History of Hibernian F.C.

[11] The club was intended to be an organisation for young Catholics to pursue a life of temperance and religious adherence by offering top-class football to them.

[12] Hibs played charity matches in benefit of causes other than the Catholic Church, however, and Whelahan once said:[13] We were both surprised and delighted at the invitation and can assure you that neither race nor religion were ever a consideration of Hibernian or the CYMS to help such a worthy cause.During the first few years of their history, Hibs played their matches on The Meadows of the south side of Edinburgh.

[17] On 13 August 1887, Hibs defeated Preston North End in a match billed as the Association football Championship of the World decider.

[24] Not participating in the league meant that Hibs found friendly match opponents harder to come by, while the lease on Hibernian Park expired.

[25] Hibs became homeless and the club effectively ceased operations during 1891, which meant that the remaining star players (including captain James McGhee and forward Sandy McMahon) moved to Celtic.

After this, however, Hibs had a very barren period of nearly forty years either side of World War I, as the Old Firm started their dominance of Scottish football.

The Famous Five forward line of Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone, Lawrie Reilly, Eddie Turnbull and Willie Ormond led Hibs to league championships in 1948, 1951 and 1952.

It was due to this successful period that Hibs were invited to play in the inaugural European Cup in the 1955–56 season,[31] even though the club had only finished in 5th place in 1955, 15 points behind champions Aberdeen.

Martin's goals helped add impetus to the club, and on 1 April 1964, Jock Stein was appointed manager of Hibernian.

The testimony of his contemporaries was that he was already "miles" ahead of everyone else in his understanding of the game, and in studying how the investment of energy could be tailored to maximum effect.

Hibs, having failed to qualify for Europe, played Real Madrid in a challenge match at Easter Road and handed their guests a 2–0 defeat.

Although manager Alex Miller kept the club in the top-flight during the later part of the 1980s, mismanagement at board level meant that Hibs were on the brink of financial ruin by the end of the decade.

[43] Among those who protested the proposal were Hearts' star player of the time, John Robertson,[44] while Dundee United manager Jim McLean agreed to provide an impartial financial assessment of the Hibs playing squad to be presented as assets of the business to increase the club's value.

[44] The campaign succeeded when a local prominent businessman, Kwik Fit owner Sir Tom Farmer, was persuaded to acquire a controlling interest in Hibs.

[26] Farmer provided some investment to ensure that Hibs could bounce back on the field, having struggled for much of the previous 15 years when the New Firm of Dundee United and Aberdeen achieved significant success.

The highlight of the season was on 22 October 2000, when a Mixu Paatelainen hat-trick helped Hibs to a 6–2 victory over city rivals Hearts at Easter Road.

Sauzée's tenure saw a disastrous run of form,[50] as Hibs recorded only one victory in three months, a 4–0 win over Stranraer in a Scottish Cup replay.

[54] Despite indifferent results under Williamson, a string of exciting young players including Garry O’Connor, Derek Riordan, Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown started to emerge.

These players featured heavily as Hibs eliminated both halves of the Old Firm to reach the 2004 Scottish League Cup Final,[55] only to lose 2–0 to Livingston.

Mowbray quickly established that he wanted Hibs to play attacking, passing football, despite inheriting a team with a low average age which was under pressure to deliver results after disappointing seasons under Bobby Williamson.

Hibs reached the semi-final stage of the Scottish Cup, where they lost 1–2 to Dundee United despite taking the lead early in the second half.

This form led to speculation by some commentators that they could put in a challenge for the championship,[59] but Mowbray played down the club's chances,[60] pointing to the inconsistency of the side and the much higher budgets of Rangers, Celtic and Hearts.

They showed promising signs in the Scottish Cup, beating Arbroath 6–0, Rangers 3–0 and Falkirk 5–1, but were well beaten 0–4 by Hearts in the semi-final at Hampden Park.

Mowbray left Hibs in October 2006 to manage West Bromwich Albion, with whom he gained promotion to the English Premier League by winning the Championship in the 2007–08 season.

[65] Collins' tenure saw the club sell more of their star players, including Kevin Thomson, Scott Brown, Ivan Sproule and Steven Whittaker, mostly to the Old Firm.

[69] Improved results in the first few months under Paatelainen's management ensured that Hibs finished in the top half of the SPL table for a fourth successive season.

[70] Hughes, who made high-profile signings such as Anthony Stokes[71] and Liam Miller,[72] led Hibs to a good start to the 2009–10 season.

[73] "Unacceptable" performances in the early part of 2010 led to a Scottish Cup defeat by Ross County and the club falling to fifth place in the SPL.

[83] A run of 13 games without a win to finish the 2013–14 Scottish Premiership season meant that Hibs fell into a relegation play-off,[84] which was lost after a penalty shootout against Hamilton Academical.

An injury-time header by team captain David Gray gave Hibs a 3–2 win, thereby ending their 114-year drought in the Scottish Cup.