As a youngster, Hibs’ skipper Liam Craig (pictured) regularly attended Berwick Rangers’ games from his home, 11 miles away in Chirnside, but tomorrow he is hoping to end the ‘English’ club’s Scottish Cup dreams at Easter Road.
Craig told the Hibernian club programme: “To captain Hibs is a great honour and to potentially do it in a Scottish Cup quarter final against a team that I grew up next to would make it even more special.
“I went to Shielfield a lot when I was a kid and nine years ago I went there with Falkirk and we beat Berwick 2-0 in the Scottish Cup and I managed to score that day.
“So I’ve got some good memories about Berwick and I’m looking forward to the game with the most important thing being that Hibs win.”
“I was a ball boy at Berwick a few times and one game stands out against Morton – it was 4-3 and I think Derek Lilley scored twice for Morton that day.
“Growing up, I always wanted to be a footballer and I would go to watch the games at Berwick.
“It’s great to see Berwick get this far in the Cup, but hopefully they don’t get any further.”
Craig got on the scoresheet from the penalty spot during a 4-0 win at Berwick Rangers in pre-season, but stresses a lot has changed for the better since that meeting in July.
He said: “A lot has happened since July and if you had asked the players and supporters back then if they would have been happy to be have been challenging for promotion and a Scottish Cup semi-final place then they would have said yes.
“We’ve got ourselves into a great position and it’s important now that as a group of players and as a club that we kick on now – take care of the Berwick tie and move on to the next challenge.”
Photo by John Preece
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.
