
2004/05 season
These policies were rewarded with a 3rd place finish in Mowbray’s first season as manager (2004/05), and a place in the UEFA Cup for the following season (2005/06). Hibs reached the semi-final stage of the Scottish Cup where they lost 1-2 to Dundee United, despite taking the lead early in the second half.
2005/06 season
In the 2005/06 season, Hibs got off to an excellent start, winning 10 of their first 14 league games. This form led to speculation by some commentators that they could put in a challenge for the championship, but Tony Mowbray played down the club’s chances, pointing to the lack of squad depth and the much higher budgets of Rangers, Celtic and Hearts. Some injuries and the sale of Garry O’Connor to Lokomotiv Moscow exposed this lack of depth. After a largely disappointing second half of the season, Hibs finished 4th in the SPL and qualified for the Intertoto Cup.
Hibs were beaten 5-1 on aggregate by Ukrainian club FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the first round of the UEFA Cup. They showed promising signs in the Scottish Cup, beating Arbroath 6-0, Rangers 3-0 and Falkirk 5-1, but they were defeated 0-4 by rivals Hearts in the semi-finals.
2006/07 season
The competitive football started early in 2006/07 for Hibs due to their qualification for the Intertoto Cup. They beat their first opponents Dinaburg on a comfortable 8-0 aggregate, but were eliminated on the away goals rule by Danish team OB in the third round.
Hibs have got off to a slow start in the new league season, taking eleven points from the first nine matches. The highlight of the league season so far was a 2-1 win over Rangers on September 17, but this was then followed with two disappointing losses against Falkirk and St. Mirren, both by 1-0.
On 7 September 2006, Tony Mowbray and Mark Venus signed new 12-month rolling contracts that were due to come into force in July 2007. However, shortly after signing the deal, Mowbray departed to become manager of West Bromwich Albion. Mark Venus, Mowbray’s assistant at Hibs, joined him at West Brom in the following week. John Park (previously director of football) and Mark Proctor (previously a first team coach) took charge on a caretaker basis.
John Collins takes over
Following media speculation about Falkirk manager John Hughes, Cowdenbeath manager Mixu Paatelainen and Nottingham Forest coach Ian McParland, it was announced on 31 October 2006 that John Collins will be the new manager, with Tommy Craig as his assistant.
Building for the future
On May 22, 2006, Hibs announced they had secured 36 acres of land to build a training complex. The facilities are to be built on a farm in East Mains, a 20 minute drive from Easter Road. The complex will be called the ‘East Mains Training Centre’. The site will include:
Up to 10 full size grass pitches
Specialist training areas (eg goalkeeping)
Gym
Changing facilities
A treatment area
An indoor short-sided synthetic pitch
Players lounge
Coaches’ rooms
The project is said to cost the club £3m. Hibs will be one of a few clubs in Scotland to have their own facilities, the others being Rangers, Celtic and Ross County. Tony Mowbray repeatedly complained about the poor quality of facilities the club has at their disposal, as the club use public areas in Edinburgh and Musselburgh. The centre is said to be completed by pre-season of the 2007-2008 season, and has received planning permision from East Lothian Council.
Nicknames
The team are known by their fans by the nickname “the Hibees” (pronounced “high-bees”). The club’s name is almost universally shortened to Hibs. Hibs supporters are known as “Hibbies” (singular: “Hibby”). Also many fans call them “The Cabbage”, as per the Cockney Rhyming Slang “The Cabbage And Ribs” after which the pub in Albert Street, Edinburgh is named.
Managers
Willie MacFarlane 1969 – 1970
Dave Ewing 1970 – 1971
Eddie Turnbull 1971 – 1980
Willie Ormond 1980
Bertie Auld 1980 – 1982
Pat Stanton 1982 – 1984
John Blackley 1984 – 1986
Alex Miller 1986 – 1996
Jocky Scott 1996
Jim Duffy 1996 – 1998
Alex McLeish 1998 – 2001
Donald Park (twice) 2001 and 2002 (temporary)
Franck Sauzée 2001 – 2002
Bobby Williamson 2002 – 2004
Tony Mowbray 2004 – 2006
Mark Proctor 2006 (temporary, with John Park)
John Collins 2006 -
Current squad (season 2006-07)
No. Position Player
1 England GK Simon Brown
2 Scotland DF Steven Whittaker
3 England DF David Murphy
4 Morocco MF Merouane Zemmama
5 England DF Rob Jones
6 Scotland MF Michael Stewart
7 Scotland MF Scott Brown
8 Scotland MF Kevin Thomson
9 New Zealand FW Chris Killen
10 Morocco FW Abdessalam Benjelloun
11 Scotland MF Stephen Glass
12 Netherlands DF Shelton Martis
13 Northern Ireland FW Sam Morrow
14 France MF Guillaume Beuzelin
15 England DF Chris Hogg
No. Position Player
17 Northern Ireland MF Ivan Sproule
18 Scotland MF Jamie McCluskey
20 Scotland MF Steven Fletcher
21 Scotland DF Jonathan Baillie
22 Northern Ireland FW Dean Shiels
24 Scotland DF Jay Shields
26 Scotland DF Lewis Stevenson
29 Switzerland DF Oumar Kondé
30 Scotland GK Alastair Brown
31 Poland GK Zbigniew Malkowski
32 Canada MF Keegan Ayres
34 Scotland FW Ross Campbell
35 Scotland MF Sean Lynch
41 Scotland GK Andrew McNeil
Players out on loan
No. Position Player
51 Scotland GK Matthew Curtis (at Dundee United)
–– Northern Ireland DF Dermott McCaffrey (at Queen of the South)
23 England MF Kevin McDonald (at Airdrie United)
For recent transfers, see the “Transfer Deals” section of 2006-07 in Scottish football.
Famous players
Famous players have included: The Famous Five – Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone, Lawrie Reilly, Eddie Turnbull and Willie Ormond; in the seventies Pat Stanton, Alex Cropley, Alex Edwards, John Blackley, Des Bremner and Arthur Duncan, Erich Schaedler, in the 1980s Alan Rough and Gordon Durie, and in the 1990s John Collins, Andy Goram and Jim Leighton. Turnbull also managed the team in the seventies, and at that time his team was nicknamed the “Turnbull’s Tornados”. In the early eighties former Manchester United legend George Best played with the club for half a season: he played 22 games and scored 3 goals.
Other more recent noted players include:
Franck Sauzée – European Cup Winner (with Olympique Marseille)
Garry O’Connor – current Scotland international
Chris Killen – current New Zealand international
Ivan Sproule – current Northern Ireland international
Scott Brown – current Scotland international
Kevin Thomson – current Under 21 Scotland Player and Hibernian Captain
Russell Latapy- Trinidad and Tobago World Cup member (2006)
Ulises de la Cruz- Ecuador World Cup member (2002 & 2006)
In literature
The club has been mentioned in many works of literature, mainly by local authors.
The works of author Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting) contain several references to Hibernian, presumably due to his being a native of Leith. The team is often mentioned in casual conversation and is the team most of his characters support. There are many references to Hibernian’s firm support. Visual references to the Hibs are noticeable in the films adapted from his works. More observant persons would have spotted many images of Hibernian in Danny Boyle’s film, Trainspotting. During the famous baby on the ceiling/detox scene, many posters and pictures of Hibernian can be seen.
In the final short film in the trilogy The Acid House, with the same title as the movie, Coco Bryce, a boy from the “Hibs firm”, is struck by lightning while under the influence of LSD in a Pilton park only to have his soul transferred to the body of an unborn child from one of the more affluent areas of Edinburgh. The final scene of the movie is that of Coco in the baby’s body strapped to his mother’s back with a Hibs top in the pub chanting “Oo to, oo to be, oo to be a Hibee”.
Hibernian are also frequently referred to in the Inspector Rebus detective series by Ian Rankin. In the later books, Rebus’s colleague DS Siobhan Clarke is a season ticket holder at Easter Road. Contrary to the 2006 television adaptation of the series, Rebus is not a Hibs fan in the books.
Club records
Highest home Attendance: 65,860 vs Heart of Midlothian F.C.; 1950
Biggest ever win: 22-1 vs. Black Watch Highlanders F.C.; 3 September 1881
Next biggest ever win: 20-0 vs. Emmet F.C.; 10 January 1885
Biggest League win: 11-1 vs. Airdrieonians F.C.; 24 October 1959, 11-1 vs. Hamilton Academical F.C.; 6 November 1965
Next biggest League win: 10-1 vs Port Glasgow Athletic F.C.; 19 May 1894
Biggest loss: 0-10 vs. Rangers F.C.; 24 December 1898
Most capped player: Lawrie Reilly, 38 Scotland
Most League appearances: Arthur Duncan, 446
Most League goals: Gordon Smith, 364
Most goals in a season: Joe Baker, 42
Honours
Scottish football champions: 4
o 1903, 1948, 1951, 1952
Scottish Football League First Division: 2
o 1981, 1999
Scottish Football League Division Two: 3
o 1894, 1895, 1933
Scottish Cup: 2
o 1887, 1902
Scottish League Cup: 2
o 1972, 1991[10]
“Championship of the World”: 1
o 1887
Drybrough Cup: 2
o 1972, 1973
Summer Cup: 2
o 1942[11], 1964
Tennents’ Sixes: 1
o 1990
Notes
? 1981 and 1999 represent second-tier championships, won after the creation of the Scottish Premier Division in 1976 (and latterly the Scottish Premier League in 1998).
? These two competitions were won when the League Cup was completed in the first half of the season. The competition changed format in 1999, meaning that the semi finals and final are now played in the second half of the season. Therefore the League Cup was not won by anyone in the calendar year of 1999.
? The Summer Cup was contested in place of the Scottish Cup (which was not contested at all between 1939 and 1946) in 1942.
UEFA ranking
Current club ranking
169 Czech Republic Mladá Boleslav
169 Czech Republic Viktoria Zizkov
171 Scotland Hibernian
171 Scotland Aberdeen
173 Switzerland FC Zürich
173 Switzerland Servette FC
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