Hibs have announced the players’ squad numbers for the forthcoming season. As reported last week in The Edinburgh Reporter, on loan striker Leigh Griffiths will play in the famous number nine jersey which has previously been worked by legends Lawrie Reilly, Joe Baker, Alan Gordon and Keith Wright.
New signing Ben Williams takes over the number one jersey from Graham Stack, and the former Manchester United keeper knows he has some big gloves to fill. Coincidentally, when Williams was on the books at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson brought in one of his predecessors, Andy Goram as cover, and both trained together.
Whilst Williams will be compared to the likes of Goram, Alan Rough and Jim Leighton by older supporters, youngster Paul Hanlon has arguably the toughest shirt to fill after being allocated the iconic number four jersey previously worn by two Hibs giants, Pat Stanton and Franck Sauzee.
Surprisingly, Sean O’Hanlon has been given the number five, despite the fact that he does not appear to be in the manager’s immediate plans.
No-one has been given the number seven shirt which was worn by trialists Alan Maybury on Saturday nor number eighteen which was worn by Mark Kerr. Pat Fenlon is keen to sign both, and expects to find out this week whether the board can agree terms with the players.
Paul Cairney who impressed during his cameo appearance against Huddersfield takes the number eleven shirt which was previously worn with distinction by fellow Partick Thistle signing Arthur Duncan.
Calum Antell will take the number 21 top and at the moment will start the season as back up to Williams although Fenlon would prefer to see him move out on loan to gain more experience.
Teenagers Sam Stanton and Ross Caldwell have been given the numbers 26 and 29 respectfully however there is no squad number for Danny Handling.
The full list is as follows: 1 Ben Williams, 2 Tim Clancy, 3 Callum Booth, 4 Paul Hanlon, 5 Sean O’Hanlon, 6 James McPake, 8 Jorge Claros, 9 Leigh Griffiths, 10 Eoin Doyle, 11 Paul Cairney, 14 David Wotherspoon, 16 Lewis Stevenson, 17 Ivan Sproule, 19 Pa Kujabi, 20 David Stephens, 21 Calum Antell, 22 Scott Smith, 23 Danny Galbraith, 26 Sam Stanton, 29 Ross Caldwell.
Meanwhile, many Hibs fans are angry at the news that the kick off time for Sunday’s fixture against Dundee United at Tannadice has been changed from 3pm to 1pm at short notice. Supporters’ clubs have already booked buses and many have bought train tickets which will have to be changed. No reason has been given for the change, leaving supporters speculating as to whether the game will be shown on TV as talks with Sky and ESPN are on-going.
Hibernian Ladies moved into second place in the Scottish Women’s Premier League after their 8-0 away victory against Aberdeen to keeps their title dreams alive.
Goals from Kirsty Montignani (2), Caroline Weir (2), Christie Kerr (2), Kirsty McLaughlin and Hollie Thomson saw the side return to Edinburgh with three valuable points.
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
