Hibs and Leith

[Greenio]

Might have already been posted somewhere so sorry if I missed it, but this was an interesting read and a bit of a rest from the transfer speculation.

Not sure I see what point the guy's trying to make tbh. Don't see any massive efforts to push a Leith-centric story, not one that isn't authentic anyway.

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.c...-why-1-4775764

Keen to hear from some of the older fans on this one.

[Since90+2]

Hibs probably more so than any other club in the country are synonymous with the area they originate from ie Leith. You always see articles that relate to the "Leith side" , "tonight's game in Leith" ect.

Jambos absolutely hate it as Leith is now seen as the most cosmopolitan area in the country.

[Mick O'Rourke]

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Hibs probably more so than any other club in the country are synonymous with the area they originate from ie Leith. You always see articles that relate to the "Leith side" , "tonight's game in Leith" ect.

Jambos absolutely hate it as Leith is now seen as the most cosmopolitan area in the country.

That would be the Cowgate and St Patrick's Parish


SOL

[Kato]

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Hibs probably more so than any other club in the country are synonymous with the area they originate from ie Leith. You always see articles that relate to the "Leith side" , "tonight's game in Leith" ect.

Jambos absolutely hate it as Leith is now seen as the most cosmopolitan area in the country.

Except Hibs don't originate from Leith.

[SouthMoroccoStu]

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Hibs probably more so than any other club in the country are synonymous with the area they originate from ie Leith. You always see articles that relate to the "Leith side" , "tonight's game in Leith" ect.

Jambos absolutely hate it as Leith is now seen as the most cosmopolitan area in the country.

And Hearts aren't in Midlothian

We're closer to the city centre and the heart of midlothian

Hibs were founded in the Cowgate (now that is the heart of the city)

Hibs are an Edinburgh team with strong links to the Leith area and community

[Mick O'Rourke]

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And Hearts aren't in Midlothian

We're closer to the city centre and the heart of midlothian

Hibs were founded in the Cowgate (now that is the heart of the city)

Hibs are an Edinburgh team with strong links to the Leith area and community

Hearts were founded in the High Street and adopted their name/badge from the mosaic in the road next to St Giles cathedral.

[Alex Trager]

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Hibs probably more so than any other club in the country are synonymous with the area they originate from ie Leith. You always see articles that relate to the "Leith side" , "tonight's game in Leith" ect.

Jambos absolutely hate it as Leith is now seen as the most cosmopolitan area in the country.

that's because it is!

[Mick O'Rourke]

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Hibs probably more so than any other club in the country are synonymous with the area they originate from ie Leith. You always see articles that relate to the "Leith side" , "tonight's game in Leith" ect.

Jambos absolutely hate it as Leith is now seen as the most cosmopolitan area in the country.

Leith = Cosmopolitan
Gorgie= Compo- politon

[Since90+2]

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Except Hibs don't originate from Leith.

Sorry I didn't mean literally, just that Hibs have played in Leith for most of its existence and the area and club are synonymous together.

[Kato]

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Sorry I didn't mean literally, just that Hibs have played in Leith for most of its existence and the area and club are synonymous together.

Agreed, although the border has changed quite a number of times - so sometimes ER is just within the Leith boundary and sometimes it's in Edinburgh.

[Mick O'Rourke]

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Sorry I didn't mean literally, just that Hibs have played in Leith for most of its existence and the area and club are synonymous together.

I guessed that is what you meant.

And yes,of course we have played most our existence at the present ground.

I don't wish to resurrect the old Edinburgh/Leith debate.
Suffice to say all of our club badges,bar possibly the first one,has Edinburgh written on it.

The first and the current badge are my favourites
It was a long time coming to have the Harp back on the club crest.

I love our anthem.
It is unique and has no peers in football in my view.

There is a song though that finishes with the line .........
"And the Edinburgh Hibee's will be there !!"

[heretoday]

It's a good piece in the News. There are no doubt more Hibs fans in Leith than Hearts but growing up in the sixties I always felt Hibs were more based in Abbeyhill, Lochend and Restalrig. Leith was a grim dark place I seldom ventured into!
Changed days now and Trainspotting has done it's job. Hibs belong to Leith.

[NAE NOOKIE]

He's sort of preaching to the choir here a wee bit IMO ….. The vast majority of Hibs fans know the club wasn't formed in Leith, in fact as others have stated you couldn't get more Edinburgh than where we were formed.

The association with Leith has come about because we have been based there for the vast majority of our existence and though the majority of our support don't come from or live in Leith, if you do hail from there the chances are you will support Hibs if you are into football, so from that perspective we are Leith's team more than any other club.

As for his wee dig at Hibs 'hipster' credentials. He cites St Pauli as an example of the route we have gone down, but there's a big difference. In the case of St Pauli the club and its supporters have made a conscious effort to project the club in a certain way and jealously protect its image from any hint of commercialism or anything other than left of centre politics.

In Hibs case its more been by accident that we are viewed as 'slightly' left of centre and popular with your anti right wing types. Considering the clubs background and where it draws a lot of its support from ( north and east Edinburgh ) its hardly a surprise that its viewed as more working class and a bit more anti establishment than a lot of other clubs and especially Hearts. SOL wasn't written for Hibs, not even as a football song in fact, but it was hardly a surprise when the fans adopted it given our long standing connection to Leith and Irvine Welsh referencing the club in his books isn't much of a surprise either given the edge he was trying to bring to them, it was a good way of connecting his characters to the less affluent side of what is seen by outsiders as a posh middle to upper class city.

As for the difference between what Hibs wear on our shirts and what Hearts wear …. so what, Hearts did that in a shameless effort to drag the clubs image out of the gutter where they had allowed it to be thrown, Hibs are a football club who need to make money and until some 'nameless' person emerges from the shadows to chuck a few hundred thousand at the club to enable us to do the same we'll take any money we can get from any source we can … within reason of course.

[Vini1875]

When I started going to Hibs games 60s/70s I was told we were an Irish club and an Edinburgh club. I don't remember Hibs being associated with Leith as strongly as we are today, so the guy has a point. hearts always seemed to my memory to have been associated with Gorgie, although anyone I knew from that area were Hibs or celtc supporters.

It does make some sense to have this connection with Leith and Gorgie. I think though Leith's prominence has a bit to do with Irvine Welsh, The Proclaimers and the area's resurgence of the last two or three decades. Maybe it is a good thing for Hibs supporters in Leith to be synonymous, but I have no idea how it plays for fans with no Leith connection. I have no Leith connection and so the area being tied to Hibs means nothing to me, beyond the song.

[Greenbeard]

Just glad to be a Leither, no' an Edinburger. No offence to the non-Leith Hibees. Anyone who chooses (or has it chosen for them) to support the green and white over that other Edinburgh team is an honorary Leither.

[The Harp]

I don't have much association with Leith, although went to school there (St. Anthony's) and worked in Leith for a while. Up to the age of 7, in '54, the family home was in Wardlaw Place (within smelling distance of Tynecastle). Since those days I've tried to distance myself from Gorgie, moving to Grove Street, then further away to Jock's Lodge and at present, Mountcastle.
I still regard the area around the old town, Cowgate, St. Mary's Street etc as our spiritual home but I'm also proud of our Leith connection.

[TheReg!]

Is Albert Street classed as Leith?

[CropleyWasGod]

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Is Albert Street classed as Leith?

Naw

The line is at Pilrig church.

[blackpoolhibs]

As a born and bred Leither, Leith adopted Hibs as their club, and i love that.

[TheReg!]

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Naw

The line is at Pilrig church.

Jeez, it’s like the next street.....Didn’t want to be from Leith anyway 😂

[SouthsideHarp_Bhoy]

It's an interesting article...

Personally, the half of my own family who were born and bred leithers were hearts fans, a decision based more around ethnicity and religion- perhaps that was a bigger factor back in the first half of 20th century edinburgh, given the popularity of John cormack and protestant action?

Most hibbies I know are more from Southside and South edinburgh, where I think we had a very high concentration of fans.

Equally though, I always felt Leith was 'Hibs country' as I grew up in the 80s and 90s.

I've always seen Hibs as coming from the Cowgate, and being adopted by Leith.

[hibee-boys]

I respect the fact that many hibs fans take great pride in the clubs heritage and the links to Leith as an area. Maybe it's because I've lived most of my life outside the city but I don't feel anymore drawn to Leith just because we play there. It's the club, the stadium that I feel connected to, how, where and why we were formed is of interest but little more.

[superfurryhibby]

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When I started going to Hibs games 60s/70s I was told we were an Irish club and an Edinburgh club. I don't remember Hibs being associated with Leith as strongly as we are today, so the guy has a point. hearts always seemed to my memory to have been associated with Gorgie, although anyone I knew from that area were Hibs or celtc supporters.

It does make some sense to have this connection with Leith and Gorgie. I think though Leith's prominence has a bit to do with Irvine Welsh, The Proclaimers and the area's resurgence of the last two or three decades. Maybe it is a good thing for Hibs supporters in Leith to be synonymous, but I have no idea how it plays for fans with no Leith connection. I have no Leith connection and so the area being tied to Hibs means nothing to me, beyond the song.

Moved to Leith in 1972 and no question, the place was Hibs daft. Every laddie I knew supported the Hibees. I had moved from Fountainbridge and it was the reverse, full of Jambos. Natural geographical order.

[BILLYHIBS]

After 21/5/2016 PERSEVERE should be our club motto!

[Aalborg Hibs]

I always thought Hertz were named after a dance hall, not the mosaic on the High Street.

[Chorley Hibee]

Despite being born in England, and having never lived or even worked in Leith, I always feel like I've returned home once I arrive there.

[Barman Stanton]

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I always thought Hertz were named after a dance hall, not the mosaic on the High Street.

Yup, they are named the dance hall which was named after the book.

[Brizo]

My understanding is that when Leith was a working port there was a class difference between who Leithers supported. Those employed in the dock offices and in management roles Hertz while shop floor Hibs. That had all changed by the time I was growing up and most guys I knew from Leith were Hibs but also some OF and quite a few Jambos.That's all changed again with gentrification, more recent immigrant groups and Leith becoming much more diverse.

Having grown up in the Southside and the Inch Id say that back in the 70s they were more Hibs areas than Leith, although the Southside will be English students supporting EPL teams now

For me Leith is Hibs emotional home, the Cowgate is Hibs spiritual home and Edinburgh is Hibs geographical home.

[Diclonius]

I'm from Longstone (originally, moved out of the city at a very young age) - Hibs have always been an Edinburgh club to me, but I appreciate the Leith ties.

[Pretty Boy]

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My understanding is that when Leith was a working port there was a class difference between who Leithers supported. Those employed in the dock offices and in management roles Hertz while shop floor Hibs. That had all changed by the time I was growing up and most guys I knew from Leith were Hibs but also some OF and quite a few Jambos.That's all changed again with gentrification, more recent immigrant groups and Leith becoming much more diverse.

Having grown up in the Southside and the Inch Id say that back in the 70s they were more Hibs areas than Leith, although the Southside will be English students supporting EPL teams now

For me Leith is Hibs emotional home, the Cowgate is Hibs spiritual home and Edinburgh is Hibs geographical home.

Your last paragraph sums it up perfectly for me.