Back in time - A hibs player you would love to have seen play

[Bridge hibs]

I started attending games when Blackley, Brownlie etc were nearing the end of their careers so I never really had the privelage of seeing them at their very best.

I know many may go for the famous five but I would love to have seen Jimmy O’Rourke or Pat Stanton at their very best, who would you have liked to have seen if you could go back to one or two games ?

[FilipinoHibs]

I started attending games when Blackley, Brownlie etc were nearing the end of their careers so I never really had the privelage of seeing them at their very best.

I know many may go for the famous five but I would love to have seen Jimmy O’Rourke or Pat Stanton at their very best, who would you have liked to have seen if you could go back to one or two games ?

Saw all those but the famous 5 I would have loved to have seen.

[linlithgowhibbie]

Any of the .famous five as I heard so much about them from my dad

[Bostonhibby]

Saw all those but the famous 5 I would have loved to have seen.Same here, older generations tell me Gordon Smith was the best they'd seen.

Sent from my SM-A750FN using Tapatalk

[Skol]

Willie Hamilton and Bobby Johnston.

[Viva_Palmeiras]

Unfortunately, I’ve only read the biographies/autobiographies of the famous five.

The one I’d like to see would be Gordon Smith.

[Pagan Hibernia]

Michael Whelahan.

also Willie Groves, and Alex Edwards

[Sammy7nil]

My Dad

[Viva_Palmeiras]

My Dad

spill ! :)

[EVENTUALLY]

The Famous Five, The young Joe Baker, Willie Hamilton, John Parke, Davie Gibson and Johnny McLeod

[BILLYHIBS]

Gordon Smith

[Ardenttwo]

Willie Hamilton and Bobby Johnston.



Willie Hamilton

[hibsbollah]

The Baker Boy.

[Sammy7nil]

spill ! :)

Mistake 😂 I thought the thread was what player not Hibs player.

Sorry for confusion 🙈

[CL0762]

Joe Baker. My grandads hero.

[therealgavmac]

I was blessed to have seen the best of the Tornado’s and The Baker Boy at the end of his career.

From what my Dad told me, it has to be Gordon Smith.

[Peevemor]

I'll say Brian Kerr, just to get it out the way.

[whiskyhibby]

Any of the .famous five as I heard so much about them from my dad

same here and Joe Baker ( first time around) of course

[Iggy Pope]

I was blessed to have seen the best of the Tornado’s and The Baker Boy at the end of his career.

From what my Dad told me, it has to be Gordon Smith.

Same in every respect.
The way my old man spoke about Gordon Smith left me in no doubt,

[Eyrie]

Has to be the Famous Five.

[Bridge hibs]

With regards the famous five, who was the best player out of them and if one of those five got injured was there a ready replacement that could have slotted in ?

[Jim44]

I was 8 years old and saw the last games of the Famous Five but I’ve got to say that I was too young to appreciate them or know theif significance.

[BILLYHIBS]

With regards the famous five, who was the best player out of them and if one of those five got injured was there a ready replacement that could have slotted in ?
Replacement Bobby Combe

[weecounty hibby]

I grew up with stories of the famous 5 and in particular Gordon Smith. Would have loved to see him to judge for myself if he was indeed the "best player to ever play the game"!!😃

[BSEJVT]

Same in every respect.
The way my old man spoke about Gordon Smith left me in no doubt,

Yes exactly the same for me but if it were multiple players I would also have liked to have seen the remainder of the Famous 5, Joe Baker first time around and Willie Hamilton who I have also heard many rave about

[WoreTheGreen]

same here and Joe Baker ( first time around) of course

Yeah 100%

[Jones28]

In my lifetime Mickey Weir (though he did offer some great marital advice - “dont”), out with, Archie. Or Best. Or any of the 0-7 team, or the famous 5 - I met Tommy Preston as he was a customer of the chippy I worked in at Annfield for a time, he showed me a wee collectors card of himself, collected a wee poke of chips and headed off. A really lovely guy - did he run the annfield bar?

[Glory Lurker]

Gordon Smith. I get misty eyed when I read or hear about him.

[LongJohnBanger]

I started attending games when Blackley, Brownlie etc were nearing the end of their careers so I never really had the privelage of seeing them at their very best.

I know many may go for the famous five but I would love to have seen Jimmy O’Rourke or Pat Stanton at their very best, who would you have liked to have seen if you could go back to one or two games ?

Bjarni Larusson

[J-C]

I was brought up watching the Tornadoes as a teenager, so had the pleasure to see those great players, like many I'd love to have seen the Famous 5 team and the all out attacking football they brought.

[xyz23jc]

No brainer....Famous Five! Even tho, seen some of the Tornadoes, too young and daft too appreciate it too much, made me a hibees tho, harder in the West!

Like the present squad a lot too, as much as I love all who were part of the first to wear the green, so many gems and innumerable cult heroes! :flag:

[Crammond Hibee]

Gordon Smith

[BILLYHIBS]

Must have been great to have been at Tiny to watch a 16 year old Trialist - now a signed HIBS player -fire a hat-trick past Hearts on his HIBS debut A player Hearts only offered a trial to :greengrin

[bringbackbenny]

Must have been great to have been at Tiny to watch a 16 year old Trialist - now a signed HIBS player -fire a hat-trick past Hearts on his HIBS debut A player Hearts only offered a trial to :greengrin

My dad was at this game! And he's still adamant Gordon was the best player he saw in the flesh.

Won league titles with 3 different clubs none of whom were the old firm - that record will never be beaten.

[Keith_M]

Joe Baker

[heretoday]

Joe Baker in his first spell. I saw him at Arsenal and in his comeback when he helped to break Aberdeen's winning streak. He always had a crinkly smile it seemed.

[McD]

Shades, Edwards, Brownlie

in fact, any of the Tornadoes or Famous 5 :greengrin

[matty_f]

Gordon Smith. My dad still cites him as the best ever.

[Lancs Harp]

Would be the famous five for me. Immortal.

Wold love to have met James Main the night before he played his fatal last game and talked him out of playing. Bless.

[Eyrie]

My dad was at this game! And he's still adamant Gordon was the best player he saw in the flesh.

Won league titles with 3 different clubs none of whom were the old firm - that record will never be beaten.

Even more impressive stat - the Ugly Sisters obviously have the most league titles but Smith is third on the list with five, followed by Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen who each have four.

[He's here!]

My dad and late grandad were lucky enough to see Gordon Smith play and, like everyone I've ever spoken to about him, they said he was the greatest of them all, so he gets my vote.

Here's a report on his funeral service. I love the bit where the song was sung about him.

Team-mates and fans say goodbye to a Hibs legend

FOOTBALL legends and ordinary fans today joined hundreds of mourners to say farewell to the "Prince of wingers" Gordon Smith.
They were joined by many ordinary football fans at a packed St Andrew Blackadder Church, in North Berwick, for the funeral of the former Hibs and Hearts star.
Smith, widely acclaimed as one of the outstanding footballers of his generation, died last Friday aged 80.
Former team-mates in Hibs’ celebrated Famous Five forward line, Lawrie Reilly and Eddie Turnbull, were among hundreds who today gathered to celebrate the life of the "quiet man" who thrilled generations of fans.
Proclaimers’ singer Charlie Reid, a lifelong Hibs fan, also joined football stars of today and yesterday, including Gordon Strachan, Tam Preston, Pat Stanton, Jimmy O’Rourke.
Willie McFarlane, the former player and manager of the Easter Road club, was also in attendance, along with former Hearts players Jimmy Murray and goalkeeper Gordon Marshall Snr, representing the Tynecastle club.
North Berwick High Street was brought to a standstill by scores of fans who lined the streets to pay their respects to the football legend before the funeral got underway.
Mourners heard Smith described as "the Prince of wingers" and a supremely talented sportsman and entertainer.
The church also rang to the sounds of a popular terraces chant of the 1940s and 1950s, when Evening News columnist John Gibson gave a eulogy for Smith. "A Gordon For Me, A Gordon For Me, If You’re No A Gordon, Yer Nae Good Tae Me, The Jambos Are Braw, Dundee and Aw, But The Brilliant Gay Gordon’s The Pride O’ Them Aw," he sang.
Author and broadcaster Bob Crampsey also paid tribute in front of the hushed mourners.
Mr Gibson told those inside the packed church that Smith had been one of the greatest.
"Gordon was never just the supreme footballer, a legend in my own lifetime, he was above all, the great entertainer. You’d find him waiting on the wings, primed to take centre stage," he said.
"They’ve said down the years that there’s nobody in today’s game who could lace his boots. True. Anybody alive who can claim even just to have polished his boots is a rich man indeed.
"And to think Willie McCartney clinched him for Hibs for a tenner - the bargain of the century surely."
Mr Gibson, a devoted Hibee and long-time friend of Smith, added: "I was privileged to watch Gordon in action home and away at the Famous Five’s peak, possibly not fully appreciating that I was witnessing a maestro, poetry in motion, as they kept saying. I was, after all, a boys’ gate spectator, cashing in on the best Saturday sevenpenceworth in the land.
"The Gay Gordon was well accustomed to playing to crowds of thirty, forty, fifty thousand and it was entirely predictable that he would pull a capacity crowd here today."
He added: "The Prince of Wingers famously was a man of few words. His feet did the talking."
Former Hibs chairman Tom O’Malley said the attendance of many of the games’ greats at the funeral was a fitting tribute to the "Gay Gordon".
Mr O’Malley said: "He was very reserved.He was a class act in every way, as a player and a human being."
Smith is regarded by many of the older generation of Hibs supporters as the best to have graced the green and white of Hibs. He played right-wing for Hibs between 1941 and 1959, and was the team’s top scorer in every season but one during his first decade at the club, helping secure the Scottish championship on three occasions.
In 1959 Hibs let the winger go on a free transfer to Hearts where he helped the team to win the Scottish League in 1959-60.
In 1961, he moved to Dundee, who also carried off the title in his first year with them.
Smith made his debut for Scotland in October 1944, winning 18 full international caps during his 23-year career on the pitch.
Born in Edinburgh and brought up in Montrose, Smith was signed by Hibs manager Willie McCartney in 1941. He worked in the Leith shipyards during the war.
Smith was due to be laid to rest alongside his beloved wife Joan, described as both his "wife and best pal", after today’s funeral service.

[BILLYHIBS]

My dad and late grandad were lucky enough to see Gordon Smith play and, like everyone I've ever spoken to about him, they said he was the greatest of them all, so he gets my vote.

Here's a report on his funeral service. I love the bit where the song was sung about him.

Team-mates and fans say goodbye to a Hibs legend

FOOTBALL legends and ordinary fans today joined hundreds of mourners to say farewell to the "Prince of wingers" Gordon Smith.
They were joined by many ordinary football fans at a packed St Andrew Blackadder Church, in North Berwick, for the funeral of the former Hibs and Hearts star.
Smith, widely acclaimed as one of the outstanding footballers of his generation, died last Friday aged 80.
Former team-mates in Hibs’ celebrated Famous Five forward line, Lawrie Reilly and Eddie Turnbull, were among hundreds who today gathered to celebrate the life of the "quiet man" who thrilled generations of fans.
Proclaimers’ singer Charlie Reid, a lifelong Hibs fan, also joined football stars of today and yesterday, including Gordon Strachan, Tam Preston, Pat Stanton, Jimmy O’Rourke.
Willie McFarlane, the former player and manager of the Easter Road club, was also in attendance, along with former Hearts players Jimmy Murray and goalkeeper Gordon Marshall Snr, representing the Tynecastle club.
North Berwick High Street was brought to a standstill by scores of fans who lined the streets to pay their respects to the football legend before the funeral got underway.
Mourners heard Smith described as "the Prince of wingers" and a supremely talented sportsman and entertainer.
The church also rang to the sounds of a popular terraces chant of the 1940s and 1950s, when Evening News columnist John Gibson gave a eulogy for Smith. "A Gordon For Me, A Gordon For Me, If You’re No A Gordon, Yer Nae Good Tae Me, The Jambos Are Braw, Dundee and Aw, But The Brilliant Gay Gordon’s The Pride O’ Them Aw," he sang.
Author and broadcaster Bob Crampsey also paid tribute in front of the hushed mourners.
Mr Gibson told those inside the packed church that Smith had been one of the greatest.
"Gordon was never just the supreme footballer, a legend in my own lifetime, he was above all, the great entertainer. You’d find him waiting on the wings, primed to take centre stage," he said.
"They’ve said down the years that there’s nobody in today’s game who could lace his boots. True. Anybody alive who can claim even just to have polished his boots is a rich man indeed.
"And to think Willie McCartney clinched him for Hibs for a tenner - the bargain of the century surely."
Mr Gibson, a devoted Hibee and long-time friend of Smith, added: "I was privileged to watch Gordon in action home and away at the Famous Five’s peak, possibly not fully appreciating that I was witnessing a maestro, poetry in motion, as they kept saying. I was, after all, a boys’ gate spectator, cashing in on the best Saturday sevenpenceworth in the land.
"The Gay Gordon was well accustomed to playing to crowds of thirty, forty, fifty thousand and it was entirely predictable that he would pull a capacity crowd here today."
He added: "The Prince of Wingers famously was a man of few words. His feet did the talking."
Former Hibs chairman Tom O’Malley said the attendance of many of the games’ greats at the funeral was a fitting tribute to the "Gay Gordon".
Mr O’Malley said: "He was very reserved.He was a class act in every way, as a player and a human being."
Smith is regarded by many of the older generation of Hibs supporters as the best to have graced the green and white of Hibs. He played right-wing for Hibs between 1941 and 1959, and was the team’s top scorer in every season but one during his first decade at the club, helping secure the Scottish championship on three occasions.
In 1959 Hibs let the winger go on a free transfer to Hearts where he helped the team to win the Scottish League in 1959-60.
In 1961, he moved to Dundee, who also carried off the title in his first year with them.
Smith made his debut for Scotland in October 1944, winning 18 full international caps during his 23-year career on the pitch.
Born in Edinburgh and brought up in Montrose, Smith was signed by Hibs manager Willie McCartney in 1941. He worked in the Leith shipyards during the war.
Smith was due to be laid to rest alongside his beloved wife Joan, described as both his "wife and best pal", after today’s funeral service.

:top marks

[One Day]

Michael Whelahan.

also Willie Groves, and Alex Edwards

The Famous Five in their prime for me.

But, Darlin Willie Groves is a good shout

[hibbie02]

My formative years as a Hibs Supporter were watching the Tornadoes and they were the most exciting Hibs Team I have seen. Over the years I have seen players like George Best, Stevie Archibald, Franck, Benny and the Porn Star, but I always only heard about the Famous 5 and especially Gordon Smith, so he would be my pick.

[hibby rae]

Gordon Smith, at a game where Hibs win the league title.

I was reading an article a while back about the success Scottish clubs had in the 40s/50s/60s, I don't think the author was a Hibs supporter, and it argued that if the European Cup had started even 2-3 seasons earlier then Hibs would have probably won it.