J
MATHIAS JACK (1969 -
A powerful German born defender who could also occupy the holding midfield berth. Mathias joined Hibernian in July 1999 and provided much needed muscle to a Hibernian side that was increasingly earning respect for its flair. He was a rather combative player whose name found its way into referee’s notebooks with alarming frequency.
He was a vastly experienced performer having played in Germany with Stahl Brandenburg, VFL Odenburgh, Rot Weiss Essen, Bochum and Fortuna Dusseldorf.
He was out of contract at Easter Road in the summer of 2002 and spent a brief time looking for a club before Bobby Williamson offered him a single year ‘extension’. Legend has it that Williamson spotted Jack out running near Arthur’s Seat and was so impressed by his ‘get up and go’ that he offered him terms. However, he played very few games in the 2002/03 season.
Mathias was enigmatic in that his growling persona on the pitch was offset by a lovely friendly manner off the field that made him a pleasure to chat to.
He was a vastly experienced performer having played in Germany with Stahl Brandenburg, VFL Odenburgh, Rot Weiss Essen, Bochum and Fortuna Dusseldorf.
He was out of contract at Easter Road in the summer of 2002 and spent a brief time looking for a club before Bobby Williamson offered him a single year ‘extension’. Legend has it that Williamson spotted Jack out running near Arthur’s Seat and was so impressed by his ‘get up and go’ that he offered him terms. However, he played very few games in the 2002/03 season.
Mathias was enigmatic in that his growling persona on the pitch was offset by a lovely friendly manner off the field that made him a pleasure to chat to.
HONOURS
Scottish Cup final 2001
Scottish Cup final 2001
DARREN JACKSON (1966 -
One of the more extrovert players in recent football, Jackson had a natural ability that encompassed not just playing but upsetting referees and opposition supporters. Yet when he concentrated on the game he was a wonderfully talented player capable of moments of sublime ability.
A proven goalscorer he initially served Meadowbank Thistle, Newcastle United and Dundee United where he rarely failed to excite. He played for Dundee United in the epic 1991 Scottish Cup final against Motherwell (which United lost 3-4 despite a Jackson goal).
When moving from Newcastle to Dundee United he cost £200,000 and this was indication of the latent talent that lurked beneath a rather spiky exterior. It was on Tyneside that he had formed a lasting friendship with Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne that saw the bold Jackson feature in the centre spread of Hello magazine when Gazza married.
Darren joined Hibernian in the summer of 1992 and scored 13 goals in his first league season as a Hibee. Indeed he remained a frequent marksman for Hibs over the next five seasons and must have caused consternation when he scored the winner for Hibs in the 1993 League Cup semi-final against his former Dundee United employees. In all he scored 50 goals in 172 league matches and was rarely missing from first team action due to his super fitness.
Darren spent more time with Hibernian than any of his other 8 senior clubs, which is measure in itself of how much he enjoyed Easter Road.
He moved to Celtic in the close season of 1997 for £1.5m which was a good return for Hibernian but his time at Parkhead was blighted by a serious illness which required a brain operation to rectify. Later Darren played for Hearts, Livingston, St Johnstone and Clydebank and he was a noted Scotland international.
A proven goalscorer he initially served Meadowbank Thistle, Newcastle United and Dundee United where he rarely failed to excite. He played for Dundee United in the epic 1991 Scottish Cup final against Motherwell (which United lost 3-4 despite a Jackson goal).
When moving from Newcastle to Dundee United he cost £200,000 and this was indication of the latent talent that lurked beneath a rather spiky exterior. It was on Tyneside that he had formed a lasting friendship with Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne that saw the bold Jackson feature in the centre spread of Hello magazine when Gazza married.
Darren joined Hibernian in the summer of 1992 and scored 13 goals in his first league season as a Hibee. Indeed he remained a frequent marksman for Hibs over the next five seasons and must have caused consternation when he scored the winner for Hibs in the 1993 League Cup semi-final against his former Dundee United employees. In all he scored 50 goals in 172 league matches and was rarely missing from first team action due to his super fitness.
Darren spent more time with Hibernian than any of his other 8 senior clubs, which is measure in itself of how much he enjoyed Easter Road.
He moved to Celtic in the close season of 1997 for £1.5m which was a good return for Hibernian but his time at Parkhead was blighted by a serious illness which required a brain operation to rectify. Later Darren played for Hearts, Livingston, St Johnstone and Clydebank and he was a noted Scotland international.
HONOURS
Scotland (20)
Scotland (20)
WILLIE JAMIESON (1963 -
A tall and powerful youngster Willie broke into the Hibs side in the early 1980s and provided a glut of goals. Born in Barnsley he joined Hibernian in 1978 from Tynecastle Boys Club and the fact that he was comfortable at either centre-half or centre-forward enhanced his prospects no end.
He won a First Division championship badge at Easter Road in 1981 but was rather surprisingly allowed to leave on a free transfer some four years later. His Easter Road career had run from 1980 to 1985 and brought 27 goals from 117 league matches.
Jamieson’s availability sparked a frenzy of enquiries and John Lambie signed him for Hamilton. What an astute move that proved; Willie helping Accies to two First Division titles. He joined Dundee in 1990 and won a Centenary Cup medal in 1990 before adding another First Division badge two years later.
His career thereafter carried him to Partick Thistle, Hearts and Ayr United. He was with the Honest Men when they landed the 1997 Second Division Championship and in the summer of 1998 joined Partick Thistle as assistant manager.
He won a First Division championship badge at Easter Road in 1981 but was rather surprisingly allowed to leave on a free transfer some four years later. His Easter Road career had run from 1980 to 1985 and brought 27 goals from 117 league matches.
Jamieson’s availability sparked a frenzy of enquiries and John Lambie signed him for Hamilton. What an astute move that proved; Willie helping Accies to two First Division titles. He joined Dundee in 1990 and won a Centenary Cup medal in 1990 before adding another First Division badge two years later.
His career thereafter carried him to Partick Thistle, Hearts and Ayr United. He was with the Honest Men when they landed the 1997 Second Division Championship and in the summer of 1998 joined Partick Thistle as assistant manager.
LESLIE JOHNSTONE (1920 - 2001)
The career of Leslie Johnstone merits recalling as he was a huge ‘name’ in his hey-dey and Hibernian capturing his signature was a clear mark of the club’s intent. When Leslie Hamilton Johnstone joined Hibernian for £10,000 on Valentine’s Day 1947 his transfer was a Scottish record fee, it matters little that by October 1948 he was returning to Clyde.
Born in Glasgow on 16 August 1920, he had begun his career at Clydebank Junior and then moved to Clyde in December 1941. Capped by Scotland during the war he was viewed as a crafty, intelligent leader who was assured in front of goal. Hibs bought him in March 1947 but his debut away to Falkirk on April 5th turned into high farce with the game being abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch with only 15 minutes remaining. One week later he made a scoring bow against Celtic in a 2-0 Easter Road win.
At the start of the 1947/48 season he lit up the Easter Road scene in dramatic fashion. His four-goal haul in the second match of the campaign (a 7-1 demolition of Airdrie) had the Edinburgh Evening News positively purring as they described him as “the complete footballer, displaying expert dribbling and opening the game to all around him.” Few could have predicted that when he scored at Hampden in early October against Queen’s Park he was netting his last goal for the club.
Soon stories emerged that he had not settled with Hibs and wished to return to Glasgow and Clyde. For £8,000 Paddy Travers, the Clyde supremo, was able to take him back to Shawfield in October 1947. He had played only four league games of the new season but clearly he had been struck by wanderlust. His spell at Clyde was equally brief and soon Leslie was off to Celtic for £12,000, thus ensuring that a scarcely heard of £30,000 had been spent on him in three quick transfers.
His debut for Celtic in October 1948 was rather cheeky …scoring twice against Hibs as the Glasgow club won 2-1 at Easter Road! His career wound down with spells south of the border turning out for Stoke City and Shrewsbury Town.
Born in Glasgow on 16 August 1920, he had begun his career at Clydebank Junior and then moved to Clyde in December 1941. Capped by Scotland during the war he was viewed as a crafty, intelligent leader who was assured in front of goal. Hibs bought him in March 1947 but his debut away to Falkirk on April 5th turned into high farce with the game being abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch with only 15 minutes remaining. One week later he made a scoring bow against Celtic in a 2-0 Easter Road win.
At the start of the 1947/48 season he lit up the Easter Road scene in dramatic fashion. His four-goal haul in the second match of the campaign (a 7-1 demolition of Airdrie) had the Edinburgh Evening News positively purring as they described him as “the complete footballer, displaying expert dribbling and opening the game to all around him.” Few could have predicted that when he scored at Hampden in early October against Queen’s Park he was netting his last goal for the club.
Soon stories emerged that he had not settled with Hibs and wished to return to Glasgow and Clyde. For £8,000 Paddy Travers, the Clyde supremo, was able to take him back to Shawfield in October 1947. He had played only four league games of the new season but clearly he had been struck by wanderlust. His spell at Clyde was equally brief and soon Leslie was off to Celtic for £12,000, thus ensuring that a scarcely heard of £30,000 had been spent on him in three quick transfers.
His debut for Celtic in October 1948 was rather cheeky …scoring twice against Hibs as the Glasgow club won 2-1 at Easter Road! His career wound down with spells south of the border turning out for Stoke City and Shrewsbury Town.
HONOURS
Scotland (3); Scottish League (13)
Scotland (3); Scottish League (13)
BOBBY JOHNSTONE (1929 - 2001)
Nicknamed “Nicker” by dint of his scurrying, probing, football (which resembled the border collie of that name in a Sunday Post cartoon) he was in some ways the classic small Scottish inside-forward. His forte was not speed, nor was it strength, rather it was an ability to dart between opponents, pass with unerring accuracy and entertain with his natural ball skills. That he was also a considerable goalscorer made him the complete footballer in his era.
Born and bred in the lovely border town of Selkirk, he joined Willie McCartney’s Hibernian in 1946. He was only 17 at the time. The diminutive apprentice painter made traditional progress through the Hibernian reserve team before breaking into the first team in the late 1940s. His name was to be the final piece in the ‘Famous Five’ jigsaw and for almost a decade Easter Road became synonymous with great entertaining football.
He made his debut at St. Mirren in early April 1948 and it was in the 1948/49 season that he made the first team spot his own. When Hibernian landed the title in 1951 and 1952 Johnstone was a key player.
A simple glance at the record books will reveal just how good a player Bobby was. He won 17 caps for Scotland (scoring half a dozen goals), won two League Championship badges with Hibs (1951 and 1952) and scored in two consecutive FA Cup finals (lifting the cup in the second of those finals). He was certainly a man for the big occasion. When Scotland beat England 3-2 at Wembley in April 1951 he scored on his debut
Bobby Johnstone represented Great Britain in 1955 when the combined home nations tackled the Rest of Europe in what was a tremendous accolade for any player. Bobby responded to the big stage in typical fashion – by scoring.
When he moved to Manchester City in March 1955 it cost the Maine Road club £22,000. Within weeks he scored City’s goal in the FA Cup final against Newcastle. City lost that game but they won the following year and again Johnstone scored – this time with a header.
He returned to Hibernian in September 1959 and although he was thicker set by this time he had enough left to score his 100th goal for the club. October 1960 saw him return to Lancashire; this time with Oldham Athletic. Later he would play semi-professional with non-league Whitton Albion before briefly managing Workington Town.
Bobby died in August 2001.
Born and bred in the lovely border town of Selkirk, he joined Willie McCartney’s Hibernian in 1946. He was only 17 at the time. The diminutive apprentice painter made traditional progress through the Hibernian reserve team before breaking into the first team in the late 1940s. His name was to be the final piece in the ‘Famous Five’ jigsaw and for almost a decade Easter Road became synonymous with great entertaining football.
He made his debut at St. Mirren in early April 1948 and it was in the 1948/49 season that he made the first team spot his own. When Hibernian landed the title in 1951 and 1952 Johnstone was a key player.
A simple glance at the record books will reveal just how good a player Bobby was. He won 17 caps for Scotland (scoring half a dozen goals), won two League Championship badges with Hibs (1951 and 1952) and scored in two consecutive FA Cup finals (lifting the cup in the second of those finals). He was certainly a man for the big occasion. When Scotland beat England 3-2 at Wembley in April 1951 he scored on his debut
Bobby Johnstone represented Great Britain in 1955 when the combined home nations tackled the Rest of Europe in what was a tremendous accolade for any player. Bobby responded to the big stage in typical fashion – by scoring.
When he moved to Manchester City in March 1955 it cost the Maine Road club £22,000. Within weeks he scored City’s goal in the FA Cup final against Newcastle. City lost that game but they won the following year and again Johnstone scored – this time with a header.
He returned to Hibernian in September 1959 and although he was thicker set by this time he had enough left to score his 100th goal for the club. October 1960 saw him return to Lancashire; this time with Oldham Athletic. Later he would play semi-professional with non-league Whitton Albion before briefly managing Workington Town.
Bobby died in August 2001.
HONOURS
Scotland (13)
League Cup final 1950
Scotland (13)
League Cup final 1950
See also: Bobby Johnstone: The Passing of an Age by John Leigh. Published 2007 by Breedon Books.