As part of its 150th Anniversary celebrations, Hibs will host German-side Rot-Weiss Essen on Wednesday 9 July, with a 7pm kick-off at Easter Road Stadium.
This will be the first time that Rot-Weiss Essen have returned to Easter Road since the two teams played each other in 1955 in the inaugural European Champions Cup.
Hibs were Scotland’s chosen representatives and made history by becoming the first British team to play European football.
In addition to Hibs, Milan (Italy), AGF Aarhus (Denmark), Anderlecht (Belgium), Djurgården (Sweden), Gwardia Warszawa (Poland), Partizan (Yugoslavia), PSV (Netherlands), Rapid Wien (Austria), Real Madrid (Spain), Rot-Weiss Essen (West Germany), Saarbrücken (Saar), Servette (Switzerland), Sporting CP (Portugal), Stade de Reims (France), and Vörös Lobogó (Hungary) all agreed to participate.
The Easter Road side were drawn against German champions Rot-Weiss Essen, with the first leg to be played in Germany, and Hibs’ legend Eddie Turnbull was the hero, scoring two and making another in the historic 4-0 victory.
The game was played in heavy rain which turned the pitch into a quagmire, but the conditions didn’t worry the Hibs players who piled on the pressure from the kick off, although it took until the 35th minute before the breakthrough occurred, when Turnbull, renowned for his powerful shot, hammered the ball past German international goalkeeper, ‘The Black Panthar’ Fritz Herkenrath, to the delight of over 1000 Scottish soldiers who were stationed in the country, amongst the crowd.
Turnbull added his second just before half-time with a fine solo effort, beating several defenders then slotting the ball into the net.
Eleven minutes after the break, Hibs made it three after a fine Turnbull pass found Lawrie Reilly who scored one of his best ever goals, running through the Essen defence from the half way line before calmly dispatching the ball past Herkenrath from close range.
Willie Ormond sealed the win with eight minutes remaining.
Following the game, one of the German national newspapers said: “Last night the Hibernian team from Scotland gave the greatest display by a British team since the war.”
The result takes on an even greater significance as Germany had only recently won the World Cup and Essen right winger Helmut Rahn had scored two goals in the final.
The second leg took place on October 12 and over 30,000 took their place on the Easter Road terracings to watch the game with John Buchanan scoring Hibs’ goal in a 1-1 draw, although according to the Daily Record the following day, the score-line flattered the Germans.
The match report read: “Don’t let the score give you any wrong ideas. Hibs should have wiped the floor with this German team, but the powder puff Germans had about as much punch as ginger pop.”
Buchanan’s goal was a fantastic effort which was even applauded by the opposition players.
Abromsil grabbed a late equaliser, but Hibs progressed to the next round with a 5-1 aggregate win.
Hibs subsequently progressed to the semi-final of the tournament before losing to FC Rheims of France.
