Hibs players who should have won more international caps (not just Scottish ones)

[He's here!]

I was having a look through a list of capped Hibs players and while the fact there were a lot less international games played in earlier generations, it still struck me as remarkable that Darren Jackson won significantly more caps than Gordon Smith and Pat Stanton. I was a big fan of Darren's when he was at Hibs but he's a long way short of the legendary status that pair command at Easter Road.

What also jumped out was the fact Joe Baker won only eight England caps. I'm guessing he maybe did well to win that many, bearing in mind the much bigger pool of players he was up against, but according to my dad he was good enough to have earned a place in the England squad for the 1966 World Cup.

I note Russell Latapy won 81 Trinidad and Tobago caps. Is he our most capped ex-player (albeit he won many of those caps when he was playing elsewhere)?

[CropleyWasGod]

I was having a look through a list of capped Hibs players and while the fact there were a lot less international games played in earlier generations, it still struck me as remarkable that Darren Jackson won significantly more caps than Gordon Smith and Pat Stanton. I was a big fan of Darren's when he was at Hibs but he's a long way short of the legendary status that pair command at Easter Road.

What also jumped out was the fact Joe Baker won only eight England caps. I'm guessing he maybe did well to win that many, bearing in mind the much bigger pool of players he was up against, but according to my dad he was good enough to have earned a place in the England squad for the 1966 World Cup.

I note Russell Latapy won 81 Trinidad and Tobago caps. Is he our most capped ex-player (albeit he won many of those caps when he was playing elsewhere)?

Jim Leighton has 91

De La Cruz 101

[CmoantheHibs]

Jonathon johannson got 105, Mark Milligan and Jorge Claros also managed a few caps too

[Cat Stanton]

Jonatan Johansson had 105 - which is about 104 more appearances than he made for Hibs.

And everyone's favourite Hibee, Ray Wilkins, was capped 80-odd times for Ingerland. Probably not when he was at Hibs though...

Probably not the kind of examples you had in mind though
..

[Scorrie]

Always thought it was a crying shame that Keith Wright only won a single cap. Deserved far more in my view

[Bostonhibby]

Alan Rough had a very creditable 63 caps.

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[PatHead]

Gary Caldwell got 55 caps for Scotland! Pat Stanton got 16.

[Jones28]

Did Ivan Sproule ever get a cap?

[Ryan91]

Did Ivan Sproule ever get a cap?

Seem to recall him getting a call up after his hat trick at Ibrox against Old Rangers but no idea if he ever made an appearance

Edit - Wikipedia says 11 caps, 1 goal

[zitelli62]

Alex Edwards never got a cap biggest crime of the last century absolutely scandalous.

[JimBHibees]

Did Ivan Sproule ever get a cap?

Definitely got a few caps for Northern Ireland.

Absolutely scandalous guys like Alex Edwards wasn't recognised internationally.

[JimBHibees]

Alex Edwards never got a cap biggest crime of the last century absolutely scandalous.

Great minds and all that. :greengrin

[Iggy Pope]

Obviously less international games were played back then, but my auld fellah would rant on all night if you let him, about how the selectors would always keep one of the famous five out of a side as they hated not only Hibs, but also Hearts. Particularly, he would suggest, someone like Willie Waddell keeping anything as ethereal as Gordon Smith out of any team never mind a Scotland one was obscene. Not that it ingrained with me or anything all these 50 years later :greengrin but he wasn't half right.

[Haymaker]

Did Ivan Sproule ever get a cap?

Came on against England if I remember. Might even have assisted the goal. Pretty sure NI won 1-0?

[Unseen work]

For the quality Riordan had he should have had a far better international (and club) career than he did.

[Lancs Harp]

Came on against England if I remember. Might even have assisted the goal. Pretty sure NI won 1-0?

Think that might have been his international debut. Cant remember how many caps he got but he got a few more after that im sure.

[Brightside]

Pail Hanlon should be on about 30.

[Peevemor]

Pail Hanlon should be on about 30.A bucket load?

[loanheadhibby]

Pail Hanlon should be on about 30.
Give us a break.
A good clubman but way short of international class.

[Brightside]

Give us a break.
A good clubman but way short of international class.

The capped player. 😂

[darwenhibby]

Always thought Gordon Hunter was unlucky to be capped but there was also some decent competition in his position
Riordan and O’Conner should have been a Scotland partnership up front for years with their potential but never fulfilled it

[Kato]

Eddie Turnbull only got nine. There was an 8 year gap between his fourth and fifth appearance, according to Eddie this was because of an argument with one of the selection committee.

[Hulk1875]

Always thought Gordon Hunter was unlucky to be capped but there was also some decent competition in his position
Riordan and O’Conner should have been a Scotland partnership up front for years with their potential but never fulfilled it

Scotland stuck in dark ages for too long bit now reaping the benefits

[h1bs4life]

A few of the Tornados should have had caps / more caps
John Brownlie , Erich Schaedler , John Blackley , Pat Stanton ,
Alex Edwards ,,Arthur Duncan to name a few

[Since90+2]

If Darren hadn't suffered his 2 cruciate injuries I'm pretty certain he would have got a handful of caps.

[CentreLine]

A few of the Tornados should have had caps / more caps
John Brownlie , Erich Schaedler , John Blackley , Pat Stanton ,
Alex Edwards ,,Arthur Duncan to name a few

Can’t miss Jimmy Jimmy O’Rourke off that list or Alan Gordon for that matter. Problem is that Scotland produced so many great players at that time. Then of course there was always the Glasgow bias.

[CentreLine]

Eric Stevenson and Peter Cormack. Bobby Duncan and Willie Hamilton. All serious contenders, surely

[J-C]

Most of the Tornadoes should've had a lot more caps, possibly Riordan and Hanlon considering the humpty CH's we've had over the years.

[Jones28]

A few of the Tornados should have had caps / more caps
John Brownlie , Erich Schaedler , John Blackley , Pat Stanton ,
Alex Edwards ,,Arthur Duncan to name a few

I can't get my head around these guys having a handful of caps to share between them.

Who was keeping them out the side out of interest?

[Jones28]

Cheers for the answers to the Sproule question all :aok:

[J-C]

I can't get my head around these guys having a handful of caps to share between them.

Who was keeping them out the side out of interest?

They regularly split the OF in the league and got to semi and finals, OF bias unfortunately

[Argylehibby]

Alex Edwards never got a cap biggest crime of the last century absolutely scandalous.

100% agree with that. Wee Jimmy scored goals for fun as well and never got a sniff which was just as scandalous.

[Peevemor]

I can't get my head around these guys having a handful of caps to share between them.

Who was keeping them out the side out of interest?

All through my youth the Scotland national team was picked almost exclusively from the OF & the top tier in England. This started to change in the 80s when it was impossible to ignore players from Aberdeen & Dundee Utd. but it was still pretty much a closed shop and eyebrows were raised if players from other teams were included.

IIRC John Collins (for example), made his Scotland debut while at Hibs - scoring in a friendly against Saudi Arabia, then wasn't picked again until he signed for Celtic a couple of years later when he became a Scotland regular.

It was under Craig Brown and moreso Bertie Vogts that the blinkers started to come off.

[PatHead]

I can't get my head around these guys having a handful of caps to share between them.

Who was keeping them out the side out of interest?

Danny McGrain kept Brownlie out. Until his injury it was the other way around. Sandy Jardine was Shades competitor.

[Argylehibby]

Danny McGrain kept Brownlie out. Until his injury it was the other way around. Sandy Jardine was Shades competitor.

Jardine was the right back, McGrain played RB for Celtic and left back for Scotland.

[LNHibs]

Martin Boyle should've been capped by Scotland before Australia swooped in considering players like Lewis Morgan GMS and Oli Burke were getting call ups before he made the switch and he has been pretty consistent for us over the last 4 years injuries aside. Dont think he would be ever be considered a starter but he would be great off the bench

[Iain G]

Joe Tortolano should have been capped by Italy, shocking that he didn't get the recognition 😁

[heretoday]

Alan Gordon. He was up against Joe Jordan though so no contest.

[Ryan91]

Martin Boyle should've been capped by Scotland before Australia swooped in considering players like Lewis Morgan GMS and Oli Burke were getting call ups before he made the switch and he has been pretty consistent for us over the last 4 years injuries aside. Dont think he would be ever be considered a starter but he would be great off the bench

IMO that was McLeish's biggest failing in his second stint as Scotland manager, as soon as there were rumblings about Boyle declaring for Australia, he should have been called up for the next squad and capped, if his rise hadn't continued like it has, I don't think anyone would have complained, but now there should be some serious questions being asked of the SFA about potential top players playing for other countries because they're not getting the chance to play for Scotland.

[Is It On....]

Did Ivan Sproule ever get a cap?

He made his debut against England 🙂

[BILLYHIBS]

Been said before but another vote for Alex ( Mickey) Edwards

Absolute quality precision footballer

[h1bs4life]

Can’t miss Jimmy Jimmy O’Rourke off that list or Alan Gordon for that matter. Problem is that Scotland produced so many great players at that time. Then of course there was always the Glasgow bias.

Your right with O'Rourke and Gordon just about the whole team should have had international caps

[h1bs4life]

I can't get my head around these guys having a handful of caps to share between them.

Who was keeping them out the side out of interest?

There was a lot of good Scottish players at the time as well as the usual Old Firm bias.
John Blackley was different class never broke sweat in a win over England and played in the world cup against Zaire

[EastThomasSTboy]

Gary Caldwell got 55 caps for Scotland! Pat Stanton got 16.

Pat got 16 Full Caps, but lets not forget his 6 International League Appearances, 3 U-23 Appearances and once as an over-age player in the U-21 team when he used his experience to bolster the younger team.
Also Captained the team on numerous occasions.:flag:

[Renfrew_Hibby]

Jim Leighton has 91

De La Cruz 101

I'm sure Big Jim won around 25 of those 91 caps while playing with us. Am I right in thinking he's our 2nd most capped player, only behind Reilly?

[andrew70]

John O’Neil.

[basehibby]

Pat got 16 Full Caps, but lets not forget his 6 International League Appearances, 3 U-23 Appearances and once as an over-age player in the U-21 team when he used his experience to bolster the younger team.
Also Captained the team on numerous occasions.:flag:


Still a bafflingly low tally for a player who oozed class and was probably the pick of what was a great Hibs team - I wonder who his competition was in the Scotland midfield over the course of his career :confused:

[Haymaker]

Think that might have been his international debut. Cant remember how many caps he got but he got a few more after that im sure.

Pretty sure it was

[Haymaker]

Still a bafflingly low tally for a player who oozed class and was probably the pick of what was a great Hibs team - I wonder who his competition was in the Scotland midfield over the course of his career :confused:

It's ridiculous he only played 16 times.

[Juniper Greens]

Boyle should have gotten Scotland caps, but we missed the boat there. Would definitely be in the squad at the moment

[Jones28]

Been said so many times but Derek Riordan should have had more caps.

[EastThomasSTboy]

Still a bafflingly low tally for a player who oozed class and was probably the pick of what was a great Hibs team - I wonder who his competition was in the Scotland midfield over the course of his career :confused:

Pats versatility in his younger days probably worked against him as his preference then was to play at the back.

Later on his competition would include Dave Smith, Ron McKinnon, Bobby Moncur, Bobby Murdoch, Billy Bremner John Hughes, David hay, Archie Gemmill, Lou Macari , Lorimer :flag:and Cropley.

Hardly a shoddy bunch.

[CentreLine]

Pats versatility in his younger days probably worked against him as his preference then was to play at the back.

Later on his competition would include Dave Smith, Ron McKinnon, Bobby Moncur, Bobby Murdoch, Billy Bremner John Hughes, David hay, Archie Gemmill, Lou Macari , Lorimer :flag:and Cropley.

Hardly a shoddy bunch.

Yep, we had an embarrassment of riches in those days

[EVENTUALLY]

Been said before but another vote for Alex ( Mickey) Edwards

Absolute quality precision footballer


So he was. A genius.

It was absolutely brilliant going along to Easter Road to watch the Tornadoes. They were a great side and Alex was a magician, capable of skill to light up any game. Was made for the international stage.

[brog]

Pat got 16 Full Caps, but lets not forget his 6 International League Appearances, 3 U-23 Appearances and once as an over-age player in the U-21 team when he used his experience to bolster the younger team.
Also Captained the team on numerous occasions.:flag:

IIRC Pat only Captained Scotland one, vs Russia. Pat 16 caps, Roy Aitken 50 +, shameful.

[whiskyhibby]

For non Hibs players , how about Andy Driver, a £50M player and should have been a Champions League winner but never got a sniff for the Scotland full team……travesty…🤣🤣🤣

[whiskyhibby]

Your right with O'Rourke and Gordon just about the whole team should have had international caps


Agree, that was a team of exceptional quality, but Alex Edwards is the stand out that should have had a bucket load of caps, could ping a ball 50 yards onto a 10p piece, would be worth tens of Millions today

[BILLYHIBS]

Agree, that was a team of exceptional quality, but Alex Edwards is the stand out that should have had a bucket load of caps, could ping a ball 50 yards onto a 10p piece, would be worth tens of Millions today
Yip!

The goal that sums ‘Mickey’ up was the quality ball from the right hand side of the pitch pinged 40 yards to Alan Gordon lurking just inside the Hearts box in the 0-7 game surrounded by defenders all he had to do was bring the ball down on his chest and slot it past the despairing Kenny Garland

Magic

[EastThomasSTboy]

IIRC Pat only Captained Scotland one, vs Russia. Pat 16 caps, Roy Aitken 50 +, shameful.

Yeah, Russia away in 1971, was a highlight, but my wee personal notes, also have him Captaining the U 23 side twice (1966 & 68), Captaining the Scottish League v League of Ireland (1970), and Squad Captain for the Home International Tournament in 1973, Captaining the team against Wales and Ireland.

My wee notes might be all be wrong though!!:confused:

:flag:

[MWHIBBIES]

Doidge

[Highwayman]

Once had a conversation with Keith Wright about his Scotland call up (he only got 1 cap).
He said at the time him and Robbo at Hearts were scoring goals aplenty at club level and the media were calling for Andy Roxburgh to give them a chance.
When they got to the training camp however Roxburgh and Craig Brown never spoke to them and it was all about Maurice Johnston and Ally McCoist and West Coast bias.
Both Keith and Robbo thought it was a complete waste of time and Roxburgh was just making a token gesture to keep the media quiet
Also spoke to Peter Cormack once and he said he couldn’t believe that Christian Daily got 67 caps and he only got nine although he played for Hibs and top English clubs like Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
He said in his day the selection process was 10 Rangers players and Denis Law.

[brog]

Yeah, Russia away in 1971, was a highlight, but my wee personal notes, also have him Captaining the U 23 side twice (1966 & 68), Captaining the Scottish League v League of Ireland (1970), and Squad Captain for the Home International Tournament in 1973, Captaining the team against Wales and Ireland.

My wee notes might be all be wrong though!!:confused:

:flag:

No, I'm sure your notes are spot on. My memory of the Russia game was that Pat was dropped or relieved of captaincy after that game. In the Home Internationals although he was captain for 1st 2 games Pat knew he wasn't going to be picked against England. There was a story about it but I can't remember now!

[Gaffer1875]

Kevin Thomson


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[Sammy7nil]

Your right with O'Rourke and Gordon just about the whole team should have had international caps

You forget Celtic and Rangers had good teams and were winning European trophies at the time. I agree they should have had more but you can’t dismiss the competition.

[basehibby]

One player who I'm surprised has not been given the chance to deliver for Scotland is Liam Henderson. He's done well in Italy which I would have thought would have put him on Stevie Clark's radar.

[Andy74]

One player who I'm surprised has not been given the chance to deliver for Scotland is Liam Henderson. He's done well in Italy which I would have thought would have put him on Stevie Clark's radar.

Serie B is rubbish though.

[leftfield]

Showing my age but Willie Hamilton should have had more recognition.

[ScottB]

One player who I'm surprised has not been given the chance to deliver for Scotland is Liam Henderson. He's done well in Italy which I would have thought would have put him on Stevie Clark's radar.

We’re fairly well stocked in Midfield these days to be fair. If he can get playing regularly in Serie A then maybe he could force his way in.

[BILLYHIBS]

Eric Stevenson

I remember watching Eric Stevenson hugging the left touchline shirt tucked inside his shorts all sideburns and more tricks than a bagful of monkeys

He would beat the full back at least twice before making a beeline into the box only to be inevitably cythed down by a covering clumsy centre half leaving the ‘Penalty King’ Joe Davis to pick up the pieces

What a player he was always had the fullback in his back pocket and chipped in with more than his fair share of goals and assists

Willie Wilson, Jock Wallace and Stevie went through by car to Hampden to watch Scotland v Italy in the World Cup in the 1960’s and Wallace told him he should be playing that night he was that good

A good Hibby he went awol at Ayr United to watch HIBS win the League Cup in 1972

His Manager Ally Macleod an ex HIBS player himself could understand

RIP

[Kato]

Yip!

The goal that sums ‘Mickey’ up was the quality ball from the right hand side of the pitch pinged 40 yards to Alan Gordon lurking just inside the Hearts box in the 0-7 game surrounded by defenders all he had to do was bring the ball down on his chest and slot it past the despairing Kenny Garland

MagicBales assist for Wales first goal last night reminded me very much of the type of pass which was bread and butter for Mickey. Great vision.

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[overdrive]

I can’t believe Antti Niemi never got any Scotland caps before he was Finnished

[brog]

Bales assist for Wales first goal last night reminded me very much of the type of pass which was bread and butter for Mickey. Great vision.

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And Cropley! In a modern context it was Scott Allanesque!

[eastmainsmsh]

https://youtu.be/h8wNJC-6j5k

Don’t know I how many caps Svein Mathieson or issac revfik got but found this