6th June 2001
Shattered Dreams - but we'll be back!
What it means to be a Hibee - the tears and the joy
by Elaine Charlton

MAY 26th 2001 WAS A SIGNIFICANT DATE in my life as a Hibs fan. I had never seen Hibs play in a Scottish Cup final before. Although the result wasn't quite what I (and thousands of others!) wanted, I still love the guys who did us proud!

Being a girl, I had never really been into football until the age of eleven.  Dad was watching Scotsport and I saw Pat McGinlay score against Kilmarnock from the halfway line!   I was seriously impressed!  Gradually, over the season I grew more and more interested in Hibs and at the end of the season when we were (sob!) relegated, I was as gutted as the next fan. By the time we were in the First Division playing fantastic football, I was hooked.

On May 8th 1999, I went to my first football match.  Dad took me to Easter Road, where Hibs were playing Falkirk and were going to receive the First Division trophy (Dad, being the pessimist he is, told me that I'd better go to the match because it'd probably be a while before we won silverware again!)!   I can remember watching the match in complete awe!  Here were the guys I read about in the newspapers everyday and saw on TV every week!  In the forty-fourth minute Hibs got a free kick about thirty yards out. Franck Sauzee (all hail!) scored and he's been my hero ever since! Just after the start of the second half, Paul Hartley scored and Hibs were 2 - 0 up!  This was much better than sitting at home watching Teletext on a Saturday afternoon!  Falkirk scored later on in the match, but we still won 2 - 1!

Hibees grace one end of Hampden (pic. Thomas Hendry, Canada Hibs)

This year I finally managed to drag one of my friends to a Hibs match (against St Mirren in February).  Granted, she was dragged kicking and screaming, but nevertheless… We won 4 - 2 and she too became captivated with the men in green!

Last season, Hibs played their best football in years! Dad (the eternal pessimist, although I suppose being a Hibs fan for as long as he has will do that to you!) even said that he thought this could be Hibs year to win the Scottish Cup!  Ever since January when we defeated Clyde 6 - 1, I dreamt of Franck Sauzee lifting the cup at Hampden.  After every round, my hopes were raised higher and higher.  We fought back against Stirling Albion, scored in injury time at Kilmarnock and swept Livingston aside!

May 26th arrived and I was still optimistic, even if Dad still had his defeatist attitude!  But by 4:45, my dreams had been shattered.  Seeing the gutted faces of the Hibs team and supporters and the look of disappointment on God's (Alex McLeish's) face left me in tears!  I ran upstairs and shut myself in the bathroom where I had a good cry.  A couple of minutes later, Dad came to the bottom of the stairs and asked if I wanted to see Hibs getting their medals. "Can I not get to cry in peace!" I shouted as I stomped downstairs.

I'm still hurt but I know that the guys played well and if it wasn't for sheer bad luck, I'm sure we could have won. Never mind... there's always next year! No matter who you support, be it Hibs, Celtic, Manchester United or Cowdenbeath, you'll always believe that your team is the best.  You'll always support them through thick and thin and I know that no matter what, I'll always be a Hibee and I'm proud of it!