Two former Hibs’ players have been inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame.
Colin Stein and Joe Harper were amongst six former players who were honoured at a star-studded dinner at Hampden Park last night.
Stein played 109 times for Hibs, scoring 59-goals. He made his debut against Morton in January 1966 after signing from Armadale Thistle.
He played a significant role in Hibs’ memorable 1967/8 Fairs Cup run which saw famous victories over Porto and Napoli before a narrow defeat to eventual winners Leeds United.
Stein then commanded the first six-figure player transfer between two Scottish clubs when Rangers paid £100,000 for his services in 1968.
After a sensational start to his career at Rangers he subsequently scored one of three goals for the Ibrox side in the famous 1972 victory over Dynamo Moscow in Barcelona. His equalising goal against Hibs in 1975 also won the league title for Rangers, denying Celtic 10-in-a-row and he remains a legendry figure amongst Rangers fans.
Harper joined Hibs from Everton in 1974 for a Scottish record fee of £120,000, a remarkable amount of money at the time.
He played 99 times for Hibs, scoring 59 goals but despite scoring a winner against Hearts he was never truly accepted by the Easter Road faithful after replacing fans’ favourite Jimmy O’Rourke.
He holds the unique accolade of scoring a hat-trick for Hibernian in the 1974 Scottish Cup final but still ending up on the losing side as Celtic won 6-3.
Harper is probably best remembered for his two spells at Aberdeen between 1969 and 1972, and again in 1976-1981, where he became the club’s record goal scorer. He managed to win all three domestic trophies while at the Dons.
Former Hearts’ striker John Robertson who finished his playing career as the club’s all-time leading scorer with 214 goals and former Hearts’ manager Tommy McLean, who won the European Cup Winners Cup alongside Stein with Rangers in 1972, also made it.
They were joined by Celtic’s Patsy Gallacher and Dundee United’s Paul Sturrock.
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.
