Former Hibs’ player Johnny Graham sadly passed away on 31 October aged 73.
Willie MacFarlane signed Johnny signed for Hibs from Falkirk for a reported £22,000 in November 1969 and he scored twice on his debut, a 3-1 victory over Airdrie at Easter Road.
He scored another double in his next home match against Dunfermline Athletic two weeks later.
His skill on the ball made him a firm favourite with the Hibs’ supporters who penned a song in his honour.That Hibs’ team is often underrated but included top class players such as Pat Stanton, Peter Cormack, Joe McBride and Peter Marinello.
Johnny featured in Hibs during the 1970/71 European campaign and scored the decisive goal in the 2-1 defeat to Vitoria Guimaraes which ensure progress to the second round and a Battle of Britain tie against Liverpool.
He missed the home game but played in the second leg at Anfield which ended in a 2-0 defeat.
Johnny’s final game was a 5-1 home victory over Clyde on 24th Aril 1971.
In total he played 58 times for the club and scored an impressive 20 goals.
His form at the club was rewarded with two selections for the Scottish Football League XI. His debut came in a 1-0 win against the League of Ireland on 18 March 1970 and this was followed by a substitute appearance against a start studded England team on 2 September that year. Johnny scored Scotland’s second goal in a narrow 302 defeat.
Former Scotland manager Ally McLeod took him to Ayr United where he became a legendry figure, scoring 62 times in 168 appearances before returning to Falkirk where he was subsequently inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame.
The Edinburgh Reporter sends its condolences to Johnny’s friends and family.
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.
