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  • We Are Hibernian FC - Part Twelve

    Back in the top Division where they truly belonged, Hibernian had an excellent season marred only by the ridiculous protests raised after a win in the Scottish Cup Semi Final and the result in the Final itself

    With the players enjoying a break after the rigours of winning the Second Division the Hibernians Committee set to work on trying to drum up support for election to Division One. Every club in Scotland was visited including the three that ‘shared’ Edinburgh with Hibernians.

    St. Bernards, fresh from a magnificent win in the Scottish Cup Final, offered their support without a moment’s hesitation; Leith Athletic gave the impression they were undecided and Heart of Midlothian seemed less than enthusiastic. Of course Hearts were worried that a strong Hibernians would challenge them as top dogs in the city and but for the fact that they knew their gate monies would increase when meeting the greens in the league they most probably would have given a flat no when asked. After an anxious wait Hibernians finally received word that they had indeed been elected to the First Division and so the Committee immediately made plans for the coming season.

    During that close season Phil Clarke, a long and faithful servant of the club, took ill and sadly passed away whilst still only in his late twenties, at the beginning of May. Immediately the club arranged to play a benefit match with the proceeds going to Phil’s young widow and this involved former players of Hearts and Hibs meeting with the ‘old’ greens winning 2-1. The club was now being run as a business but still retained close links with its past in terms of helping out worthy causes when it could. Indeed, as before, those causes were helped not on the basis of their race or religion but purely on the extent of the need. On the other side of the country meanwhile Celtic, a club supposedly modelled on Hibernians, took a totally different route with the monies it raised from its gates. Players were bought pubs as an inducement to sign and the merest lip service was paid to any form of charitable deeds.

    At the end of June 1895 Hibernians travelled to Parkhead to play in a benefit match for James McLaren, their one time player and a Celtic stalwart after he deserted Hibernians in 1888. McLaren was a superb footballer but was nearing the end of his career and it says a lot for the Committee of Hibernians that they agreed to participate in the match, given the nature of the players’ departure from Easter Road. Facing the greens that day was Allan Martin who had been a prolific goalscorer for Hibernians but who had been another who was tempted by the offer of an extra pound a week in his wage packet if he joined Celtic. Ironically, upon hearing that his Hibernians team mate Paddy Murray was being eyed by Celtic, Martin had told Paddy that he would be most unhappy if he joined Celtic and then of course he did that very thing himself.

    Season 1895/96 saw Hibernian back amongst the top teams where it belonged and the club went into the campaign in a good financial state and with their ground in great shape for the matches that lay ahead. Their place in the top league had come at the expense of Leith Athletic as that club dropped to Division Two. Alongside the greens in the top flight were Hearts, St. Bernards, Celtic, Dundee, Rangers, St. Mirren, Dumbarton, Third Lanark and Clyde – all good sides and all sure to test the strength of the new boys.

    The pre season got under way with a visit from Hearts with the visitors stunning the home crowd by racing into a 4-0 lead but the greens fought back and got the match to 4-3 before Hearts scored a late fifth. That was not exactly the start the greens were hoping for but the following Wednesday they somewhat made amends by going to Ibrox and winning 5-2 before returning to Easter Road to face Leith Athletic on the Saturday and winning the game 2-1.

    Saturday 17th August 1895 was a red letter day in the history of the club as it played its first ever Division One game. Almost to the day the club was twenty years old, had enjoyed the high’s of winning the Scottish Cup and the low’s of near extinction but this would be a new dawn for Hibernian and it began in the best possible way with a 7-2 thrashing of Third Lanark at Cathkin Park. A week later they faced Celtic at Easter Road in a game that attracted 10,000 supporters with the vast majority there to cheer on Hibernian. The visitors started strongly and took the lead but the greens levelled to go in at half time with the game still in the balance. Two quick goals sent the crowd wild as the greens stormed all over their opponents but Celtic were not finished yet and pulled a goal back with ten minutes still left to play. This was a real test of the strength of character of the home players and they passed it with flying colours to score a decisive fourth goal to win the game 4-2. Played two, won two was the best possible start for the club in the top division and already there was talk of being in contention for the league title, although in fairness that talk was in the pub’s around the ground and by fans intoxicated both by beer and the win over Celtic.

    One of the best players to have worn the colours of Hibernian was Willie Groves, a player that had excelled whilst with the club but who had joined those who defected to Celtic in 1888. His good form went with him to Parkhead and he was soon enticed away from there to sign for Aston Villa in the professional ranks of the English First Division. Ill health brought his stay in England to an end and Willie returned north to Edinburgh where he offered his services to Hibernian. The club was in two minds whether to take him on as he had a heart condition but a chance was taken on the lad who was dubbed ‘Darlin’ Willie Groves in his first spell at the club.

    Meanwhile the league matches continued with a visit to Dundee where a 2-2 draw was the outcome but whilst this good start to the campaign was ongoing the Committee was having problems with the owners of the ground upon which Easter Road stood. It seems that the Trinity Hospital Committee had been thinking of terminating the lease held by the club and putting the land to some other use. The implications of this move should it come about would spell disaster for Hibernian but thankfully when approached the Town Council refused to allow the Hospital Committee to cancel the lease and indeed instructed it to cooperate with the club in every way that it could. Back in 1875 when the club was trying to find its feet the Town Council had been of little help, arguing that it had not been elected to pander to these Irish immigrants but times were changing and a number of prominent Councillors were now friends of the club and of the Irish community.

    In Alan Lugton’s ‘The Making of Hibernian – The Brave Years’ the author reproduces an article that had appeared in the Scottish Athletic Journal in February 1884. It perhaps epitomised the ill feeling aimed at the Irish community and their football club and is noted here in full:

    ‘It is rumoured in Edinburgh that a club composed of Orangemen will be one of the features of next season’s contest. The recent battle, for battle it was in the meaning of the word between Hearts and Hibs (Saturday 20 October 1883 Scottish Cup 3rd Round at Tynecastle, Hearts 1 Hibernian 4), has set afloat the rumour. The Hibs are all Irish nationalist and the Hearts have now become ardent believers in the principles advocated by Lord Rossmore.’

    In essence, one of the loudest critics of Hibernian’s ‘sectarian’ approach of playing only Irish Catholics seemed ready to introduce its own form of sectarianism which surely at the very least borders on hypocrisy? In any event, it was but a rumour and there were no hard and fast facts to suggest that Heart of Midlothian ever restricted itself in such a way.

    It’s worth taking a moment here to look at the issue of sectarianism. Hibernian was founded by Irish immigrants and had close ties to the Roman Catholic Church. It’s earliest ‘rules’ indicated that players must be Irish or of Irish origin and must be practising Catholics so it could be argued that it was a sectarian club and technically it was, though it is worth bearing in mind that no Protestants wanted to play for ‘an Irish Catholic’ club and so the firmness of such sectarianism was never really tested. Hearts was principally set up by Protestants and the club had no formal connections to the church. They had players of different religions and so they were not a sectarian club although the earlier quoted passage suggests they might well have thought to take that path at some point.

    Sectarianism as we understand it today largely surrounds the Old Firm so it is also worth having a look at how that came about for those clubs. Celtic was nominally founded on the same grounds as Hibernian although earlier passages clearly define that their link to both Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church was tenuous to say the least. Still, they attracted their supporters from the Irish immigrants and their ties to Ireland remain to this day. Rangers was not a sectarian club in its early years, with players of all religious denominations assessed on their skill as opposed to what church they attended. The club was founded in 1873 but following the rise of Celtic in 1888 and beyond there was an amount of unrest building between the clubs. Irishmen from the north of that country, who were predominantly Protestant and who arrived in Glasgow to work at Harland Wolfe Shipbuilders on the Clyde took to supporting Rangers in the knowledge that their Catholic countrymen had adopted Celtic as their club. Feeling the pressure from its support Rangers began to select its players on the basis of their religion and that practise persisted for decades until the ‘Souness’ revolution.

    Back on the football pitch Hibernian continued its good start in the league with a 3-1 win over St. Mirren in Paisley before seven days later it was decided to give Willie Groves a second debut against bottom of the table Clyde at Easter Road. Throughout his career Groves had been a left sided attacker with an eye for goal and so more than a few eyebrows were raised when he was listed at right back for the Clyde match. Whether this weakened the defence is open to conjecture but given that Hibernian needed a last minute goal to win 4-3 perhaps the answer to the question was yes. That win took Hibs to the top of the league and caused much rejoicing amongst its support.

    On the Monday holiday Hibs invited Rangers to play them in a friendly at Easter Road and played Willie Groves in his true position where the wizard with the magical left foot teased and tormented the Rangers defence and played a huge part in Hibs beating them 3-1. The good form was carried into the next league match with a 7-2 win over Dumbarton at Easter Road after the visitors had at one point led 2-1.

    With so few teams in the Division it was not long before second meetings came around and so on 28 September Hibernian made the short journey to Tynecastle to face Hearts. The league leaders were as yet unbeaten and the Committee promised them a bonus if they could win but Hearts had other ideas and were two up at half time. In the second half John Kennedy pulled one back but Hearts scored again only for Kennedy to get two more, achieving his hat trick and levelling the game at 3-3. Both sides attacked at every opportunity to secure the winner and it came for the home team with a late goal by Davie Baird. It was disappointing to lose in such a manner and the Hibs party returned to Easter Road in solemn mood and minus their bonus.

    Another week on and Hibs were at Parkhead where more than 20,000 turned up to witness a match between two clubs famed for playing attacking football. Ahead of the game the press was tipping Hibernian to win the day but on a rain soaked pitch it was the hosts that controversially triumphed with a 3-1 scoreline. The post match reports spoke of appalling refereeing (again) and of the fact that the first Celtic goal was clearly offside while the second was handled into the goal by a Celtic forward and at the other end a blatant penalty was not given. This seemed to be becoming the norm at Parkhead and little did those at the club know that it would continue to be the norm for many years to come.

    Two defeats on the trot cost Hibernian the top spot in the league but they got back to winning ways in their next game at Easter Road, coming from behind to defeat St. Mirren 5-1 including a hat trick from tricky winger Paddy Murray and they followed that up with a fine 5-2 win at Logie Green against St. Bernards.

    Rangers and Hibs were fighting it out for top spot when the Ibrox club visited Easter Road in late October. The match attracted a full house and both sides went at it from the word go. When the dust had settled after the final whistle the score was tied at 1-1 and the visitors were the happier at that outcome.

    November began well enough with a stirring 3-1 win away to Dumbarton with an after match report reading that the Dumbarton goalkeeper had never had so many shots to deal with before but that his goalkeeping was simply miraculous. A good away win then to keep Hibs on track but it would be the last for some weeks as a slump in form saw the club lose three successive league matches beginning with a 4-0 hiding at Ibrox before losing the next to at home by 3-2 to St. Bernards and 5-2 against Third Lanark and that sequence meant that any hopes of winning the Championship were now well and truly gone.

    Off the park Hibernian was still doing what it could for needy causes, including starting a benefit fund for former player Hugh Rooney who had given up playing to look after his seriously ill son. Also around this time the name of Dan McMichael entered into Hibernian folklore for the first time. Dan was a Hibs supporter who lived and breathed to see his club grow. He was also arguably the first fan that had turned club scout when, at his own expense he travelled to Coatbridge to watch an Albion Rovers player that had been brought to his attention. He liked the player and thought him good enough to wear the green and so persuaded Philip Farmer to sign him on! The player was Jimmy Murdoch and Hibs were so pleased they paid Dan 10/- (50p) to cover his expense in travelling to Coatbridge. In time Dan McMichael would become the club’s physiotherapist, treasurer and then secretary/manager in a period that would span some thirty years. Indeed, were it not for Dan the Hibs might well have ceased to exist at the time of the First World War but his grit and determination were huge factors in the club carrying on in business.

    It is hard to imagine such a scenario unfolding in these modern times although the author is aware that fans still recommend players to the club and those recommendations arrive from all over the world with ex-pat Hibees still looking out for their club even when they are thousands of miles away from Easter Road.

    In November 1895, increasingly worried about the health of Willie Groves, Hibernian arranged for him to see a heart specialist and for the time being he was instructed not to turn out for the club. Groves was missing from the team that faced up to Hearts just before Christmas that year but with Hearts sitting second in the league and Hibs just one place behind them, a close contest was surely on the cards. The greens were still hurting after their earlier defeat at Tynecastle and it looked bleak for them when Davie Baird opened the scoring, somewhat stifling the noise of the Hibs support in the 4,500 crowd. The home side got back into it when Pat Murray snatched an equaliser and then went ahead when Paddy Murray fired home from close range (there were two Patrick Murray’s in the Hibs team and for ease of identification one was referred to as Pat and the other as Paddy). Stung by this setback Hearts drew level when Willie Taylor scored but the Hibs were in determined mood and took the game thanks to a winner by Willie Smith. After that recent run of poor results the win over Hearts gave everyone connected with the club a big lift for the games to come.

    With the next league game some weeks away Hibs kept busy by playing a series of friendlies, drawing 2-2 at Dundee, losing 2-1 to St. Bernards and St. Mirren 1-0 in Paisley. Mid January saw the early rounds of the Scottish Cup being played and the greens won their first tie 3-2 away to East Stirling, the visitors being decked out in a new set of strips bought by the club at the rate of 6/6d (32.5p) per shirt!

    Next up was a league clash with Dundee at Easter Road where a fine 3-1 win was recorded and best of all was the news that Willie Groves had been declared fit to play and he turned out at centre forward. That game was the penultimate league fixture of the season and Hibs kept themselves in trim by meeting Hearts in a friendly at Easter Road where the sides drew 1-1 with Willie Groves netting the Hibernian goal. In the one remaining league match Hibs travelled to Glasgow and defeated Clyde 3-1 meaning that in their first season in the top flight they had finished a very creditable third, just behind Rangers with Celtic lifting the title. It was truly a great effort, considering how close to extinction the club had been just a couple of years earlier.

    Of course the Scottish Cup was still running and Hibs were drawn against Raith Rovers in the second round, crushing their opponents 6-1 at Easter Road and that took the greens into a very difficult third round clash with Rangers at Ibrox. That Rangers team was packed with international players and justifiably had the favourites tag attached to them but with around half of the 15,000 crowd shouting them on and in the knowledge that a £1 win bonus was at stake the visitors stormed into a two goal lead with goals from Willie Smith and Barney Breslin. The home side did not take kindly to this and soon Hibs players were the subject of some brutal challenges that the referee seemed happy to ignore and when Rangers pulled a goal back the greens were up against it. A Rangers penalty offered the chance of an equaliser but the kick sailed miles over the bar. Hibs goalkeeper Pat McCall was kept busy but dealt with whatever came his way until late in the game when Rangers finally managed an equaliser. At this point Willie Groves began to display some of the skill that he had been renowned for and in a dazzling display of dribbling, evading some wild lunges from defenders, he slammed the ball home to put Hibs 3-2 up with the clock running down fast. Needless to say a lifeline was thrown to the hosts when a very dubious penalty was awarded but justice was done when Pat McCall threw himself full length to tip the shot around the post. Astonishingly and against all the odds Hibernian had defeated Rangers at Ibrox and the sporting press was fulsome in its praise for the greens whilst taking time out to lambast the referee with one hack writing “Such ridiculous decisions have never been witnessed at a Scottish Cup tie before. Does anyone know why the two penalty kicks were awarded? Can anyone explain why a score of fouls were awarded to the blues while the greens had men kicked up and down the park without reward? In spite of the hard working Rangers twelfth man, Hibs won and won handsomely.” Somehow I just cannot imagine such a report gracing the red tops of today.

    The magnificent defeat of Rangers took Hibs into the semi final where they would meet Renton at Easter Road as neutral venues had not yet come into play at this time. It’s worth pointing out here that Renton, previous winners of the trophy in both 1885 and 1888 were officially described as a village club from under the shadow of Ben Lomond and have only recently been reformed having become defunct in 1921. With 10,000 fans in the ground the greens started the game badly and went a goal behind after just five minutes and the visitors certainly controlled the game until Paddy Murray produced an equaliser on the half hour. The rest of the game saw the Hibs pounding the Renton goal but that was not breached until five minutes from time when Bobby Neill scored the goal that would take them into the final.

    Over at Tynecastle, Hearts were edging out St. Bernards in the other semi final and so for the first time in their respective history’s Hibs and Hearts would contest the Scottish Cup Final. Regrettably however that match could not take place until a protest by Renton had been heard. The Dunbartonshire outfit protested that a Hibs man had played for Kirkmuirhill in June 1895 and as such was not eligible to play for Hibs in the Scottish Cup. In fact he had turned out in what was a bounce game, organised as part of the village gala day and had received no recompense for doing so. Needless to say the protest was thrown out and rightly so. One wonders at the reasoning behind Renton making such a ridiculous claim and it is true to say that they won few friends in doing so, especially when it later became known that Renton officials had contacted officials of Larkhall (the opponents of Kirkmuirhill in that bounce game) asking them to state that spectators had paid to watch the game and that players had been paid.

    Scurrilous behaviour of the kind John Glass and his Celtic cohorts had employed in years gone by but in fairness it was the Celtic representative on the committee hearing the appeal that had torn apart the outrageous claims made in the protest.

    Bearing all of this in mind it is quite astonishing to confirm that Renton did not let the matter rest there and took their protest to the SFA, employing the services of a lawyer to fight their case. Once again Renton presented their case and once again it was described as frivolous, ridiculous and unsatisfactory by the Celtic representative. Strangely, the Dumbarton representative (bear in mind the location of Renton Football Club) spoke in favour of the appeal but a vote was called for and the appeal rejected by 44 votes to 29. This second appeal was heard just four days before the Final was due to take place, hardly ideal preparation for Hibernian. Those preparations were thrown into further disarray when Renton sought an interdict from the Court of Session to prevent Hibs playing the match but that was turned down just 24 hours before the day of the Final which was played on 14 March 1896 at Logie Green. For their troubles, Renton was ordered to pay quite substantial legal costs but still they would not let the matter rest. It became quite obvious that they were prepared to do anything to get back at Hibs and they even contacted Hearts, offering information regarding two Hibernian players that might give the basis of a protest should Hearts lose in the Final. Thankfully, Hearts wanted nothing to do with this scandalous behaviour and rejected the overtures from a bitter and twisted Renton Committee.

    The venue of Logie Green had only been settled upon after the SFA had heard representations from both Finalists. Hearts cheekily asked that the game be played at Tynecastle whilst Hibs opted for a traditional Glasgow venue, no doubt aware that Hibernian still had many fans in the west. A vote was taken and Logie Green, home of St. Bernards would host the only Scottish Cup Final not to have been played in Glasgow.

    Ahead of that and whilst the protracted and ill fated protest by Renton was chugging along, Hibs played St. Bernards at home in the Edinburgh league and won 5-1 before losing a friendly to Celtic by 1-0. Tragically, during their preparations for the Final, Hibs lost the services of Willie Groves who had a recurrence of his heart problems and was under strict doctor’s orders not to play. Groves however decided to ignore his doctor’s advice and persuaded Hibernian to let him play – he had after all scored the winning goal in 1887 when the greens last won the cup.

    On the big day some 17,034 supporters packed into the ground, including almost 1,000 that had travelled from Glasgow to support Hibs. With barely three minutes on the clock Hearts took the lead when Davie Baird converted a penalty after the ball had struck the hand of Hibs defender Tam Robertson. That score was unaltered at half time though in fairness it was Hearts that had the better of the first half. Any hopes of a comeback for Hibs were dashed when Willie Michael doubled the Hearts lead and then Alex King added a third with a powerful header. New signing John O’Neill, in for Jimmy Murdoch on the left wing scored a late consolation goal for the greens but the fact of the matter was that the best team won on the day.

    The Cup defeat was a bitter pill to swallow but Hibs still had a number of games to play before the season ended, with some of those being in the Edinburgh League and others representing friendlies and benefit matches that the club was committed to. In one of those games the Hibs travelled to Birmingham to play English League Champions Aston Villa and recorded an excellent 2-1 victory with ex Villa man Willie Groves getting the winner. Returning to Scotland the Hibs side went straight to Glasgow to face Scottish League Champions Celtic in a friendly and hammered them 5-1. A 2-2 draw with St. Bernards in the Edinburgh League was followed by a 1-1 draw with Sheffield United and a return friendly with Aston Villa where the Englishmen took their revenge to win 5-2.

    On the last day of April another English club visited and the final score in that game was Hibernian 1 Preston North End 3. An interested spectator that day was James Connolly who had been born in Edinburgh of Irish immigrant parents and who watched the Hibs whenever time allowed him to. Founder of the Irish Socialist Republican Party Connolly had lied about his age when at just 14 years old he enlisted with the Royal Scots and was immediately posted to Cork on the southern coast of Ireland. Serving seven years there he fell in love with his spiritual home but when he left the services he returned to live West Port in Edinburgh and began to get involved in the Trades Union movement. Struggling to feed his family on the meagre wages he received working as a Carter for Edinburgh Corporation, Connolly was tempted by an offer to become political organiser of the Dublin Socialist Club and his attendance at that Preston match was to be his last for a while as he set off to take up his new duties. Life in Dublin saw Connolly perform the duties of his new post with great enthusiasm but in 1903 he decided that he and his family should emigrate to the USA where he lived for seven years, rising to prominence in the Trades Union movement there. Back in Ireland Connolly became a top official in the Irish Transport and General Workers Union and was at the forefront of the Irish Labour War in 1913.

    The British Government was unhappy with developments in Ireland and sent troops over to ‘restore order’ forcing Connolly to create the Irish Citizens Army. In 1916 he was one of the leaders of the Easter Rebellion in Dublin and was captured and executed by firing squad. Throughout his life Connolly had two great passions; freedom for the people of Ireland and Hibernian Football Club.
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