Jim Leighton

[sambajustice]

Talksport just now they are talking about sporting 2nd comings. Got me thinking of bandy legs Leighton!

What was the story of him coming to Hibs exactly? I've always had it in my head he wasn't getting a game for Dundee reserves and then one time the bus forgot to pick him up? Sure I read that!

Not sure why, but Alex Miller gave him a ring then the rest is history as he got back into the Scotland team!

[Irish_Steve]

Yeah, he was frozen out at Dundee and I remember, wtf when we signed him, surely he was passed it

A bit like when I walked down the steps at Hampden for the Dundee Utd semi and seeing a fat bloke with a strip on and thinking, another goalkeeping fiasco

Luckily for us all, Hibs know more about goalies than I do!

[Crunchie]

Yeah, he was frozen out at Dundee and I remember, wtf when we signed him, surely he was passed it

A bit like when I walked down the steps at Hampden for the Dundee Utd semi and seeing a fat bloke with a strip on and thinking, another goalkeeping fiasco

Luckily for us all, Hibs know more about goalies than I do!
Yup, without a doubt one of Hibs finer pieces of business over the years.

For all we suffered a lot during Millers reign at Hibs ( record against Hearts mainly) he signed some gems in his day, Archie was another ex Don who was an excellent signing.

[BILLYHIBS]

Dropped by Sir Alex Ferguson after making a horlicks of an FA Cup Final ended up at Dundee

Rescued from their Reserves by Alex Miller

Went on to gain 23 full caps with Scotland whilst at HIBS even captaining them once I think

Memorable performances penalty shoot outs at Partick Thistle and Aberdeen

[Allant1981]

Imagine what folk would be posting on here now about his kicking if we think Macey is bad, leightons looked like they would end up behind him sometimes, one of the best keepers ive seen at ER

[Irish_Steve]

Imagine what folk would be posting on here now about his kicking if we think Macey is bad, leightons looked like they would end up behind him sometimes, one of the best keepers ive seen at ER

Aye, when he took a goal kick, all the team and opposition would head for the tunnel in the hope of getting a touch on the ball

[Crunchie]

Imagine what folk would be posting on here now about his kicking if we think Macey is bad, leightons looked like they would end up behind him sometimes, one of the best keepers ive seen at ER
He wouldn't stand a chance on here lol, it was his only weak spot imo. A great keeper in his day in an era when keepers actually caught the ball rather than punch it.

[Jamesie]

Yup, without a doubt one of Hibs finer pieces of business over the years.

For all we suffered a lot during Millers reign at Hibs ( record against Hearts mainly) he signed some gems in his day, Archie was another ex Don who was an excellent signing.

Think we can safely say Archie will be the last example of a Barcelona player turning down Liverpool to sign for Hibs, sadly!

[Jamesie]

Talksport just now they are talking about sporting 2nd comings. Got me thinking of bandy legs Leighton!

What was the story of him coming to Hibs exactly? I've always had it in my head he wasn't getting a game for Dundee reserves and then one time the bus forgot to pick him up? Sure I read that!

Not sure why, but Alex Miller gave him a ring then the rest is history as he got back into the Scotland team!

He had apparently been struggling to get to grips with the introduction of the no pass back rule, but thankfully by the time he signed for Hibs he’d sorted that out.

[Crunchie]

Think we can safely say Archie will be the last example of a Barcelona player turning down Liverpool to sign for Hibs, sadly!
:agree: I still remember the excitement at the time of him signing. It was worth it for that goal at Tynie alone :greengrin

[Highwayman]

Imagine what folk would be posting on here now about his kicking if we think Macey is bad, leightons looked like they would end up behind him sometimes, one of the best keepers ive seen at ER

Agree,Leighton was one of the finest keepers I’ve every seen.I would say that only Andy Goram shaded him as the best keeper I’ve seen at ER.

He would be getting pelted about his distribution if he was at ER now.

However as far as I am aware a keepers prime purpose is to keep the ball out of the net and Leighton was one of the best at that.

When Jim Duffy was in charge,Leighton was putting in top quality displays just to stop the score against Hibs becoming embarrassing.

[Renfrew_Hibby]

Where does Leighton stand in our most capped Hibs players?
23 caps whilst with us must put him near Lawrie at the top.

[ozwoody]

I remember driving to partick for a cup game with a very pregnant wife . She struggled to get in turnstile and I thought the omens were bad. after we drew after extra time , it went to penalties. Bandy saved 2 spots kicks if I recall, nearly sending the wife into labour. The thought of my boy being born there was too much to bare. As others had said, Jim was punted from man united after a shocker in the cup final ( Les sealey took his place in replay) he then went to dundee and was in reserves before Alex miller brought him here. He had great resurgence and gained 23 caps while being with us, carrying on the tradition of hibs keepers who represented Scotland

[BILLYHIBS]

Where does Leighton stand in our most capped Hibs players?
23 caps whilst with us must put him near Lawrie at the top.

Reilly 38
Leighton 23
Caldwell 20
Jackson 20
Smith 19
Stanton 16

[LaMotta]

He wouldn't stand a chance on here lol, it was his only weak spot imo. A great keeper in his day in an era when keepers actually caught the ball rather than punch it.

Both him and Goram were tremendous. But both were also capable of a fair few clangers.

As you say tougher for keepers these days with social media analysing every mistake over and over, meaning really good keepers like Rocky and Macey are harshly judged by some people.

[ozwoody]

Both him and Goram were tremendous. But both were also capable of a fair few clangers.

As you say tougher for keepers these days with social media analysing every mistake over and over, meaning really good keepers like Rocky and Macey are harshly judged by some people.

Rough was outstanding as well, but fallible. To have 3 keepers back to back as Scotland keepers was a great thing.

[GreenPJ]

Leighton was worth 15 points to us a season. While he was with us he and Darren Jackson played against Sweden at Ibrox and the two best players (in blue) by a country mile. Kenney Anderssen must have had nightmares about Leighton that night he stopped everything.

[Since452]

Best keeper I've ever seen at Hibs. Was just a bit too young to remember Goram.

[Crunchie]

Both him and Goram were tremendous. But both were also capable of a fair few clangers.

As you say tougher for keepers these days with social media analysing every mistake over and over, meaning really good keepers like Rocky and Macey are harshly judged by some people.
The best keepers in the world past and present have had plenty of clangers, it's called being human.

[Pretty Boy]

Jim Leighton was my hero when I was young, probably still is. When everyone else wanted to be Darren Jackson or Ryan Giggs in the 22 a side games played in the local park I only wanted to be Leighton or Peter Schmeichel. I even took to smearing Vaseling across my eyebrows for a spell.

I think the seeds of him signing for Hibs where sown a while before he actually did. We went up to Dundee with Chris Reid in goals. For all his cult hero status Budgie had a couple of spells when he was dropped out the side. JL played for Dundee and played well. When he fell out of favour I think Alex Miller felt games like the one I mentioned showed Jim still had something to offer if he could get his head sorted.

A few comments about his distribution and I don't think there can be any doubt he would struggle hugely in today's game. The days of a keeper just being there to stop the ball are long gone. Jim was probably quite fortunate he spent a big chunk of his career before the passback rule changed. If you think back to when that rule changed it wasn't common for keepers to try to play football, in the formative years a pass back generally meant a keeper launching it 1st time or one touch and a hoof. Ajax were arguably the 1st team to really utilise the new rule to their advantage with Van Der Sar as an extra football player, no real surprise the Dutch were innovators. Guys like Barthez really ran with it and it's evolved to have keepers who are fantastic footballers like Neuer, Allison and Ederson today.

[Pretty Boy]

Leighton was worth 15 points to us a season. While he was with us he and Darren Jackson played against Sweden at Ibrox and the two best players (in blue) by a country mile. Kenney Anderssen must have had nightmares about Leighton that night he stopped everything.

One of the things often forgotten about that Sweden game is Leighton was only deputising as Goram was injured. The next competitive game was Estonia in Monaco and Goram was restored to the team. It was a while later Jim reestablished himself as the number 1.

[LeithMike]

Both him and Goram were tremendous. But both were also capable of a fair few clangers.

As you say tougher for keepers these days with social media analysing every mistake over and over, meaning really good keepers like Rocky and Macey are harshly judged by some people.I don't remember many clangers from Goram, just many outstanding saves. We weren't great when he joined and regularly conceded 3+ goals in games. Once he joined we rarely conceded more than 2 in a game.

Leighton was different class too. I remember him for Man Utd in Gordon Rae's testimonial and he looked imperious. Fergie could have taken his defence off and we wouldn't have got the ball past him.

Goram was one of the best Hibs players I've seen and just how good he was wasn't really recognised more widely until he went to Rangers. Shame he went off the rails in Glasgow.



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[Pretty Boy]

I don't remember many clangers from Goram, just many outstanding saves. We weren't great when he joined and regularly conceded 3+ goals in games. Once he joined we rarely conceded more than 2 in a game.

Leighton was different class too. I remember him for Man Utd in Gordon Rae's testimonial and he looked imperious. Fergie could have taken his defence off and we wouldn't have got the ball past him.

Goram was one of the best Hibs players I've seen and just how good he was wasn't really recognised more widely until he went to Rangers. Shame he went off the rails in Glasgow.



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Goram, by his own admission, struggled badly when he 1st went to Rangers. I read his book years ago and I remember he spoke about a European game in which he made a game costing error and Walter Smith had him pinned against the wall of the dressing room tearing strips of him. There was the whole transfer listing situation as well albeit I don't think Smith ever intended to sell him and it was as much about off field issues as on. Goram also said the irony wasn't lost on him that he made a big fuss about leaving Hibs for Rangers to win trophies and the 1st trophy after he made the move ended up at ER with his error in the semi final playing a part in us winning it.

I also have a Rangers supporting acquaintance who insists had they replaced Goram for the 97/98 season they would have got 10 in a row. His error in the 98 final certainly released a lot of pressure from Hearts, he saves that Adam shot 9.9o times out of 10.

Little doubt that those periods were bookends to some sensational performances though. His save from Van Hoojidonk in an OF game is still one of the best I have ever seen.

[Dr What If?]

:agree: I still remember the excitement at the time of him signing. It was worth it for that goal at Tynie alone :greengrin
I remember the 'will he, won't he' signing drama.....seemed to go on forever. Reading in the Evening News (paraphrasing here) Gray saying he didn't care if it was Barcelona or Archibald who got the £200k signing on fee.
Miller still gets stick on here but for that sweet little period we had a side with Goram, Archibald, Collins and Wier in the same team.....last thing we expected back then was to be demonstrating outside of Easter Road against a board that had taken our club to the brink.

Leighton was a signing that made my heart sink. I remembered the Jim of old at Aberdeen, unbeatable.....but this was the guy who couldn't get a game for a pretty poor Dundee side. You didn't need social media for rumours and I remember hearing that the reason he wasn't getting a game at Dens was because they didn't want to pay his appearance fee. Was gutted when he left for Aberdeen, the Dons were always his first love so never held that against him....he gave us some performances, definately Hibs legend status.

[LaMotta]

Rough was outstanding as well, but fallible. To have 3 keepers back to back as Scotland keepers was a great thing.

:agree:


The best keepers in the world past and present have had plenty of clangers, it's called being human.

:agree:


I don't remember many clangers from Goram, just many outstanding saves. We weren't great when he joined and regularly conceded 3+ goals in games. Once he joined we rarely conceded more than 2 in a game.

Leighton was different class too. I remember him for Man Utd in Gordon Rae's testimonial and he looked imperious. Fergie could have taken his defence off and we wouldn't have got the ball past him.

Goram was one of the best Hibs players I've seen and just how good he was wasn't really recognised more widely until he went to Rangers. Shame he went off the rails in Glasgow.

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You are proving my point here I think - yes Goram was brilliant and made loads of top class saves but I think you don't remember Goram's mistakes because they weren't poured over constantly on Twitter and fans forums etc. But there is lots of evidence of them on youtube and old videos. Classic example here ( skip to 1 min 35):

https://twitter.com/TheHibsAreHere/status/1482006582137434112?t=B4aCc5Kwf1btW38vhu2L4A&s=19

There's loads more too on youtube from Hibs and Rangers games - and games weren't covered as much on TV back then as they are these days.

My point is not to have a go at Goram though - it's more to point out the unreasonable expectations of infallability placed on keepers these days. OTT criticism of Marciano on here was the perfect example.

[1875Sean]

Nutmeg have a good podcast with Jim Leighton about his career, I remember saying playing for Hibs was the best spell in his career, brilliant Keeper

[Phil MaGlass]

One of the few Scottish players that were a joy to watch, great goalkeeper.

[Hibiza]

Does he still have his boots ? Fancy a game?

[Is It On....]

Best keeper I've ever seen at Hibs. Was just a bit too young to remember Goram.

Goram was incredible - one game in particular at Tynecastle when he stopped us getting a real hammering. I even went to Love Street to see his last game in a Hibs shirt.