Hibs v. Ayr History

[Glenmore Road]

By my reckoning, we've played Ayr United exactly 100 times in the three major competitions.
Plus one match in the 1919 Victory Cup and two in the 1977 Anglo-Scottish Cup, in which we lost to Bristol City in the semi-finals.
53 wins, 19 draws, 28 defeats.

Ayr United Football Club was formed as a merger between Ayr F.C. and former amateur stalwarts Ayr Parkhouse in 1910. The Division Two vacancy created by the merger was filled by Dundee Hibernian.
They're a franchise. Just like Caley Thistle. Though they've not won as much as ICT.


PRE-WW2

In their first three seasons, the new club finished 2nd, 1st and 1st again in the old Division Two.
Belfast Billy Boys Harland & Wolff (back in administration last month) did not open their Govan shipyard until 1912. I'd guess this meant "Penalty To Rangers!" had not replaced "Penalty To Queen's Park!" as the practice to be followed by ambitious referees, seeking to gain favour with the SFA Blazers, in Ayr United's early campaigns.
Even with official favour, the Spiders were prone to finishing bottom of Division One, but relegating them was seen as poor form in Blazer circles. A decision was made to expand Division One to 20 clubs for 1913/14. This reprieved the amateurs while allowing promotion from Division Two. Champs Ayr United and 6th-placed Dumbarton were elected to the top flight. The Sons stuck around for 9 seasons before relegation, then took 50 years to return to the top flight. Ayr United generally remained in Division One until WW2.

The question of whether we have always been seen as a "big club" intrigues me.
Our first 10 years as a League club were impressive. We opened with two successive Division Two titles. In our first 8 years in Division One, our only finish outwith the top 4 was 6th in 1901/02. We won the Scottish Cup that season and won the League title in the following campaign. We must have been seen as a "big club."
From that point, we dropped dramatically.

This is starkly illustrated by comparing our record against Ayr United's and looking at our results against them before WW2.

From 1913/14 to 1938/39, Ayr United were in Division One for 22 of the 26 seasons. We were in Division Two for a couple of those.
So the clubs met 40 times in League games.
We won 11, drew 12 and lost 17 of those matches.
At home the breakdown was won 9, drew 5, lost 6.
At Somerset Park it was won 2, drew 7, lost 11.
Those are dire statistics.
If we were a sleeping giant, we'd overdone the diazepam a wee bit.
The clubs met only once in the Scottish Cup - a 3-1 Hibs win at Somerset Park in February 1930.
We also beat them in the one-off Victory Cup of 1919.

I'd seriously doubt whether any player, fan, journalist or official in the 1920s or 1930s would have viewed Hibernian and Ayr United as being clubs of equal stature, but the clubs' respective League records over a 26-year stretch suggest they were.
Add up our League finishing positions over 26 years, divide by 26 and you get 13.73.
Do the same with Ayr United's and you get 14.34.
Rounding those up, the average finishing position of both clubs in that period was 14th.
Folk go ballistic if we're in danger of missing the top six these days. Imagine the meltdowns on here if our average League position between now and 2050 was being 2nd in the Championship.
In those 26 campaigns we had one 3rd place - in 1924/25. There were only 4 other seasons when we finished higher than 10th, with 7th being our next best. We dipped as low as 7th in Division Two.
Ayr United were 4th in 1914/15. They managed 5th a couple of times soon after that and were 8th & 9th in the early 1930s. They dipped as low as 8th in Division Two.
Ayr United are undoubtedly the biggest club in Scotland never to have won a major trophy, but they're not viewed as a "big club" by many.
Were we viewed as a "big club" between the wars? Our results suggest we shouldn't have been.

I've found a report - of sorts - of the clubs' first League meeting. It's from the Edinburgh Evening News late Saturday edition. An equivalent of the "Green 'Un" or "Pink 'Un" evening papers that I occasionally used to write agency reports for in the late 80s and early 90s.
It looks like the copy deadline was just before 4 o'clock. All the reports end at half-time. God knows how they got copy over back then.
I had a mobile phone as long ago as 1988. I mind Chancellor Lord Lamont of Lerwick taxing them as a luxury item for undesirables in the 1990 budget. "I know a yuppie, his name is Max, got a mobile phone and a Filofax." Have mobile phones reached Shetland yet?
More interestingly, how many phone lines had the Somerset Park pressbox in 1913?

Here's the report.

Edinburgh Evening News.
Saturday 20th Dec. 1913.
AYR UNITED v. HIBERNIANS.
The Hibernians, having scored no fewer than nine goals in their last two engagements, were looked upon as the likelier lot to bring off the points at Somerset Park.
Teams:
Ayr United - Herbertson; Bell and McStey; McDougall, Dainty and McLaughlan; Middleton, G. S. Ramsay, Philips, Robertson and A. Gray.
Hibernians - Allan; Girdwood and Templeton; Kerr, Paterson and Grosert; Wilson, Fleming, Hendren, Wood and Smith.
Referee - Mr. A. A. Jackson, Glasgow.
AYR MISS A CHANCE
The Hibernians led off. Their opening rush was beaten back, and the United, getting on the move, Philips was given a chance to open the scoring but, hesitating, Girdwood dispossessed him of the leather before he got in a parting shot. A further effort was made by the centre, but this time Kerr came to the Hibernians rescue with a strong clearance.
HALF-TIME:
HIBERNIANS.....ONE.
AYR UNITED.....ONE.
Notes and comments.
The match was unique in that it was the first meeting of the clubs under League auspices. The only previous encounter between the clubs dated some four years back, when the Hibernians gained the verdict in a cup tie by the odd goal. In the home side, Robertson made a welcome reappearance after an absence of six weeks. There was an attendance of about 2000 at the start.

 

[Glenmore Road]

The Scottish Cup tie referred to was v. the original Ayr FC, who played at Somerset Park.
The afternoon's Qualifying Cup Final replay at ER - Dundee Hibernians v. Albion Rovers - got a bigger write up. A tad easier for an EEN reporter to get to. It was 0-0 at HT.

I'm not sure about us being the likelier side. We managed a run of 7 straight League defeats from January to March that season, including being pumped 5-0 at home by Ayr United. We finished 13th. They finished 3 points ahead of us in 10th. We did have a Scottish Cup run during that streak of League defeats. We made the Final, beating Morton, then the Huns in front of 28,000 at ER, then beating Queen's Park, away, in the QFs. Wikipedia says 55,000 saw us win that QF. I can't see why so many were there, as the Spiders were below us in the table. I don't know where "there" was. The old Hampden Park pavilion burned down that spring, but I've no idea whether the fire was before or after the QF. In any case, after seeing-off St. Mirren at the Guntery, we'd to play the Final at Ibrox, where we lost a replay 4-1 to Celtic.

I see Bobby Wilson played for us in the Ayr game and the Cup Final. I mind reading a long while back that he was an American who was playing as an amateur in Edinburgh. We signed him. Only stayed briefly. He volunteered to join the British Army as soon as WW1 broke out. Got killed in the last few weeks of the war.


FEW POST-WAR MEETINGS PRE-70s

We may have been shite between the wars, but we were no such thing immediately after WW2

The SFA somewhat dishonestly excluded the Honest Men from the top flight when League football resumed in 1946/47. They'd finished 14th of 20 in 1938/39 - behind us on goal average.
St. Johnstone had finished 8th that term but were also placed in the 2nd tier for 1946/47, as were fellow apparent Div. One survivors Albion Rovers and Arbroath.
Queen's Park, relegated to Division Two for the aborted 1939/40 season, were placed back in Division One for 1946/47.

Our remarkable swerving of Ayr United in cup ties continued, so we didn't encounter them again until they were promoted for the 1956/57 campaign.
We won 7 of the 8 League matches against them in their 4 Division One seasons in the 50s and 60s. The ER games were won 3-1, 5-1, 3-1 & 4-1.
This levelled-up the head-to-head statistics to 18 wins apiece.
We still didn't come out of a hat against Ayr United in either cup.


AYR'S LAST TOP FLIGHT SPELL

Having given the promising 35-year-old rookie manager Ally MacLeod time to recover from relegation in his first season, Ayr United commenced a nine-year top flight spell in 1969/70.
They've not been in the Premier since then.

We beat them 12 times on the bounce at ER between 13th December 1969 and 20th April 1977. The aggregate goal tally was 33-8.
The highlight of the 12-match winning streak was an 8-1 pasting of the Honest Men in December 1972. This was the week after we'd won the League Cup.
I mind the trophy being paraded around ER before the game. I was a very cynical 12-year-old, as I also mind thinking this was a bad idea, would be an unnecessary distraction, break the players' pre-match routine and put them off. Some judge I was.
The programme, priced at 10p, has a black & white cover picture of Sir Patrick, crouching in melting snow at ER, holding the League Cup and the Drybrough Cup. Maybe a larger souvenir edition. I'm fairly sure programmes were a shilling at decimalisation in 1971, immediately switching to 5p in new money. Surely they'd not have gone up to 10p in less than 2 years.

Saturday 16th December 1972.
Division One.
Hibernian 8 (Cropley 1', Gordon 17', 32', 36, O'Rourke 41', 46', 82', Stanton 56')
Ayr United 1 (McAnespie 71')
Hibs - Herriot, Brownlie, Schaedler, Stanton, Black, Blackley, Edwards, O'Rourke, Gordon, Cropley, Duncan.
Att: 12,510.

I can't find a report or an Ayr line-up in the papers. Andy Irvine's Scotland debut at Murrayfield, in a respectable loss to the All Blacks, dominates the sports pages. However, Monday's Daily Ranger took the opportunity to put some spin on a Tom Hart rant:

 

[Glenmore Road]

STAY AWAY FANS GET A LASHING
- by Alister Nicol.
Hibs' managing director Tom Hart has launched a bitter tirade against poor support for the League Cup holders.
After watching Eddie Turnbull's team brilliantly take Ayr United apart in Saturday's 8-1 victory, Hart told me:
"Today the fans had the chance to see the League Cup at Easter Road, yet only 12,510 were here. TO ME THAT IS A DISGRACE. I said before the match that if we got anything less than 20,000 it would prove that Edinburgh fans do not deserve a good side. Certainly Hibs' supporters don't seem interested."
Hart is a Hibs fanatic and he has devoted a tremendous amount of time, energy and cash into re-forming the club.
When he moved on to the board, it was with one aim - to give Hibs the same sort of success they enjoyed 20 years ago.
With the help of manager Eddie Turnbull and his brilliant players, he has achieved this.
But the Edinburgh public are very slow to show their appreciation. Little wonder, Tom Hart was disgusted on Saturday night.
There is, however, one factor which could explain the absence of some of the fans - Scotland's rugby international against New Zealand's All Blacks at nearby Murrayfield. The rugby match was also televised "live."
CREATIVE
The stay-away fans missed a great football performance, for Hibs' display against Ayr was every bit as good as the Famous Five team at their best.
Perhaps it was even better because the marvellous thing about Turnbull's current squad is that every one of the players is trying, all the time, to do something creative, intelligent and entertaining.
The small crowd who did turn up on Saturday gave Hibs tremendous support. The tragedy is that there were 10,000 voices too few to acclaim the hat-tricks by Alan Gordon and Jimmy O'Rourke and the other goals by Alex Cropley and Pat Stanton.
Nevertheless, Hibs' runaway victory, which could have been greater, has put the side in a perfect frame of mind for Saturday's table top battle against Celtic at Parkhead.
Eddie Turnbull, unable to hide his joy, reported no injuries and warned: "There are a few goals left in the team yet."
Tom Hart has the final word: "If Rangers or Celtic were turning on that kind of football, they would attract 40,000 every week."

The 8-1 win took our League record to 11 wins, 1 draw and 3 defeats. Unfortunately, we were still 4 points behind Celtic (13-1-1), but we were 2 points ahead of the Huns (9 wins, 3 draws, 4 losses), who'd played a game more. We remained 4 points adrift after a 1-1 draw at Darkheid the following Saturday. Alan Gordon gave us the lead shortly before the interval, but Kenny Dalglish equalised 12 minutes from time. At Jock Stein's insistence, Celtic wore all yellow for that game, as he thought there was a colour clash. Did we start wearing green shorts against them after that? The newspapers that weekend were dominated by an Old Trafford meltdown. A 5-0 loss at Crystal Palace left Manchester United bottom of the table, they sacked Frank O'Farrell and issued a statement saying the a.w.o.l. George Best would not play for them again. (He did.)
Celtic went on to win their 8th straight title, by a single point from the Huns, who won 16 matches on the spin from here - their only dropped point in the rest of the season being at Pittodrie. The Huns won the Scottish Cup, beating us in an ER replay in the last 16. We ended-up 3rd, 11 points behind the Huns, after not winning any of our last 7 League games. As Shrink pointed-out on here after Alex Edwards passed away, Edwards missed these games after copping an 8-week ban for accumulating a grand total of 4 bookings.
Ayr United finished a highly creditable 6th, just 5 points behind us. They lost to the Huns in the Scottish Cup semis at Hampden.
The return fixture on the penultimate Saturday of the season, was a 1-1 draw. Jimmy O'Rourke for us, George McLean equaliser for them. The draw mathematically ended their hopes of a UEFA Cup place. That's as close as they've ever been to qualifying for Europe.

 

[Glenmore Road]

The run of 12 straight ER wins in the fixture was halted in the opening meeting of the 1977/78 campaign. We'd had a patchy start. A win at Ibrox was sandwiched between two legs of a League Cup elimination by Queen of the South, who finished 12th in Div. One. We'd registered 3 wins and 3 defeats in the League.
Ayr United came into the game on a five-match losing run, by an aggregate of 12-0, since beating Celtic on the 2nd Saturday of the League season.
I found a report by Ian Wood. I'd forgotten how aggravating his prose could be, but I suppose he was entertaining at times.

Monday 10th October 1977.
The Scotsman.
Gifts Exchanged At Easter Road.
- by Ian Wood.
I never thought I'd live to see the day when a Hibs supporter would shout "Come on, the Maroons!" but it happened at Easter Road on Saturday as Hibs cavorted about the place in their plum purple telly togs. Neither did I expect to see an Ayr United side - particularly one like this - doing Hibs' scoring for them.
Not, mind you, that they didn't make a rare job of it. Bobby Tait it was who did the damage in the sixty-fifth minute, when he found himself running with a sort of preordained precision onto a John Brownlie pass which had started out in life with high hopes of reaching Tony Higgins. The Ayr defender attempted to pass back and looked on thunderstruck as his lob, struck with that combination of pace and trajectory for which forwards spend much of their careers searching (mostly in vain), passed over the helpless, clawing figure of Hugh Sproat, the Ayr goalkeeper, and into the net.
Anyone who didn't know better might have been excused for thinking that Tait had scored out of sheer boredom, for throughout the first half Ayr had shown all the aggression of a boiled fish. They had ventured over the halfway line on about three occasions - the first sortie coming as such a shock that the time was duly noted - 12 minutes.
Against this background, Ayr's second half performance bordered on the frantic, and their act of charity came at a time when they were showing real signs of life for the first time. It followed quite naturally, therefore, when that reliable little professional, Gordon Cramond, slammed home the equaliser after Masterton had allowed a McCall pass to run through to the winger as he ran in on McDonald's left-hand post.
Then it was time for the ceiling to fall in on Ally Brazil. The slim Hibs youngster had been filling the vacuum created by the departure of John Blackley to Newcastle, and doing it well, when, with five minutes to go, he was dispossessed about midway inside his own half by Gerry Christie, who atoned for an otherwise unproductive afternoon's stint by doing all the right things. He raced in on the unprotected McDonald and beat him with a powerfully struck shot.
Ayr United probably exceeded their own expectations. Walker McColl continues to look a mighty useful player and he used his meagre supply of ball with the thrift and wisdom of one well used to such frugality. Masterton and Cramond were his main supports, and McCulloch linked up well in front of a sound defence. This was Ayr's second championship win in eight games and Hibs must still be wondering how they managed it, for the Easter Road side provided the bulk of the pressure and most of what constructive football was going. They ended up with nothing to show for it and with the cruel abuse of their own supporters ringing in their ears.
They didn't quite deserve that. The result may have been a bit of a disaster for them, but their overall performance had not been without its good points. McNamara, for example, played well in that first half, when Ayr found it impossible to mount an attack worth the name. Smith and Higgins used the ball cleverly then, Duncan was running at the defence and at times getting behind them, and Schaedler and Brownlie were stoking things up from the back.
They were simply plagued, yet again, by their old inability to make the breakthrough and the ailment is not being helped by the lack of someone capable of holding the ball in midfield and buying the attack some breathing space before the ball is passed and passed with accuracy. Alex Edwards used to do this sort of thing extremely well in his day.

A youngish Hugh Sproat in goals. Before he grew that belter of a moustache. He wore two razor blade ear-rings in the punk era - one Hun blue & one Celtic green. Not on the pitch, obviously.

We finished 4th. After our 4th loss to Partick that term had ended our Scottish Cup hopes, we went on a short spring spurt to secure a UEFA Cup place.
Ayr United finished 9th, accompanied Clydebank down, and have not returned to the top flight since.
Our record against them was much more as it ought to be in their nine-year spell at the top table. 19 wins, 3 draws, 6 defeats overall. 13 wins and one loss at ER; 6 wins, 3 draws, 5 losses at Somerset Park.

 

[Glenmore Road]

SECOND TIER & CUPS SINCE THE 70s

We retained our 100% Scottish Cup record against Ayr United in February 1980 - 50 years and 17 days after the only previous meeting in the competition.
The match should have been of interest as the game when the Club finally waved "cheerio" to Bum-chin George.
Bum-kun Cha, then in his 1st season at Eintracht Frankfurt, would've been a great replacement.
Of course, us being Hibs 'n' aw, we let him off and took him back... Just as Manchester United had done 7 years earlier.
Here's the Scotsman report by the Harry Lauder tribute act... Or was it Hector Nicol he admired so much?

February 18th 1980.
The Scotsman.
Hibs Make Heavy Weather Of It.
- by Ian Wood.
Hibs hirpled into the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup yesterday, when they laboriously overcame a spry and useful Ayr side who confirmed their First Division form and went very close to landing themselves a daytrip to Berwick on March 8th.
As against Morton last week, the spirit of George Best, if not the actual man, was heavily present, and with close on 15,000 people having turned up to witness the spectacle, it once again fell on Willie Murray to don the No. 11 jersey and lay himself open to invidious comparisons. Not the most rewarding of roles.
The question was: could Hibs raise themselves again and produce the blistering form that rocked Morton for 25 minutes of last week's match? The answer, unfortunately for the home support, was, emphatically, no. This time their purple passage was limited to about five minutes, during which Duncan Lambie suddenly started beating men all over the place and wound up by sending a low, searing drive past Stewart Rennie after Ally MacLeod had had a shot blocked by a packed defence.
That was in the 12th minute and at that point, Hibs looked as if they were ready to indulge themselves, and they almost did. Murray immediately headed inches over from a Lambie cross and then Colin Campbell, attempting to round off a neat one-two with Jackie McNamara, ran into a lot of cover and spooned the ball in the general direction of Leith Docks.
Ayr then began to make some impact on the game. Their defence had settled and the bustling Jim McSherry was winning the ball a lot and setting the front runners going. Davie Armour was roving and prompting well, and the former Ranger almost brought about the equaliser when he sent over a free kick from the right which Jim McArthur never looked like clutching, and it was ultimately left to McNamara to clear off the line as the Ayr attack buzzed in menacingly.
As the interval drew near, Hibs lost any initiative they had gained from their early fire, and to underline the precariousness of their position, Robert Connor, sent running left by McSherry, smashed a terrific shot against the underside of McArthur's crossbar. The ball whipped down and, eventually out, and before Hibs had drawn breath, Frye had a shot deflected from close range. The half ended with Frye shooting into the side netting after McSherry had found him on the left of the Hibs area.
However, Hibs steadied considerably in the second half, and while they had their nasty moments, particularly when Frye, running on to a dream of a ball from Ian McAllister, outstripped the defence and stroked it past McArthur and past the goalkeeper's far post by a margin which might have been tolerated on Pot Black.
In the 66th minute, MacLeod made it safe for Hibs. Callachan ran on the right, crossed, and the ball flickered among defenders and attackers until it fell at the feet of the Hibs No. 8. He wheeled, hit a feeble sort of shot, and the ball, having briefly visited the clawing clutches of Rennie, trundled on and slowly crept inside the post to the goalkeeper's left. It wasn't Hall of Fame material but it was enough.

There is an accompanying piece by the very same Ian Wood.

Best Now "Open To Offers"
Like many another before him, Hibs chairman Tom Hart reluctantly conceded that George Best and any semblance of good order don't mix.
Speaking after the Hibs - Ayr Scottish Cup tie at Easter Road, Hart confirmed that the "marriage" between Best and the club was over, that the final rift had occurred when the strange little Irish genius failed to come to the line for yesterday's match.
"Eddie Turnbull and I have agreed to make the player available for transfer anywhere - the UK or America, anywhere," said Hart, whose own imaginative move it was to bring Best out of the limbo into which he had fallen and to prove himself to the critics and doubters in England, and add the flair and inspiration which Hart hoped might help Hibs turn the corner in their fight against relegation.
The Hibs chairman backed the Best move with his own money and the deal he struck was described by the player himself as " fantastic." But money, it appears, is scarcely relevant where George Best's troubles are concerned, and only a week after contritely apologising to Hart for failing to turn up for last week's match, it has happened again and it's all over.
Once again the wounds have been self-inflicted, and the finial irony of this tale of wasting talent was the presence at Easter Road of Northern Ireland manager Billy Bingham, who had Best noted for recall to national service. He couldn't have been given a clearer message.
There can be few havens open to Best now, and America may be his last option. Fort Lauderdale Strikers, with whom he had a stormy stay last season, have had a change of managership and the new men are reported to be interested. If there is a next chance for Best, it may well be the last one.

Best's absence was the due to his infamous all-night bender at the Balmoral Hotel. Tom Hart had generously arranged to have him stay there. Naturellement, l'equipe de France Rugby stayed at the same establishment. Having been soundly beaten at Murrayfield, courtesy of two Andy Irvine tries - their 3rd defeat in 3 games - Les Froggies shouldn't really have been on the lash after the match. However, Jean-Pierre Rives, who was almost as keen on a pint as he was on taking opponents' boots to the head, was particularly enthusiastic about having a bevvy with Mr. Best. There was allegedly a break for breakfast in the bender, which ended with the participants staggering to their rooms at around 11 a.m.
I've no idea why we were playing Ayr on a Sunday.

Having dragged the mighty Berwick Rangers back across the border to ER and despatched them 1-0 in a QF replay, we were spanked 5-0 by Celtic in the semi-final. We were relegated: 8 points behind Dundee; 15 points behind Killie and safety.
Ayr finished 3rd in Div. One - 7 points shy of the promotion places.

 

[Glenmore Road]

We took maximum points from the 3 League games against Ayr United in the following season's Div. One title win, but they beat us 4-2 on aggregate in the League Cup QF.
The 2-2 draw in the first leg at Somerset Park was George Best's penultimate appearance for us. His last was against Falkirk, 3 days later. News of his final appearance still put 3,000 on our gate v. the Bairns.

HIBS HOLD AYR.
Hibs must now be favourites to march into the semi-finals of the League Cup after fighting back to earn a draw at Somerset Park last night.
Hibs, with George Best having a quiet match, scored twice in a five-minute burst early in the second half.
A disappointing opening spell came to life in 37 minutes when Ayr went ahead. A Christie free kick from the edge of the penalty box hit the foot of the post, but rebounded to FRYE, who swept home a low shot.
Ayr could have increased their lead four minutes after half-time, but McArthur produced a brilliant save from a Shanks drive from 30 yards.
Hibs raced straight upfield to equalise in 51 minutes. A MacLeod cross eluded the Ayr defence for WILSON to turn home a simple goal.
The goal acted as a spur for the visitors, who dramatically went ahead five minutes later.
It stemmed from the first major contribution of the night from Best. His perfectly flighted corner was tailor-measured for MACLEOD and his header gave Rennie no chance.
But just as Hibs looked like getting on top, Ayr roared back with the equaliser in 59 minutes. FRYE was again the scorer, turning home a close range shot after a Christie corner had been headed on.
That set the scene for a nail-biting last half hour, when both teams missed chances to settle the tie.
Ayr - Rennie, Shanks, Nicol, McColl, Hendry, Fleeting, Frye, Love, Morris, Connor, Christie.
Hibs - McArthur, Brown, Duncan, McNamara, Paterson, Callachan, Wilson, Rae, MacLeod, Connolly, Best.
Referee - R. B. M. Valentine (Dundee)
Attendance 4717.

We lost to two extra-time goals after a 90-minute 0-0 at ER in the 2nd leg. 18-year-old Steve Nicol was 12 months away from his £300,000 move to Liverpool. Only Gary Teale's transfer to Wigan 20 years later has exceeded that fee in the Ayr coffers.


The clubs met only twice between our escape from Div. One in 1981 and our return to the "Armpit Division", courtesy of Duff Jimmy, in 1998.
A 90th-minute Eddie May goal preserved our 100% Scottish Cup record in February 1986 in a 1-0 win at ER.
We won 2-0 at Somerset Park in the QF on our way to the League Cup in 1991. Keith Wright and Pat McGinlay with the goals.

We managed 3 wins and a draw against Ayr United in our title-winning season. The draw at Somerset Park was Russell Latapy's debut. He's only mentioned once in the Scotland on Sunday report.

Scotland On Sunday, 25th October 1998.
Defiant Hibs Refuse To Lie Down And Die
- by Sam Phillips.
This Hibs side may be deficient in some departments - namely defence, midfield and attack - but they can never be accused of supplication. With seven minutes to go they were 3-1 down and the home support were already celebrating going top of the league.
Yet the wounds inflicted on Hibs, though hurtful, were not fatal. Call it fortitude, call it cussedness, call it rank bad defending by Ayr United, but this was the seventh time in 12 league matches that the Edinburgh side have persevered to snatch a result at the death. Manager Alex McLeish spoke afterwards of the need to strengthen his squad and admitted that signing new defenders is a priority. He said: "There's no competition here. Players turn out week after week knowing they don't need to fear for their places."
This latest revival means they're still league leaders - at least until Airdrie play their game in hand - but it could be that their players thought that by reaching pole position this early that winning the championship was inevitable: this 90 minutes should have disabused them of that notion.
The Trinidadian debutant, Russell Latapy, had an uncertain start, showing some nice touches but appearing baffled at times by the more physical aspects of the game.
He was hardly alone in that respect during in a first half totally dominated by Ayr, whose confidence was boosted by an early goal. Andy Walker dispossessed Derek Anderson, unselfishly released Glynn Hurst and the English striker stroked the ball low past Ollie Gottskalksson from 15 yards.
Walker again beat Anderson to set up Ayr's second, this time winning an aerial battle to send Hurst clear. When Gottskalksson bundled him over, escaping a red card because John Hughes was the last man, Walker calmly converted the penalty.
It could have been worse. Steve Welsh was inches away from making it 3-0 with a dipping half volley after Gottskalksson had fumbled a Gordon Burns cross before the big keeper gave a better account of himself with a superb reflex save to turn over a flashing header from Walker.
Hibs grabbed a lifeline in the 40th minute when Justin Skinner whipped in a free kick and when Kelly unwisely headed the ball back across the face of the goal Hughes prodded it home at the near post.
United were convinced they should have been awarded a penalty immediately afterwards when Gary Teale was brought down by Anderson. The offence seemed to take place just inside the 18-yard line but the referee awarded a free kick just outside, to the disgust of the home support.
It came as no surprise when the wretched Anderson was replaced at half-time by Shaun Dennis. The opening 15 minutes of the second half were a green and white blur as Hibs pinned the home side back. The warning signs were there in the 64th minute when a Teale cross found Burns unmarked six yards out but the midfielder, with just one goal to his credit this season, sliced his shot wide.
Six minutes later Ayr restored their two-goal cushion, again catching Hibs on the break. Teale's cross from the left took out the keeper Gottskalksson and Hurst climbed above Michael Renwick to head home.
Mixu Paatelainen pulled one back in the 83rd minute with a firm header from a Renwick cross and that Route One tactic paid off again two minutes later when Hughes, who had had a poor afternoon in his own penalty area, arrived from nowhere to bundle substitute Stevie Crawford's cross over the line for an unlikely, but ultimately merited, equaliser.

 

[Glenmore Road]

Our next clash was the League Cup semi-final that basically did for Le God's tenure in the dugout.
Not that I've looked too hard, but the only footage I've found of the disaster is here:

Ayr United vs Hibernian 6th February 2002 CIS Cup Semi

Ayr United vs Hibernian 6th February 2002 CIS Cup Semi at Hampden

www.youtube.com

What looks to have been a routine League Cup win at Somerset Park in 2005, courtesy of a Deeks double, was followed by the loss of our 100% Scottish Cup record v. Ayr United. Mark Roberts scoring the only goal at Somerset Park as we exited at the first hurdle in January 2011, in the middle of a 12-match winless run under Colin Calderwood, who'd only replaced Yogi in October. We avenged that in the QF at Somerset Park the following year - loanee Roy O'Donovan, with one of his two Hibs goals, and Sparky giving us a 2-0 win.

Stubbsy's Hibs didn't face Ayr United, as they were in the 3rd tier in his two Championship campaigns.
The clubs next met in Neil Lennon's title-winning season. We lost just one of the five encounters that term. Astoundingly, this was not a case of us going unbeaten in the League and shagging it in the Scottish Cup QF. We lost 2-1 at home in September, but won 3-0 and 4-0 at Somerset Park, as well extending our defence of the Scottish Cup with a 3-1 win in the last eight.
Here's the YouTube highlights video from that QF win in 2017:
SJM curler with his wrong foot; Squirrel chooses the wrong studs and gets a penalty kick for a soft challenge outside the box; Scott McKenna (a Hun) wins "Kop Idol" and a fitting first prize of a red card for a convincing impersonation of Graeme Souness.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Glenmore Road]

The last meeting was in the following season's League Cup.
We'd snuck up on the line to win our group when Ross County lost on pens to Arbroath in the last round of games while we were winning at Alloa. The Staggies had earlier beaten us on pens in Dingwall. Championship flag unfurled at ER, we'd opened the League campaign on our return to the Premiership with a 3-1 win over Partick.
Ayr, relegated to the 3rd tier 10 weeks previously, had opened the Scottish season with a televised Friday night derby win over Killie and topped their group as #1 seeds after smashing 14 goals past Dumbarton, Clyde & Annan. They then opened the League programme with a 5-1 win at Albion Rovers... and Shankland didn't sign for another 3 weeks.
Daz on the cover of the programme, priced at £3, looking like he's auditioning for a part in Braveheart #2.
This was Stokesy's first start - and first goals - since returning.
"Dave Meticulous" - as Accies' announcer memorably called him later in the season - scored his only Hibs goal.

Tuesday 8th August 2017.
League Cup, 2nd round.
Hibernian 5 (Stokes 20, 59, Murray 31, Ambrose 69, Matulevicius 85)
Ayr United 0
Hibs - Marciano, Gray, Stevenson, McGregor, Porteous, Ambrose, McGinn, McGeouch, Swanson, Murray, Stokes.
Subs - Boyle & Slivka (for Murray & Swanson 64'), Matulevicius (for McGeouch 76')
Ayr - Hart, Higgins, Reid, Boyle, Rose, Geggan, McDaid, Docherty, McGuffie, Moffat, Moore.
Subs - Ferguson & Forrest (for McDaid & Moore h-t), Murphy (for McGuffie 64').
Att: 8,135.

YouTube highlights:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Our good start to the season continued with a 3-2 in the League at Ibrox the following Saturday, with Brother Beaton sending off Ross Jack for throttling Dylan McGeouch. In the League Cup we beat Livi at ER in the QF but lost 4-2 to Celtic in the semis. We finished 4th after the 5-5 draw with the Huns on the last day.
Having apparently seen off Raith in a two-horse race for the Division one title, Ayr were collared in the shadow of the winning post after losing games #34 & #35 to Stranraer & Alloa. They got back up on the line when they beat Albion on the final day to win the title by one point as Raith were held by Alloa at Stark's Park. Shankland scored 29 goals in 33 matches. Craig Moore scored 27 in 41. To compound Raith's misery, Alloa beat them in the play-off semis, having finished 15 points adrift in the table.

For what it's worth, I think we'll win this fairly handily. A standard "no dramas" 2-0 victory.
Bloody well better do. Against my better judgement, I'm on an overnight Victoria-Buchanan bus this evening to see this! £38 return. Back on Saturday. Plus £56 for a Glesga hotel tomorrow night. That's almost as good value as we are at 8-13 for the tie.

 

[Emerald Harp]

Absolutely astounding posts and information
First Class !

Ian Wood was a great Hibernian.
Had the pleasure of talking Hibs with him in my time working in The Scotsman.
Also Stewart Brown of the "News" ,Hibs would send scouts to watch potential signings on both Ian and Stewart's nod .
Real quality sports writers both ,as was Hearts supporter ,John Ayres.
The Pink News on a Saturday evening was a must back then !

 

[Emerald Harp]

On the December 1972 8-1 game, which i was at.
What a momentous end to our year !
That 8-1 hiding came in between our league Cup victory v Celtic and the demolition of them in the Zorro Game.
(it was Jimmy O'Rourke who penned that name,as he had watched an episode of 7orro on the telly that morning. )
Ally McLeod, Ayr's manager /former Hibs player and soon to become Scotland manager said of that game,in all his time in football he had not witnessed such a performance as he did that day.
Ayr were no whipping boys under Ally.

Tom Hart was correct in his criticism of Edinburgh(Hibs) fans.
Thee Tornadoes were absolutely astonishing to watch in full flow.
The Sporting Lisbon game being a stand out.A result that reverberated round Europe .
Yet some home crowds were less than half that we get now.

Harry Swan was a divisive figure, but he was Chairman during and after the Famous Five era.
Jimmy O'Rourke said Tom Hart was the best chairman in his time at Hibs.
Tom loved the Hibees !

 

[Greenmachine]

RE the 8-1 game in 1972 at Easter Road the week after we had won the League Cup....then Ayr manager Ally Macleod stated after the that Hibs were as good as Real Madrid.
I have a blurred memory of my dad taking me and my brother to this game, and remember them parading the League Cup before the game when a reserve player walked round the trackside holding the cup aloft. We also scored a goal in eleven seconds....courtesy of Mr Cropley.

I have a painful memory as a 12 year old laddie in the 1977/78 season of my first ever visit to Somerset Park. I was a juvenile member of the Hibs club, travelled down on the Carlton bus ( I was a Carlton Branch member for about 20 years) and this was the first away game I ever saw Hibs win. We won 1-0 courtesy of an Arthur Duncan goal just before half-time. We were at one end singing away, then we moved ends as we did back then, and an Ayr United fan lamped me in the face as he was passing me. Ended up on the deck ! Anyway, I wasn't bothered because we won.

The League Cup semi-final defeat in 2002 at Hampden was also painful, but in a different way. A horrible night at Hampden and an all too typical Hampden performance from Hibs against a smaller club. Dreadful game, and they had Yogi and Pat McGinlay playing for them just to rub salt into the wound. That game finished off Franck Sauzee's tenure as Hibs manager. He should never have been appointed.