Hibs have announced that a minute’s applause to mark the passing of all-time great Lawrie Reilly will take place ahead of Thursday’s Europa League second qualifying round tie against Malmo.
A statement published on the club’s website said: “Everybody associated with the club was saddened by the news that Lawrie, a passionate supporter and universally popular former player had passed away on Monday morning.
“After consulting UEFA, the club is pleased to confirm that there will be a minute’s applause scheduled to take place before kick-off – an opportunity for the Easter Road crowd to praise the contribution made by our greatest ever centre forward.
In addition, the players will wear black armbands in respect to the one-club man, who graduated from the Easter Road Terraces to become Hibernian’s number nine.
A further celebration of Lawrie’s life will take place at the opening SPL fixture against Motherwell on Sunday 4 August, kick off 1.15pm.
Meanwhile tributes continue to flood in, and Scotland manager Gordon Strachan, fittingly speaking ahead Scotland’s friendly against England at Wembley, said: “I used to see Lawrie regularly when I went to Easter Road. He was a big hero of my father and it’s not great news. But he has left us with some fantastic memories.
“He scored five times against England but, even though I met him so many times, he never mentioned that. It’s a measure of how much a gentleman he was that he never mentioned that.
“Great players never tell you what they did – people already know. And he was a great player, that’s for sure.”
Former captain Pat Stanton used to sit next to Lawrie behind the directors box at Easter Road for the home games said: “Lawrie did great things for Scotland but he was above all a Hibs man who played football to the best of his ability, for the club he loved,” adding “Even the Hearts fans all greatly respected him.”
Pat’s belief was confirmed on the Hearts’ Fans’ Forum ‘Jambo Kickback’ where a thread entitled ‘Lawrie Reilly passes away’ has over 130 comments, all without exception showing respect and offering their condolences.
Many had met him at the annual Willie Bauld dinner where he was a regular attender, and some fans even called for a minute’s applause before the next Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle.
On Hibs-net, over 300 comments were posted on the thread entitled RIP Lawrie Reilly, with around 70 on a post entitled ‘Tribute to Lawrie Reilly.’ Many Hibs’ fans are calling for a statue of the Famous Five to be situated outside the stadium and the club say that they will look at this further down the line.
Over 100 comments were left on the ‘Lawrie Reilly Rest In Peace’ thread on the Hibees Bounce Forum.
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.
