Hibs at 150, by Aidan Smith review: 'priceless stuff'
Written to mark the 150th anniversary of Hibernian FC, this book is packed with interesting titbits yet it wears its research lightly, writes Alan Pattullo
Oh to support a team about whom it’s possible to dredge up 100 interesting titbits, never mind the 150 author Aidan Smith manages to collate relating to the team he favours. Well, the club in question is Hibs, so that explains a lot. And Smith kept going past the 100-mark to mark their sesquicentennial anniversary, which, as he notes in the introduction, is such a very Hibs word. The club, or at least the club’s fans, like to think of themselves as artistes and dedicated followers of flair compared to the accountants from across the city in Gorgie.
High on Hibsteria (research sees him reconnect with his team and the “old excitement”), Smith apologises for getting carried away at times. “Sesquicentennials, I find, have a habit of doing that,” he acknowledges.
“Our game has produced some notable arses,” Smith observes, by way of introducing one entry. This mini chapter is titled: “Three parts Harry Houdini, One part Kim Kardashian”. (The off-beat headings alone are worth clicking through the turnstile for.) Anyway, back to arses. Smith cites John Greig and Kenny Dalglish. He isn’t being unkind. He is applauding the way they used their derrieres as weapons and delights at John McGinn following in this noble tradition.
It should already be clear, then, that this is not a club-endorsed history of Hibernian FC. If you’re looking for a dry re-tread through cup triumphs and tribulations there are plenty of other books catering for your needs. Of course, that’s not to say there isn't any mention of cup triumphs. One in particular tends to crop up quite a lot – the aforementioned McGinn was one of the heroes. A bite-sized chunk on club anthem Sunshine On Leith, sung with such memorable gusto by fans after the hoodoo-busting Scottish Cup win of 2016, is Michelin star quality writing.
"This is personal," Smith has already pointed out. It’s also quirky, the method of choosing subjects covered seemingly no more scientific than what tickles the author’s fancy. Crucial questions are posed, such as: “Did Hibs save the pantomime?” Turns out they did, in Edinburgh at least, before they went and ruined things by winning the Scottish Cup again, “killing the best gag stone dead”.
I contend there has never been a more informed book written about Hibs. Despite a welter of information, it wears its research lightly. The author’s own knowledge base - he started watching Hibs in 1967 – provides a sound platform. He has witnessed first-hand a large slice of the history of which he writes.
Smith also has the considerable advantage of being able to raid his own archives. He has an impeccable database of material in the form of the Saturday Interview, a valuable series that ran in this very newspaper for many years, and which featured the, ahem, occasional Hibby old timer.
Hence why we know the source material is exemplary as Smith details how Hibs goalkeeper Jim Herriot was the source of inspiration for the nom de plume of a vet-cum-author called Alf Wright.
“I suppose All Creatures Great and Small made me a wee bit more famous than I was,” Herriot explains, before revealing that he was given a first edition of the book chronicling a Yorkshire vet's adventures by Wright, who received one of Herriot’s Scotland’s shirts in return. They swapped Christmas cards until Wright’s death in 1995 (Herriot passed away earlier this year).
This is the sort of priceless stuff that might have gone unrecorded had Smith not tracked Herriot down in 2020 for The Scotsman. There is also exclusive content, freshly gathered for the book. An inevitably entertaining short interview with Irvine Welsh, for example.
We might reflect that, when it comes down to it, most clubs have such rich history to trawl. It’s not, as I suggest at the start of this review, just Hibs. But what they don’t all have is someone able to write about selected (mis)adventures with such panache. Smith confers Pass of the Millennium status upon a Scott Allan assist - threaded into the "quivering heart of the Rangers box”. It was celebrated like a winning goal even though they lost 6-1. Never change, Hibs.
Hibs at 150: Down the Slope with Football’s Great Pioneers, by Aidan Smith, Arena Sport, £12.99
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