Hibernian F.C.

Foundation and early history (1875–1939) , where Hibs were formed in 1875. The club was founded in 1875 by Irishmen living in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh. The name Hibernian (deriving from Hibernia, an ancient name for Ireland Founder Fr. Edward Joseph Hannan was the first president of the club and Michael Whelahan its first team captain. James Connolly, the famous socialist and Irish Republican leader, was a Hibs fan, while the club were "closely identified" with the Irish Home Rule movement during the 1880s. Despite advertising the match as 'The Association Football Championship of the World', Preston had lost in the FA Cup semi-finals to West Bromwich Albion and were not the 'best' English side that year. Mismanagement over the next few years led to Hibs becoming homeless and the club temporarily ceased operating in 1891. Despite this interruption, the club today views the period since 1875 as one continued history and therefore counts the honours won between 1875 and 1891, including the 1887 Scottish Cup. Hibs are seen today as being an Irish or Roman Catholic institution, as it was in the early years of its history. Hibs had some success after being reformed, winning the 1902 Scottish Cup and their first league championship a year later. After this, however, the club endured a long barren spell. The club lost its placing in the league and were relegated for the first time in 1931, although they were promoted back to the top division two years later. The notorious Scottish Cup drought began as they reached three cup finals, two in consecutive years, but lost each of them. The Famous Five (1939–1959) at Easter Road stadium.|left Hibs' most successful era was in the decade following the end of the Second World War, when it was "among the foremost clubs in Britain". Each of the Famous Five scored more than 100 goals for Hibs. Reilly, Johnstone, Smith and Turnbull were all signed from youth or junior leagues. They improved on their season from the year before, by finishing second in the league to Rangers by one point. 1950–51 was the high point of the Famous Five era. With other internationalists such as Tommy Younger and Bobby Combe, Hibs won the league by 10 points (when two points were awarded for each win). They reached the 1950 Scottish League Cup final. Turnbull had scored a hattrick in the semi-final but was unavailable for the final. Jimmy Bradley started at left wing with Ormond moved to inside left. Motherwell beat them 3–0. Hibs retained the league championship in 1951–52, this time winning by four points. Hibs were narrowly denied a third consecutive title in 1952–53 on the last day of the season. A late Rangers equaliser against Queen of the South took the title to Ibrox on goal average. The Famous Five forward line remained in place until March 1955, when Johnstone was sold to Manchester City. Floodlights had been used at Easter Road for the first time in a friendly match against Hearts on 18 October 1954. Hibs became the first British club in Europe because the English Football League secretary Alan Hardaker persuaded Chelsea, the English champions, not to enter. Hibs played their first match against Rot-Weiss Essen, winning 4–0 in the Georg-Melches-Stadion and Napoli. However, the club achieved little domestically until former player Eddie Turnbull was persuaded to return to Easter Road as manager in 1971. The team, popularly known as ''Turnbull's Tornadoes, finished second in the league in 1974 and 1975 and won the League Cup in 1972. The club also won the Drybrough Cup in 1972 and 1973, Wallace Mercer, the chairman of Hearts, proposed a merger of the two clubs, They formed the Hands off Hibs'' group to campaign for the continued existence of the club. This succeeded when a prominent local businessman, Kwik Fit owner Sir Tom Farmer, acquired a controlling interest in Hibs. but immediately won promotion back to the SPL in 1999. 2000s: "Golden generation" Hibs enjoyed a good season in 2000–01 as they finished third in the league and reached the 2001 Scottish Cup final, which was lost 3–0 to Celtic. Manager Alex McLeish departed for Rangers in December 2001; team captain Franck Sauzée was appointed as the new manager, despite the fact that he had no previous coaching experience. A terrible run of form followed and Sauzée was fired after being in charge for 69 days. Kilmarnock manager Bobby Williamson was then hired, but he proved to be unpopular with Hibs supporters. However, a "golden generation" of exciting young players emerged, including Garry O'Connor, Derek Riordan, Kevin Thomson and Scott Brown. These players featured heavily as Hibs eliminated both halves of the Old Firm to reach the 2004 Scottish League Cup final, only to lose 2–0 to Livingston. Hibs finished third in his first season as manager, while Mowbray won the SFWA Manager of the Year award. is paraded in March 2007. Mowbray left Hibs in October 2006 to manage West Bromwich Albion, and was replaced by former player John Collins. The team won the 2007 Scottish League Cup final under his management, but the club sold Kevin Thomson, Scott Brown and Steven Whittaker for fees totalling more than £8 million. Former Hibs player Mixu Paatelainen was hired to replace Collins, but he left after the end of his first full season. Another former Hibernian player, John Hughes, was soon appointed in place of Paatelainen. Hughes, who made high-profile signings such as Anthony Stokes and Liam Miller, led Hibs to a good start to the 2009–10 season. 2010s: Scottish Cup success Hibs finished fourth in 2010 and qualified for the Europa League, but a poor start to the 2010–11 season led to John Hughes leaving the club. Hughes was replaced by Colin Calderwood, who was himself sacked a year later. The club avoided relegation in 2011–12 and reached the 2012 Scottish Cup final under new manager Pat Fenlon, but this was lost 5–1 to Hearts. Fenlon largely rebuilt the team after this defeat. This resulted in an improved league position in 2012–13 and the team reaching the 2013 Scottish Cup final, which was lost 3–0 to league champions Celtic. Hibs qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, but they suffered a Scottish record defeat in European competition (9–0 on aggregate against Malmö). Fenlon resigned on 1 November and was replaced by Terry Butcher. 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, which was lost after a penalty shootout against Hamilton Academical. Butcher was sacked in June 2014 and was replaced by Alan Stubbs. He was unable to lead the team to promotion, but the 2015–16 season saw considerable cup success. The team reached the League Cup final, which was lost to Ross County. This was followed by victory in the Scottish Cup for the first time since 1902 with a 3–2 win in the final against Rangers. As well as ending the unwanted long-term cup record, the result helped shake off a reputation of Hibs building up expectations of success only to fail, popularised among opposing supporters and in Scottish media as having 'Hibsed it'; the club's own fans then adopted the phrase as a positive reference to the occasion though it would still be repeated in future when the club was seen as underachieving. Soon after the cup win, Stubbs resigned as Hibs manager to take charge at Rotherham United and was replaced by Neil Lennon, who led the team to promotion by winning the 2016–17 Scottish Championship. In their first season back in the top flight, Hibs finished fourth in the Premiership and qualified for the Europa League. Lennon left the club in January 2019 and was replaced by Paul Heckingbottom, who only held the post for seven months. Jack Ross was appointed on 15 November 2019. 2020s: Managerial turnover Hibs finished seventh in a 2019–20 league season that was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the following season they finished third in the league and reached the 2021 Scottish Cup final, but this was lost 1–0 to St Johnstone. Ross guided Hibs to the League Cup final later that year, but was sacked 10 days before the final after a run of seven defeats in nine league games. Shaun Maloney was appointed as manager in December 2021, but was himself sacked four months later, having won six games out of nineteen. His successor, Lee Johnson, was appointed manager on 19 May 2022. Hibs finished fifth and qualified for European competition under Johnson, but his "rollercoaster" 15-month spell was ended when the team lost three consecutive games to start the 2023–24 league season. Following a fourth stint as caretaker manager, David Gray was appointed on a permanent basis in June 2024. After a bad start to the 2024–25 season that had Hibs bottom of the Premiership table in early December, they went on a 17-game unbeaten run that lifted them into a third-place finish and European qualification. On 1 August 2025, Dan Barnett became Chief Executive Officer of Hibernian FC, succeeding Ben Kensell. Barnett, formerly Commercial Director at Leicester City and involved in international sporting events including UEFA competitions and the America’s Cup, was appointed to support the club’s commercial growth and strategic development. ==Colours and badge==

The predominant club colours are green and white, which have been used since the formation of the club in 1875. The strip typically has a green body, white sleeves and a white collar. In 1977, Hibs became the first professional club in Scotland to bear sponsorship on their shirts, after Bellshill Athletic did so in 1975. This arrangement prompted television companies to threaten a boycott of Hibs games if they used the sponsored kit, which resulted in the club using an alternate kit for the first time. Hibs wore green and white hooped shirts during the 1870s, Hibs then wore all-green shirts from 1879 until 1938, when white sleeves were added to the shirts. The colour of the shorts was changed to a green which matched the shirts in 2004, to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of a friendly win in October 1964 against Real Madrid. Green shorts were used in that match to avoid a colour clash with the all-white colours of Real Madrid. Hibs also used green shorts in the 2006–07, 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons. For the 2014–15 season, Hibs removed the traditional white sleeves from their home kit, as they changed to a darker green shirt in commemoration of the Famous Five forward line. The badge used to identify the club has changed frequently over the years, which has reflected an ongoing debate about its identity. This debate has centred on whether its Irish heritage should be proudly displayed, or ignored for fear of being accused of sectarianism. The Irish harp was first removed in the 1950s, then re-introduced to the club badge when it was last re-designed in 2000. Scottish Football Museum director Ged O'Brien said in 2001, that the current design shows that Hibs "are comfortable with all the strands of their tradition – it has Leith, Edinburgh and Ireland in it." As well as the harp representing Ireland, the present badge includes a ship (for the port of Leith) and a castle (as in Edinburgh Castle). ==Stadium==

Hibs played on The Meadows for the first two years of their history, before moving to grounds in Newington (Mayfield Park) in different spells between 1877 and 1879. After the lease on Mayfield Park expired, Hibs moved to a ground known as Hibernian Park, on what is now Bothwell Street in Leith. Hibs failed to secure the ground lease and a builder started constructing houses on the site in 1890. Hibs obtained a lease on a site that is now known as Easter Road in 1892 and have played their home matches there since February 1893. Before the Taylor Report demanded that the stadium be all-seated, Easter Road had vast banks of terracing on three sides, which meant that it could hold crowds in excess of 60,000. The record attendance of 65,860, which is also a record for a football match played in Edinburgh, was set by an Edinburgh derby played on 2 January 1950. The ground is currently all-seated and has a capacity of . Easter Road is a modern stadium, with all four of its stands having been built since 1995. The most recent redevelopment was the construction of a new East Stand in 2010. Scotland women played their first match at Easter Road in August 2019, a Euro 2022 qualifying match against Cyprus. The ground has hosted one international not involving the Scotland teams, a friendly played between Ghana and South Korea preceding the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Easter Road has also sometimes been used as a neutral venue for Scottish League Cup semi-final matches and once hosted a Scottish Challenge Cup final. ==Rivalry==

scores a goal for Hibs against Hearts in 2006. Hibs have a traditional local rivalry in Edinburgh with Hearts; the derby match between the two clubs is one of the oldest rivalries in world football. Graham Spiers has described it as "one of the jewels of the Scottish game". The clubs have met each other in two Scottish Cup finals, in 1896 and 2012, both of which were won by Hearts. Hearts have the better overall record in derby matches, but Hibs recorded the biggest derby win in a competitive match when they won 7–0 at Tynecastle on New Year's Day 1973. While it has been noted that religious, ethnic or political background lies behind the rivalry, that aspect is "muted" and is a "pale reflection" of the sectarianism in Glasgow. Although the clubs are inescapable rivals, the rivalry is mainly "good-natured" and has had beneficial effects. ==Supporters and culture==

match on 26 April 2026.|left Hibernian are one of only two full-time professional football clubs in Edinburgh, which is the capital of and second largest city in Scotland. The club had the fourth largest average attendance in the Scottish leagues during the 2022–23 season (17,469). Since Easter Road was redeveloped into an all-seater stadium in the mid-1990s, average attendance has varied between a high of 18,124 in 2017–18 and a low of 9,150 in 2003–04. In the 1980s and 1990s, a minority of the club's supporters had a reputation as one of Britain's most prominent casuals groups, known as the Capital City Service. Hibernian’s ultra group, founded in 2021, is called Block Seven. Literature The works of author Irvine Welsh, particularly Trainspotting, contain several references to Hibernian. The team is often mentioned in casual conversation and is the team many of his characters support. Visual references to Hibs are noticeable in Danny Boyle's film adaptation of Trainspotting; Francis Begbie wears a Hibs shirt while he plays five-a-side football, while many Hibs posters and pictures can be seen on the walls of Mark Renton's bedroom. In the final short story of Welsh's The Acid House, Coco Bryce, a boy from the "Hibs firm" Capital City Service, is struck by lightning while under the influence of LSD in a Pilton park. His soul is then transferred to the body of an unborn child from one of the more affluent areas of Edinburgh. The appearances by Hibs in the 2012 and 2016 Scottish Cup finals are described in Welsh's novels A Decent Ride and ''Dead Men's Trousers'' respectively. Hibernian are also frequently referred to in the Inspector Rebus series of detective novels by Ian Rankin. Rankin has stated that Rebus is a Raith Rovers supporter but he is a Hibs fan in the 2000s television adaptation of the series. DS Siobhan Clarke, his colleague in the later books, is a "loyal supporter" of Hibs. Music The Hibs anthem "Glory, Glory to the Hibees" was written and performed by the Scottish comedian, Hector Nicol. Former Marillion singer Fish is a Hibs fan; Easter Road is mentioned in the song "Lucky", from the album Internal Exile. The Proclaimers are lifelong Hibs fans and were heavily involved with the 'Hands off Hibs' campaign to save the club in 1990. which is traditionally played after big victories at Easter Road and the finals of cup competitions. In their song "Cap in Hand", from the Sunshine on Leith album, The Proclaimers make a reference to the Hibs player Andy Goram: The song "Joyful Kilmarnock Blues", from the first Proclaimers' album, is about a Hibs victory away from home. ==Ownership and finances==

Although the football club was formed in 1875, it was not incorporated until 1903. The club remained a private company until 1988, when it was publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange. This public listing, combined with poor financial performance, made Hibs vulnerable to an attempted takeover in 1990 by Hearts chairman Wallace Mercer. This attempt was averted when Mercer was unable to acquire the 75% shareholding needed to liquidate the company. In December 2014, the club said it intended to sell up to 51% ownership of the club to its supporters. By November 2017, supporters had increased their shareholding in the club to 34%. The majority ownership of the club was sold in July 2019 to Peruvian-born US-based businessman Ronald Gordon, who became the executive chairman. On 21 February 2023 Hibernian announced that Gordon had died of cancer at the age of 68, and his majority shareholding was passed to his family. The agm held in February 2024 ratified a deal with Black Knight, the majority shareholder of English club AFC Bournemouth. The Gordon family retained majority control (60%), with Black Knight acquiring 25% for a £6 million investment. ==Players==

First team squad On loan Academy squads Women's team The club that became the Hibernian women's team was founded in 1997 by Iain Johnston and Paul Johnston, but for the initial two seasons of its existence the club was under the auspices of Preston Athletic. The name changed to Hibernian Ladies in 1999 and they became one of the leading women's teams in Scotland. Hibernian won the Scottish Women's Cup in 2010, for the fifth time in eight years. Their success in the national cup competition was contrasted to the male affiliate, who went over a century without winning the equivalent competition until their victory in 2016. Hibernian Ladies won domestic cup doubles in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Ahead of the 2020 season, the club was rebranded as Hibernian Women and players were offered their first part-time professional contracts. The women's first team was fully integrated into the men's club in July 2022, with the youth sides still being run by the Hibernian Community Foundation. ==Club officials==

First team coaching staff {{Fb cs footer|s= ==Noted players==

Lewis Stevenson holds the record for most league appearances for Hibs, passing 450 in 2023, taking the place of Arthur Duncan who made 446. All of the Famous Five – Gordon Smith, Eddie Turnbull, Lawrie Reilly, Bobby Johnstone and Willie Ormond – scored more than 100 league goals for Hibs. Hibernian rank fifth amongst all clubs in providing players for Scotland, behind the Old Firm, Hearts and Queen's Park. James Lundie and James McGhee were the first Hibs players to play for Scotland, in an 1885–86 British Home Championship match against Wales. Lawrie Reilly holds the record for most international caps earned while a Hibs player, making 38 appearances for Scotland between 1949 and 1957. The first group of nominees, including 13 former players, were inducted at a dinner later that year. ==Noted managers==

From 1875 until 1903, Hibs were managed by a committee, although Dan McMichael, who also acted as treasurer, secretary and physiotherapist, was effectively the manager when the club won the 1902 Scottish Cup and the 1903 league championship. Willie McCartney took charge of part of the league-winning 1947–48 season, but he collapsed and died after a Scottish Cup match in January 1948. Hugh Shaw inherited that team and went on to win three league championships in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Alan Stubbs won the Scottish Cup in 2015–16, ending a 114-year drought in that competition. Eddie Turnbull, Alex Miller and John Collins all won one Scottish League Cup each. Bobby Templeton, Bertie Auld, Alex McLeish and Neil Lennon all won second tier championships. ==Honours==

Major honours and the Scottish league championship trophy in early 1903. This team photo was taken at that time. • Scottish league (tier I) • Winners (4): 1902–03, 1947–48, 1950–51, 1951–52 • Runners-up (6): 1896–97, 1946–47, 1949–50, 1952–53, 1973–74, 1974–75 • Scottish Cup 1893–94, 1894–95, 1932–33, 1980–81, 1998–99, 2016–17 • Drybrough Cup: 1943–44 • East of Scotland Shield: 60 times • Rosebery Charity Cup: 22 times • Wilson Cup: 14 times • Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup: 1902 • Edinburgh Football League: 1901–02 • North-Eastern Cup: 1910–11 • Dunedin Cup: 1921, 1929 ==Records==

Attendance • Highest single game attendance: 65,860 vs Hearts, 2 January 1950 • Most league appearances: Lewis Stevenson, 477 • Most capped player: Lawrie Reilly, 38 for Scotland • Most competitive goals in a season: Joe Baker, 46 in 1959–60 • Most league goals in a season: Joe Baker, 42 in 1959–60 • Record fee received: £6,000,000 for Kieron Bowie from Verona in 2026 ==See also==