Well, who
would have thought it at the start of the season. Many fans were in
despair at the departure of Kenny Miller to Rangers & were extremely
pessimistic about the season ahead, particularly given the extremely
moderate form we had shown in the latter half of the prior season. Now
here we are, almost certain to be no worse than 3rd in the
League & in the semi-final of the Cup. A certain 6-2 result also put
a smile on everyone�s face, particularly the younger fans who have had
to suffer through years of the other team�s dominance. Congratulations
from all in London to Alex McLeish & everyone at Easter Road. We
look forward to a keen contest for our Player of the Year this year.
For this London Calling
however we won�t spend too much time in the present but instead pay
tribute to some of our heroes & exploits of the past. Some of you
may have noticed correspondence in recent months highlighting Lawrie
Reilly�s international exploits. Our campaign to get proper
recognition for Lawrie really started when the Daily Ranger was picking
it�s all time best post war Scottish team. Of course all the Usual
Suspects were there, including Ally McCoist. Lawrie was mentioned
peripherally & incredibly Gordon Smith was not even quoted at all.
Jimmy Greaves once memorably said that Kevin Keegan wasn�t fit to lace
Georgie Best�s drinks! A similar analogy applies to McCoist &
Lawrie. Here are a few facts;
Lawrie played 38
times & scored 22 times for Scotland, the best goals per game
ratio of any Scot.
Lawrie was a one club
man & retired through injury at the age of 29. ( Nowadays we only
sign players over 30!! ) Lawrie was never sent off.
Lawrie scored 7 ( I
love that number ) times against England, including 5 goals at
Wembley!
It is that final
statistic that we chose to highlight. We know Lawrie scored more goals
than any other
Scotsman at Wembley vs
England, we strongly suspect he scored more goals against England at
Wembley than any other player in the World! That is an incredible
statistic & one which we, particularly as a London based club, feel
should be recognised. It�s even more relevant this year when Wembley
as we know it is being demolished. Any help you can give us to gain this
overdue recognition for Lawrie would be appreciated. We do intend to
write to the FA but we also feel Hibs as a club have a responsibility to
promote our players, past & present. Incidentally, whatever happened
to the club historian & the museum? Hopefully we can find room for
the latter in the new stand.
This year also sees the
40th anniversary of our famous victory over Barcelona. If
anything Barcelona were then an even greater force than at present. They
were Spanish Champions & had just become the first ever club to beat
Real Madrid in the European Cup after Real�s unparalleled 5
consecutive victories from inception. Hibs beat Barcelona in a fiercely
competitive match within one month of Barcelona�s famous victory over
Real. To put it into perspective, look at the following sequence of
aggregate results.
Eintracht Frankfurt 12�4
Rangers, European Cup Semi-final 1960
Real Madrid 7-3
Eintracht Frankfurt, European Cup Final 1960
Barcelona 4-3 Real
Madrid, European Cup Quarter-final 1961
Hibernian 7-6
Barcelona, Fairs Cup Quarter-final 1961.
Let�s hope Hibs are
looking at ways of commemorating this event, a game against Barcelona to
open the new stand would be appropriate!
Finally Joe Baker of
course played & scored 3 superb goals against Barcelona in those cup
games. As detailed elsewhere Joe gained his first 5 England caps, the
first as a 19 year old, while playing for Hibs. We very much doubt if
ever again will a Scottish League player be capped for England for the
first time.
So let�s look forward
to a bright future both on & off the pitch but let�s make sure we
properly honour our past heroes. The Scottish media with their Old Firm
obsession will never give us proper recognition so let�s open our own
Hibernian Hall of Fame. Even the name has a magnificent resonance. I�m
sure we all have our own particular favourites from the obvious choices
to the unsung heroes & this fanzine & our website will be more
than happy to hear your thoughts. Hopefully we can work together &
make this happen. |