Hibs give up the Scottish Cup

It's been a bit of a blast winning football trophies - particularly when it was 114 years between victories.  But as Aberdeen or Celtic will become the 2017 winners later today I thought it would be good to show just how much Hibs win meant to the fans and has transformed the club's future.

This bit of sillyness sums up that day in May 2016.  I give you Sir David Gray.

Farewell Sam Martinez

Sam Martinez - Hibs's oldest  fan died today aged 106.  Sam came to Edinburgh during the second world war from Honduras (now Belize) to help with the war effort and stayed ever since.

Sam was born just eight years after Hibs won the cup for a second time in 1902 and was delighted to be treated to a complimentary ticket by the club for its third triumph in the competition on 21st May 2016.

STV news has more.

Paddy's MoreUnited lesson from non league football

Paddy Ashdown - along with several other Westminster luvvies - have launched MoreUnited a 'new movement setting out to change British politics'.  Using the power of the internet and social media it will crowd fund and provide volunteers for certain candidates that agree with its rather fuzzy centrist -yet progressive - values.

Caron Lindsay on Lib Dem Voice asks some pertinent questions about this project which Paddy and his ilk need to answer quite quickly if many Lib Dems aren't to think this is just a vanity project for an out of touch elite trying to 'get with it'.

But there are also some very interesting parallels with another crowd sourcing project that set out on a similar change prospectus.  That was MyFootballClub - complete with the same annoying mid compound word capitalisation. 

In November 2007 MyFootballClub - which had recruited 32,000 online members - took over Conference side Ebbsfleet United with the stated aim of transferring decision making from the traditional management to its membership.  Teams would be chosen by an on-line vote and transfer and financial deals were similarly subject to crowd sourcing.

Wikipedia reports, however, when the membership came up for renewal people lost interest with just 9,500 renewing for a second year and by 2010, just 3,500 were left and the club was relegated from the conference.  Although they were promoted back to the conference the following season, by 2013 MyFC had sold up to actual supporters of Ebbsfleet. The 950 current remaining members now sponsor Slough Town FC.

This week's most honourable departure...

... goes to Liverpool supporting DJ and sports pundit Colin Murray who refuses to work for the Sun's owner Rupert Murdoch.  Murdoch's News Corp has just bought Talk Sport.

Kid's last minute home made Euro plea

Seen in a north Kingston window this afternoon.  However, I'm still not sure it isn't about the European football...

Friday favourite 142

It's been a while - but not as long as it has taken Hibs to win the Scottish Cup (which is the oldest football trophy in the world, by the way), so it's definitely time for a tune.

So here's some football fans celebrating winning it after 114 years.  It is of course the Friday favourite to end all Friday favourites...

It was 15 years ago today...

Review of the year 2013

It's the last day of the year, so it's time to look back on the events that have caught the attention of this blog over the past 12 months.  So here's the Living on Words third annual review:

In January Michael Gove visited a local Girls' Schools and talked about boys toilets

In February, this blog spent some time reporting on the presidential elections in Kenya, but also managed to highlight a great footballing coincidence.

March saw the 50th anniversary of the Beeching Report as well as the introduction of secret courts - in the face of a campaign by Lib Dem activists.

In April Margaret Thatcher died and Tom Lehrer didn't.

May saw another local election disaster for the Lib Dems, but also a major split in the ranks of Brighton Greens.

In June I criticised the campaign being run by the Better Together campaign against Scottish independence.

July saw the death of one of Britain's finest footballers - Lawrie Reilly.

In August some interesting European stats appeared to show a connection between unemployment rates and pay rises - with the UK trading off lower unemployment for lower pay.

In September Labour peer George Foulkes wanted a public subsidy for bankrupt Hearts FC.

October saw the death of Lou Reed and the castration of a dog by Zac Goldsmith's mum.

The tendency of Liberal Democrats to reach for nanny was once again revealed in November.

And finally in December the 'most middle class petition ever' was submitted to the Kingston Guardian on the subject of Christmas trees in Surbiton.

Happy new year!

Pat Nevin's Scotland cap

At the weekend took number two son on a trip round Stamford Bridge and stumbled across one of Pat Nevin's 28 Scotland caps in the Chelsea museum.

Nevin is one of the most interesting and articulate characters off the football field as well as having been one of the finest wingers on it.  Oh and he supports Hibs...

Remembering Paul McConville

Paul McConville died unexpectedly last week aged just 47.  His is not a name that I imagine many liberals will have heard of (and as I have never met him I don't even know what his politics were).  He was a prolific Scottish blogger, but didn't often write about politics.  His main passion was football in general and Albion Rovers in particular.

But McConville's blog was arguably the most influential Scottish blog of the last few years.  He used his legal training to dissect much of the spin and wishful thinking surrounding the collapse and eventual liquidation of Glasgow Rangers.  He was one of less than a handful of people - all bloggers - who ignored the spin emanating from Ibrox and the corridors of the SFA HQ and told the truth about Rangers theft of tens of millions of public money through non-payment of tax.  He was miles ahead of the mainstream media in explaining the financial shenanigans and exposing the shady characters who were running the football club.

He did this while so called experienced sports journalists were enjoying their 'succulent lamb' on Rangers expense accounts and regurgitating the lies if not their actual free lunch. And he was called a 'bampot' for his trouble.

With Scottish journalism so compromised by this affair - and seemingly not learning any lessons with almost entirely unquestioning reporting of the not too dissimilar Hearts collapse - Paul McConville will be very sorely missed. 

Soldiers sing sectarian songs at Ibrox

The police are somewhat belatedly investigating an incident on Saturday where members of the armed forces joined in with fans of the Rangers in singing sectarian songs before their routine victory over Stenhousemuir.  The troops were there to celebrate armed forces day pre-match.

Singing sectarian songs as this YouTube video shows is an offence under the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 - an act inspired by the late Donald Gorrie who championed anti-sectarianism as a Lib Dem MSP.

Fans of the Rangers (and their predecessor club Rangers) have sung these songs with impunity for years - the question is now will the authorities take any action now the reputation of the armed forces is on the line?

Sheep sacrifice quote of the day

Commenting in advance of tonight's Champion's League match at Parkhead, Shakhter Karagandy's manager, Viktor Kumykov, suggested they may again sacrifice a sheep before kick off saying:

"As far as we know in Scotland the agriculture is very developed so it shouldn’t be an issue to find a sheep."
 

Friday favourite 118

Today saw the funeral of Lawrie Reilly - last of the 'Famous Five'.  Here's a tribute video put together by the Hibernian Historical Trust.

Lawrie Reilly - last of the Famous Five

Lawrie Reilly the great Hibs forward of the 40s and 50s and last remaining member of the 'Famous Five' forward line that propelled Hibs to three titles in four years - has died at the grand age of 84.  In a weekend of departures - including that of Bert Trautman -  Reilly's contribution to Scottish and British football cannot be underestimated.  The stats speak for themselves:

Debut at 17, 18 hat-tricks, three league champion's medals, including back to back championsips in 1951 and 1952, 185 league goals and 22 goals for Scotland in just 38 appearances - a strike rate second only to Hughie Gallagher.  Oh and a part of the first British team to play in the European Cup in 1955.

Here he is interviewed last year about the exploits of the 'Five':

 

'Gie the ba' tae Reilly'

Is this the best SPL table ever?

Taken from the Beeb earlier.  And likely to be the closest Hearts get to the sharp end of the Scottish leagues for some time - that is if they make it to next season at all.

The rules of playground football...

...with thanks to Christopher Brookmyer.

Hibs end 111 year cup hoodoo...

...Unfortunately by turning it into a 112 year cup hoodoo.

Anyway here's a picture of the utterly amazing Hibs fans before kickoff - who stayed backing their team beyond the final whistle, despite being 3-0 and out singing the self styled 'greatest fans in the world'.

Today's Edinburgh Evening News has more.

Friday favourite 109

On Sunday Hibs return to Hampden Park to try to break their 111 year Scottish Cup hoodoo.  So here's a video put together by a fan showing the highlights of their campaign so far, to the tune of James's 'Destiny calling' - enjoy...

Hearts FC: the end (Friday favourite 108)

It's pretty clear one of the world's oldest football clubs - Heart of Midlothian - is about to be liquidated as their Romanov empire collapses around them.

Now as a Hibs fan it would be easy to gloat - and there would be plenty of songs that I could choose for a Friday favourite that would reflect that.  But it isn't that simple.

Hearts, like Hibs, have mainly been rubbish for most of their existence - dominated by the pseudo religious and deeply sectarian (but money making) institutions of the 'old firm'. 

For most of their existences Hearts and Hibs have been city rivals with keenly fought derby games and local bragging of the kind that many similar teams share.

But in 1989 something changed.  Hearts chairman (and major Scottish Tory player) Wallace Mercer launched a hostile takeover bid of then floundering Hibs aimed at creating a 'third force' in Scottish football to take on the old firm.  Hibs fans organised a major campaign against the takeover and fought off Mercer with the last minute intervention of Leith businessman Tom Farmer (owner of Kwik Fit).

But the 'third force' mantra unfortunately stuck with Hearts and for the last 25+ years Hearts have been operating under delusions of grandeur.  They have consistently spent more than they took in in trying to prove Mercer's boast.  By 2003/4 they were £25 million in debt and were about to sell their Tynecastle ground to property developers when a red knight hoved into view - one Vladimir Romanov - a Russian born ex-KGB spiv operating out of Lithuania - who ratched up the third force delusions using Soviet style propaganda. 

As a result the arrogance of many Hearts fans increased and the already unneccesarily bitter relations increased further as did Hearts debts and spending on players they couldn't afford - culminating in last year's Scottish cup final thrashing of Hibs.

Well all Hearts' chickens have come home to roost and their chances of surviving the summer look very grim indeed.  And unsurprisingly many Hibs fans are rubbing it in for all it's worth.

The 'new Hearts' are about to get all they deserve - but this Friday's favourite is about the old Hearts - in the time when Edinburgh football fans were just as likely to go to Easter Road one week and Tynecastle the next.

In 1916 Hearts were top of the league and questions were being asked why professional football was continuing while young men were dying on the western front.  So George McCrae recruited a 'sporting battalion' which included 16 Hearts players along with many others from in and around Edinburgh (including Hibs).  Needless to say they were mown down on the Somme.

Hearts will survive their insolvency - but it will be hard work and they'll need to rediscover their old spirit and friendly rivals.  So as a reminder here is Craig Herbertson - the brother of a mate of mine with 'Hearts of Glory' about McCrae's battalion.

Was Alex Ferguson ever a manager in Scotland?

By most accounts you wouldn't think so.  But he was one of the most successful managers in Scottish football before he took the helm at Manchester United.

As manager of Aberdeen he broke the stranglehold of the old firm - winning three Championships, four Scottish cups, a League Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup - beating Real Madrid in the final.

He also managed Scotland, St Mirren and East Stirlingshire.