On This Day In History

[Seven Tattoos]

Four years ago today, Sunday 21 April 2002. This was my wee brother's stag-do weekend and, despite the fact that I was to be best man and that, traditionally, the best man organises the stag, he stipulated the stag was to be held in Embra. Given that I lived in Embra at the time (a nice wee rented flat in Parlia-Mental Street, many a good party was had there) I'd have preferred a different destination, but there we go.

Having had a pretty disastrous season (at least, compared with 2000-01) we'd missed the split and were playing the lower sides. The league, in their wisdom, scheduled home games for both us and the skates that weekend and the Hibs match was to be played on the Sunday. This meant that only about half the boys coming up could attend the game (Grant, good lad, that he is, insisted a visit to 'the home of football, to see the Green Brazil' was essential to his stag) and some of those who did left at half-time to catch trains at the Waverley.

On the Saturday, we'd all met at the Cabbage n Ribs on Albert Street where the assorted Man U, Man City, Everton, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest fans could gasp at the glorious history of Hibernian FC and be educated that we were the pioneers for British participation in European competition. I may have repeated that a few times!

Saturday night after an afternoon spent in Leith was a bevvy n persians extravanganza, taking in the Q Bar, Siglo n La Belle Angel, before ending at their B&B in Colinton at about 8am.

Gary O'Connor, under Bawbag Williamson now, was showing the type of form that would earn him his recent move to Gorky Park Rovers (or whatever the feck they're called) and was in the middle of a run of scoring in five consecutive premier league games. A club record I believe (possibly shared with Gordon Rae? could someone clarify please).

It was a bright sunny afternoon and turned out to be the last time Hibs would wear the round necked strip that debuted the previous year (the first season with the present club crest). Indeed, after the game, we all admired the new strip which was on display in the Hibernian Clubstore windows (the v-neck one, think 4-4 draw).

Motherwell, the visitors, had beaten us 4-0 back in February, in one of King Franck's last games as manager, and their last visit to ER had been in a 1-1 draw back in December which turned out to be Judas Iscarrot's last game before he succumbed to thirty sashes of Orange. Who's Sorry Now, eh, gingerbaws?

However, it was a great game for Grant to introduce the uninitiated to as Hibs romped home 4-0. Two goals in each half, from Arpinon (yes, Freddy the Frog was back in the team after getting 'gobby' at Albert Kidd Stadium) and the man who might yet break hertz, the very much maligned, equestrian Derek Townsley, in the first.

The second half belonged to Garry O'Connor though and he grabbed two very powerful goals late on, going down the slope, which were virtually identical. At this point I told my brother's mate Richie O'Brien (brother of Simon O'Brien, of Standing Room Only fame, and Damon from Brookside) that Des O'Connor was Garry O'Connor's Dad. He told me to 'Phuck Off'! Oooooooohhhhhh, the gallus scouse banter! (Interestingly, Richie's brother had once worn a Hibs Pat Stanton era retro top on Standing Room Only, and autistic bore that I am, I told him that. Richie's a Hibbie for his Scottish team anyway!)

After the game, ma wee bro n his mates nashed n got their trains, while I went back to the Vicky n got p!shed n stoned before goin home wi 4 cans of Tennent's P!sh n 'American Pie 2' on video. Scottish Spinsters didnae get a very industrious Sweary on the Monday!

As Feargal Sharkey once sang 'got to keep it in the family'!