Malcy hits the net……Malcy hits the net……
….and so do the Hibees! Congratulations to John Collins and his team on winning the CIS Cup Final in March 2007.
Fitba' Mad
So, funnily enough, my big passion is football as Nic will
willingly testify to in her position as Scotland's foremost football widow. Having gone to
school in the shadow of mecca itself, Easter Road Stadium, there was never any doubt
that I'd end up supporting Hibernian FC. In the 16odd years that I've been following the Hibees, they've
put us through a roller-coaster of emotions - winning the League Cup a year
after we nearly got swallowed up by our cross-city rivals, a slide into
mediocrity as Alex Miller ran out of ideas and we began to stagnate, relegation
as Jim Duffy showed he was out of his league, a turn-around under Alex McLeish who restored
a fair bit of pride at the club, Tony Mowbray for a season or two and now the
mighty John Collins. 
What About The Off-Season?
Well, of course there's more to life than football. That's why God gave us the Caledonian brewery. Those lovely people who make the gorgeous Caley 80 put on all manner of events to celebrate the miracle of brewing. From beer festivals to brewery tours they provide distractions galore, purely educational of course, designed to make you appreciate your delicious pints of 80 all the more!! I could go on for ages, but why not just click on the Caley logo and let the experts do the talking..... ;-)
Favourite Hibee Memories
There's so many to choose from, but the ones which jump out (in roughly chronological order) :
Hibs 1 - Rangers 0 (Hampden Park, 25/09/1991, League Cup Semi-Final). Mickey Weir puts a perfect cross onto Keith Wright's head and we know we're coming back to Hampden for a Cup Final. For the time being, the main thing was to celebrate beating Rangers!
Hibs 2 - Dunfermline 0 (Hampden Park, 27/10/1991, League Cup Final). A glorious sunny day sees Hibs lift the League Cup, Keith Wright scores to ensure he got a goal in every round of the competition and Edinburgh is a sea of green and white for the open-top bus. Oh happy days!
Hibs 2 - Anderlecht 2 (Easter Road, UEFA Cup). An absolutely jam-packed Easter Road was buzzing for this European tie. The noise was deafening and we started off so well, Dave Beaumont of all people putting us in front. Anderlecht showed their class to go 2 -1 in front, but Hibs showed fighting spirit to get a draw despite having Mickey Weir sent off (even though the Anderlecht players tried to stop the referee from booking him).
Anderlecht 1- Hibs 1 (Brussels, UEFA Cup). The return leg of the tie and we know a win or a draw with at least 2 away goals is required. Brussels city centre was heaving with Hibees, who'd arrived by the plane and coach load. The Anderlecht fans we met were fantastic, showing us how to get to the ground and wanting to swap tops. There was so many Hibs fans, they ended up opening parts of the ground which had been closed to relieve some of the crushing. In the game itself, Anderlecht struck quite early on and we had a real up-hill battle. But with the Hibs fans making all the noise, we couldn't believe our eyes as we pinned Anderlecht back on their home turf. We scored the equalizer through Darren Jackson and kept up the pressure, with a header hitting the bar. But it was not to be. The home fans applauded Hibs and the supporters at the end, which was an amazing moment.
Hearts 0 - Hibs 1 (Tynecastle, Derby). Hearts unbeaten run in the Edinburgh derby had reached 22 games and I think most fans would agree the games were dire. Hibs had all the pressure of trying to end Hearts run and Hearts had all the pressure of not wanting to be the team which brought the run to an end, so tense battling games tended to be the result. If memory serves me right, this game was the official opening of the Wheatfield stand and Tynecastle was packed - which made it all the sweeter when club captain Gordon Hunter smashed the ball high into the net from a flicked-on corner at the Hibs end. From that moment on Hibs dug in and clung on, much to the relief of Hibees everywhere!
Hibs 2 - Hearts 1 (Easter Road, New Years Day Derby). A young promising player called Kevin Harper (remember him?) was causing excitement down Easter Road way. He booked himself a spot in my memory banks with an absolutely stunning volley at the Hearts end in an exciting derby game that could have gone either way.
Wedding Reception (10/09/1999). Match of the day at Easter Road on this date was Nic and I. The reception in the ForthView Suite was the perfect end to the perfect day and we'll never forget how well the day went and how much everyone enjoyed themselves.
Hearts 0 - Hibs 3 (Tynecastle, 19/12/1999, Millenium Derby). The last derby of the 20th century which had been dubbed the 'Millenium Derby' saw Hibs win comprehensively, thanks to some good saves by Nick Colgan in the first half and Franck Sauzee / Russell Latapy dominating midfield. A youngster called Kenny Miller came on to coolly slot away the 3rd goal, becoming a hero for a few months before leaving to become a biological bench-heater for Rangers. Hmmm, let me see. Good money, regular game, chance to gain experience, put yourself in the shop window and increase your market value versus good money, fringe player, slipped out of the public eye and market value decreasing all the time. Nice career move Kenny - anyone would think you'd received poor guidance from someone in a supposedly 'impartial' position.
Hibs 6 - Hearts 2 (Easter Road, 22/10/2000, Derby). So fresh on the mind, but we already know it's going to go down in history. Hearts started brightly and took the lead within 5 minutes, but then seemed to sit back - which proved a fatal mistake. Good saves from Antti Niemi and a disallowed goal merely slowed the inevitable, Mixu Paatelainen scoring 2 goals in the 3 minutes before half-time to send Hibs in 2 - 1 up and Easter Road was rocking! 5 minutes into the second half and Russell Latapy plays a beautiful ball into David Zitelli who makes it 3. Around about now, Hibs started playing some sublime football, sweeping moves from wing to wing either ending in a goal or a great save from Niemi. John O'Neil's cross for Mixu's hat-trick was millimetre perfect, then John himself wallops the ball into the net from a corner. 5 - 1 up and the best was yet to come, a one-two on the edge of the box between Latapy and Mixu - with Latapy smashing home the return ball on the volley. In the final minute, Colin Cameron grabbed a consolation goal from a loose ball in the Hibs box - but looks bemused as he gets a big cheer and clap from the sarcastic Hibs support. 6 - 2 going on 10 - 2 and a night to remember for many years to come......
Hibs 3 - AEK Athens 2 (Easter Road, 27/09/2001, UEFA Cup). The return leg of our first round tie with AEK Athens was a cracker. Hibs were 2-0 down from the first leg and had it all to do against a team with an enviable record in European competition over the last decade. With a packed Easter Road lifting the roof off the place, Hibs went for glory against a very defensive AEK setup. When Paco Luna scored in the second half, we all knew that our wildest dreams were much closer to reality. With a few minutes of regulation time left, it was Luna again who prodded home his second to send Easter Road into pandemonium. As the referee was putting the whistle to his lips for full-time, Luna threw himself at a cross from De La Cruz and glanced it goalwards - but it whistled past the post and we had to prepare ourselves for extra time. Any worries about the players exhausting themselves just to level the tie were quickly proven to be true - with AEK scoring right at the start of extra time with a stunning strike from Tsartas (their best player in both games). Hibs were now definitely looking out of shape, having been forced to take O'Neil and Sauzee off, and Tsartas scored a second to put the tie beyond us. David Zitelli produced a 30 yard wonder goal in the second half of extra time, to at least give us victory on the night - but oh, what we'd give for Luna's header to have gone in! Ach well, there's always next year!!!
Other Hibs Links
Official Club Site - Squad info, match reports, ticket details and on-line merchandising. All profits go straight to the club, so buy here to help the team!
Hibs.net - The best fan-based site around. Player interviews, breaking news, message boards and chatrooms to keep you bang up to date. Also good banter with other club's supporters, which is well-policed to prevent people spoiling things.
I’ll try and update these pages fairly regularly and make them a bit more snazzy, but I have no idea when that will be!
