Irish or Scottish - do we really
care that much?
Some fans are forever seeking an
identity - as if just being a Hibs fan is not enough!
(Stuart Crowther)
SO WHY DID YOU BECOME A HIBS FAN? It
is a question Hibs.net has asked many times, in discussion on the
Message Board, through front page Polls, in general discussion in the
pub or sitting in a freezing stand between the action. What I've
found is the answers are always widely and wildly varied, and that is just
about what you would expect, a cosmopolitan football club with a
cosmopolitan support.
So the point of making
it the subject of our Editorial rant this week? Well there are one
group who appear to be more vocal than others. This school of
thought lend their support of Hibernian directly in the roots of the club,
they have a keenly attuned sense of history and believe that history must
always have a part to play not only in the past, but in the present and
future. This feeling is unique to just a very few football clubs.
The belief around the world is that in Scottish football, Celtic and
Rangers are the clubs that carry historical baggage into their present day
workings, although in truth this is only of real importance to those who
follow the clubs rather than those who own or run them.
The crest we are proud of - Ireland, Leith and Edinburgh, a shared
heritage
Of course Hibernian have
some fans also who are entrenched in the belief that the past has a role
to play in our club of today. They are small in number,
despite what they may claim. They will at every opportunity remind
us all of the biblical realities of the word 'Hibernian'; they will ensure
that none of us forget the proud fact that Hibernian Football Club was
formed with charitable intent by men whose first national allegiance was
to Ireland. The modern-day club of course acknowledge these roots
through the inclusion of the Harp in the club crest, and the very fact we
bear the name Hibernian and wear the famous green with pride is
acknowledgement by us all of the important debt we owe to our history and
those who formed that history.
"They will at every
opportunity remind us all of the biblical realities of the word
'Hibernian'"
Is there not a line to be drawn however? Does the
flag of Ireland have a role at Easter Road stadium or wherever else the
club might appear? Or does the waving of such flags by the vocal
minority to whom it has so much importance incite further hatred among not
only our own supporters but those of the opposition, who understandably
find it ever more confusing and difficult to understand why anyone would
wish to wave the flag of another nation at a Scottish football game,
unless of course it is in particular tribute to one or more players in the
multi-national Hibernian side we enjoy today.
Every one a Hibs fan and proud - is that not enough?
It is a subject that has resulted in heated argument
among Hibs fans for generations, but never more so than in these days of
the Internet where sites such as this permit fans to come together from
around the world as they have never been able to do before.
Tolerance of course is the key, we all hold our beliefs and they differ
wildly, we would not be human if that were not the case. Those to
whom the belief that the Hibernian story has a part to play in modern
society is strong should realise that theirs is an opinion, a view of
life, nothing more and nothing less. They should not see themselves
as some sort of modern-day missionaries, out to re-educate the
Hibs-supporting masses in their history and insist that they follow a
strict line of adherence to the Irish roots of our club.
Equally tolerance has to be shown by those who believe
that Hibernian are a Scottish club first and foremost, and who believe
that the waving of the Irish flag is tantamount to treason! As with
all large groups of people who follow any particular organisation, there
are extremities and these two groups can be seen as the extremes of the
Hibernian family. They remain however important parts of that
Hibernian family, and to squabble as families do is natural, healthy, but
at times extremely damaging to the whole. We all rejoice in the
glory of supporting Hibernian, but it is damaging to our dreams of
prosperity for the club that we squabble among ourselves about something
that while holding varying degrees of individual importance to us, in
truth has little direct impact on the club as a whole.
So back to that starter for ten - so why did you
become a Hibs fan? Because your father supported Hibs - that would
be the most common answer. Because you saw them on television/in the
flesh as a kid. Because you were brought up in Leith. Because
your mates were all Hibs fans. Because you are Irish. All
great reasons, but the bottom line ladies and gentlemen, we all came to
love the club, and the reasons why we do so are just not worth
fighting over.
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