Football: Lifelong fan thrilled with historic win

Rab Smith
Rab Smith
It has been the year of the underdog in football in the United Kingdom.

And for long-time Otago Daily Times football writer Rab Smith, it has been a season to remember.

First there was the seemingly unbelievable performance of Leicester City which at very long odds managed to win the English Premier League.

Now Hibernian has won the Scottish Cup final, beating Rangers 3-2 in a pulsating final.

It was the first win for Hibs - as Hibernian is commonly known - in a Scottish Cup final since 1902. In between, the side had lost 10 finals.

Smith has been a lifelong fan of Hibs and was thrilled with the victory yesterday.

"The Hibs home ground is in Easter Rd and I was born in Easter Rd so you could say I was a Hibs boy straight away,'' he said.

"It used to be in those early days that you would go to the ground and get lifted over the turnstiles.

"You'd just stand there and these men would come along and lift you over so you didn't have to pay.''

Those were in the days when the ground at Easter Rd was just one big standing area, and crowds of more than 50,000 would turn up to to see Hibs play.

But safety laws have reduced capacity to just over 20,000 in an all-seater stadium.

Hibs has a proud history. It was the first British team to play in European football, entering the first European Cup in the mid-1950s.

It had a win over Real Madrid in the 1960s and also prevailed over another Spanish giant.

"We beat Barcelona a few years ago. We beat them 2-1 at home and then it was 4-4 away. Like I say it was a few years ago but that can be a long time now.''

The victory was in the European Fairs Cup in the early 1960s.

Smith (76), a retired bookbinder, emigrated to New Zealand more than 40 years ago and admits he has still been watching from afar for so many years.

"You have all these modern communications devices so you can keep up with everything. The club has a TV channel which you can sign up for ... you've got Youtube, Facebook which you can use.

"My brother [Keith] keeps me up to date all the time.

"You can ring up now as cheap as anything.''

Smith, who had an email address entitled "HibsRab'', said after the result on Sunday he had a few congratulatory phone calls and had a quiet celebration.

Hibs is now in the Scottish Championship, the tier below the top division. It finished third this year, missing out on the playoffs.

But in the cup this season it has had a more successful year, ending it with the thrilling win over the Glasgow giant.

"We showed a bit more consistency in the cup. In the league we'd beat Rangers and then go out and lose to someone like Falkirk.''

He said it was great to win the cup and get one over bitter cross-town rivals, Hearts.

He had been to Easter Rd countless times on trips back home and said he was lucky enough to get invited in and view trainings.

"I usually get over there and it is summer and it is the closed season. But you still get to talk to the coaches and players. That is one of the charms of it [Hibs] still being slightly provincial.''

 

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