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There is also a Maltese football club called Hibernians F.C.
Hibernian Football Club (informally known as "Hibs") is a Scottish football club from Edinburgh. Along with city rivals Hearts, they represent Edinburgh in the Scottish Premier League. They are currently managed by Tony Mowbray.

History

The club was founded in 1875 by Irish born football enthusiasts, the most prominent being Canon Edward Joseph Hannan and Michael Whelahan. The team originally played at a ground near the Meadows in the south of Edinburgh's Old Town, moving to its current home, Easter Road in Leith, in the 1880s. They were the first major club in Scotland formed out of the immigrant Irish Catholic population (hence the name, from Hibernia, the Latin name for Ireland). A strict translation of the name Hibernian FC would be "Irishmen Football Club." As the first such team, their example led to the creation of Dundee Hibernian (now Dundee United) and Celtic, who when they were formed were nearly called Glasgow Hibernian. The club is seen as being less of a Catholic institution now than it was in the past, and geography rather than religion is the primary reason that association fans support the team (Hibernian being the club for East Edinburgh).

On August 13 1887, Hibernian defeated Preston North End in a match tagged as the World championship decider, due to the two teams' achievements in their respective domestic cup trophies.

Hibs introduced white sleeves to their shirts on 13 August 1938 against Hamilton Accies after a major brightening up of Easter Road had taken place. The harp and shamrocks at the entrance had been repainted as had the stand and the wall round the pitch and the terracing barriers had all been painted white. The goalposts had been replaced with oval ones with green nets. On that day, Harry Swan addressed the large crowd over new loudspeakers about "the brighter Easter Road" before the team appeared in their new strip.

Hibs were the first British club to appear in European competition, UEFA's European Cup, in its inaugural 1955/56 season. Participation was not through qualification as it is now: Hibernian finished 5th in the Scottish League in the previous season. Playing their first game against German side Rot Weiss Essen, Hibs won 4-0 in Essen and the return tie in Scotland ended in a 1-1 draw. That year, (1955) Hibs went on to reach the semi-finals only to be defeated by a Reims side inspired by the great French footballer Raymond Kopa.

The last major trophy won by the club was the 1991 League Cup, when they defeated Dunfermline in the final. Although they did reach the Scottish Cup final in 2001, losing to Celtic, it has been 104 years since they lifted the famous trophy and they also reached the League Cup final in 2004 losing to Livingston. Hibernian's most recent relegation to the First Division came at the end of the 1997-98 season. However, the team's form improved dramatically from here, and a run of 12 wins in a row helped Hibs to the First Division championship, winning a record 89 points, 23 ahead of second-placed Falkirk.

The team colours are emerald green and white. The strip is a green body, with white sleeves, with a white collar, and green cuffs. The shorts are white, and the socks are green with white tops. For the 2004/2005 season the colour of the shorts was changed to a green which matches the shirt colour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the club's 2-0 win over Real Madrid, as this was the kit originally worn for this friendly match. Hibernian fans claim that their team has a history of cultured and attractive football - the current manager, Tony Mowbray, embodies this and the current young team does its best to adhere to these principles despite the youth of the team and the pressure for results. This was rewarded with a 3rd place finish in season 2004/05, and a place in the UEFA Cup for the 2005/06. Hibs were beaten 5-1 on aggregate by Ukrainian club FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the first round *.

Hibs showed promising signs in the 2005/06 Scottish Cup, beating Arbroath 6-0, Rangers 3-0 and Falkirk 5-1, but they were defeated 0-4 by rivals Hearts in the Semi Finals. They also went out in the Semi Finals the previous year, losing 2-3 to Dundee United. In the League Cup, they were beaten 0-3 by Dunfermline in the Quarter Finals.

At the end of the 2005/06 season, Hibs finished 4th behind Rangers in the SPL and qualified for the 2nd round of the Intertoto Cup. They beat their first opponents Dinaburg on a comfortable 8-0 aggregate and will face Danish team OB in the next round.

They are known by their fans by the nickname "the Hibees" (pronounced "high-bees"), and the club's name is almost universally shortened to Hibs. Hibs supporters are known as "Hibbies" (singular: "Hibby").

Managers

Current squad (season 2006-07)

Famous players

Famous players have included: The Famous Five - Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone, Lawrie Reilly, Eddie Turnbull and Willie Ormond; in the seventies Pat Stanton, Alex Cropley, Alex Edwards, John Blackley and Arthur Duncan, Eric Schaedler, in the 1980s Alan Rough and Gordon Durie, and in the 1990s John Collins and Jim Leighton. Turnbull also managed the team in the seventies, and at that time his team was nicknamed the "Turnbull's Tornados". In the early eighties former Manchester United legend George Best played with the club for half a season: he played 22 games and scored 3 goals.

Other more recent noted players include:

In literature

The club has been mentioned in many works of literature, mainly by local authors.

The works of author Irvine Welsh (Trainspotting) contain several references to Hibernian, presumably due to his being a native of Leith. The team is often mentioned in casual conversation and is the team most of his characters support. There are many references to Hibernian's firm support. Visual references to the Hibs are noticeable in the films adapted from his works. More observant persons would have spotted many images of Hibernian in Danny Boyle's film, Trainspotting. During the famous baby on the ceiling/detox scene, many posters and pictures of Hibernian can be seen.

In the final short film in the trilogy The Acid House, with the same title as the movie, Coco Bryce, a boy from the "Hibs firm", is struck by lightning while under the influence of LSD in a Pilton park only to have his soul transferred to the body of an unborn child from one of the more affluent areas of Edinburgh. The final scene of the movie is that of Coco in the baby's body strapped to his mother's back with a Hibs top in the pub chanting "Oo to, oo to be, oo to be a Hibee".

Hibernian are also frequently referred to in the Inspector Rebus detective series by Ian Rankin. In the later books, Rebus's colleague DS Siobhan Clark is a season ticket holder at Easter Road. Contrary to the 2006 television adaption of the series, Rebus is not a Hibs fan in the books.

Club records

Honours

1981, 1999

Notes

1981 and 1999 represent second-tier championships, after the advent of the higher Scottish Premier Division/League in 1976

UEFA Ranking

Current Club Ranking

  • 156 FC Copenhagen
  • 157 Hibernian
  • 157 Aberdeen
  • 159 Iraklis Thessaloniki
  • 159 Xanthi FC

Current National League Ranking

External links

Hibernian F.C. | Scottish football clubs | Sport in Edinburgh | United Soccer Association teams

Хібэрніян | Hibernian Football Club | Hibernian F.C. | Hibernian F.C. | Hibernian Football Club | Hibernian FC | Hibernian | Hibernian F.C. | Hibernian Edynburg | Hibernian | Hibernian F.C. | Hibernian FC | 希伯尼安足球俱乐部

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Hibernian F.C.".

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