Good Luck Hearts
Good Luck Hibs
As a Dons fan, I'm not fussed who wins (after 110 years it would be nice for Hibs to get the monkey off their back)
Quite a good post on the When Saturday Comes message board.... informative then nicely loopy.....
http://www.wsc.co.uk/component/option,com_kunena/Itemid,73/func,view/catid,27/id,665245/
Due to the sheer novelty of a Hearts-Hibs final, I did some poking about to see if I could find any golden nuggets from the 1896 game.
The 1896 final remains the only Scottish Cup Final to be played outside Glasgow, the venue being St Bernard’s (then the third force in Edinburgh football) Logie Green ground. Ironically both teams wanted the final switched to Glasgow- Hampden or Ibrox as the Logie Green was deemed far too small for a match of this stature. It roughly held about 20,000.
Hibs and Hearts went into the game having finished third and fourth in the league respectively behind you know who.......YAAAWWNN......zzzzzzzzzz....
In reaching the final Hibs beat Rangers 3-2 at Ibrox. The Rangers goalkeeper John Bell had such a terrible game that apparently he dressed in silence in the changing room walked out of Ibrox and was never heard of nor seen again. I hope he didn’t bump himself off.
Hibs also had to negotiate a high court case as the semi-final victory over Renton was disputed by the Dunbartonshire club. Renton claimed Hibs fielded an ineligible player but ultimately this was overturned. It’s amazing when you look at the history of the early game how many fixtures ended up in the hands of magistrates, mostly due to the thorny issue of professionalism with clubs accusing and counter accusing each other of using ineligible players and professionals.
As for the game itself, the following Monday’s Scotsman report sums things up in that inimitable Victorian syntax:
“Generally speaking, the Heart of Mid-Lothian had the best of matters, and played pretty football, but it cannot be said that their opponents by any manner of means lay down.”
“Result:- Heart of Mid-Lothian, three goals; Hibernians, one goal. The victory, it might be said, was popular in every sense of the word. Those who witnessed the demonstration following upon the third point will not readily forget it. Regarding the arrangements, it is satisfactory to note that everything passed off without a single hitch.”
Thank goodness for that. The hearts right half was called Isaac Begbie. A name, which conjures up a disturbing image of Old Testament fire and brimstone preacher, crossed with Edinburgh psycho radgie.
There is one other noteworthy aspect of the game. A young Arthur Montford called the game on to an Edison wax cylinder. In so doing created the world’s first football real time commentary.
Unfortunately only a fragment of this commentary remains (at the National Museum in Edinburgh). There’s no web link unfortunately but I’ve heard it. I'll have to write the next section in bold as the cylinder is hard to hear as you will understand-
“.......ccchhhhh.......can’t see what’s going on.....ccchhhcchchch......a real stramash in the Hibernians box…ffffzzzssszzzz…GOAL!.....it’s a goal for the Heart of Midlothian!......ffftftftftftftf......Heart of Midlothian 3 points, the Hibernians 1 point.......disaster for Hibernian!......ftftftftftftftcchhhhhh......”
An even younger Bob Crampsey, who was on hand to give a historic perspective on this momentous occasion, ably assisted Montford.
Crampsey recently graduated from the University of Glasgow with a first class honours in ‘Third Lanarkology’ likened the Hearts formation of 1-1-8 to the great Queens Park side of the mid 1870’s and reflected that the inside wing play of Hearts Hogg and McClaren was similar to the great RS McColl and Andrew Watson of the famous Hampden club.
Montford and Crampsey subsequently toured pubs and public places around Gorgie and Tynecastle playing the wax cylinder to much amazement and acclaim.
There was not only astonishment at the aural commentary but also at the young Montford’s daring checkered leisure frock coat and waistcoat combination. One young lady was heard to remark that “it is most uneasy on the eye, unlike the dashing Mr Montford”.
The whole of the last section may not necessarily be true.
*applause* 'we are all Granny Danger'