Hibs’ stand in captain Marvin Bartley has revealed that a coin narrowly missed him and something was also thrown at team-mate Martin Boyle following Wednesday’s explosive Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle.

The Englishman, who was booked for a late challenge in the first half described the atmosphere at the game as the worst he has seen in his time at the club and called for fans to be more responsible.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of today’s visit of on-form St Johnstone, the popular midfielder said: “That was the worst I have seen since I started playing in these Edinburgh derbies.

“Something happened to Lewis Stevenson and something was thrown at Martin Boyle.

“I had a coin thrown at me after the game and it flew right across the front of me. You think to yourself, ‘I can put up with the abuse’, but when people act like that, there’s no place for it.

“If the coin hits me it’s going to scar me and open me up, especially at the pace it’s thrown down at me

“I don’t think people think about stuff like that. They throw a coin and big it up, ‘Look at what I have done’.

“But if they catch you in the wrong place there could be serious damage. There’s just no place for that in football.

“You can get involved in the atmosphere without throwing coins or anything else.

“I think the fans around him or her should say who it was because there’s no time or place for it.

“Everyone wants  to win and everyone is passionate, but there’s just no time for that.

“I get that it’s a derby, but people have to be more responsible in  their actions.

“What can be done about it? Maybe people should grow up a  little bit and act like adults.

“You can’t blame the stewards or the police because if someone really wants to do something like that it happens so quickly and you can’t stop them.

“Maybe they should just grow up and support their teams, rather  than do something silly like that.

“The whole thing just detracts from everything else that went  on. When you are worried about your safety on a football pitch rather than the game, something is not right.

“We all got a fright when we saw the manager on the ground. We didn’t know what had happened. He looked out and he wasn’t moving. Thankfully he was OK.

“The referee said he was going to stop the game,  but then the gaffer got up and the game went on.

“It’s not something you want to see in football or in a stadium.

“Luckily we walked away with everyone safe and the gaffer is OK and we look forward to tomorrow now.”

 

 

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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.