We would walk 500 miles to end up at one of Scotland’s most beautiful clubs. Hibernian plays his home games in a wonderfully old and characteristic stadium in the fairy-like Edinburgh. The club was almost ‘murdered’ by the chairman of rival Hearts, but luckily there is still ‘Sunshine on Leith’.
Hibernian reached the semi-finals of the inaugural European Cup in 1955/56 and was the first British team to ever participate in this prestigious competition. A massive achievement, but most people will know Hibernian for its role in the book and film Trainspotting, which is set in Leith, the area of Edinburgh where you can find Easter Road.
The old and characteristic Easter Road shines above the houses in Leith. The stadium is known among fans as The Holy Ground and The Leith San Siro. It is a fantastic British stadium. The green and white exterior is in beautiful contrast with the dark brown facades of the surrounding houses. A first glance at the stadium on the corner of Albion Place and Albion Road is enough to make the hearts of the football romantics beat faster. Hibernian has been playing its home games in Easter Road since 1893. The pitch was famously sloped but it was straightened during the renovations between 1995 and 2010.
Usually, Celtic and Rangers win all league titles, but Hibernian has collected four in its history. The club won three of those titles in the 1940s and 1950s when The Famous Five were banging in goals for the club. The Famous Five
consisted of the Scottish attackers Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone, Lawrie Reilly, Eddie Turnbull and Willie Ormond. Turnbull also was Hibernian’s manager from 1971 to 1980. In his last season, Ormond was his assistant. Easter Road's North Stand is named after the five club legends.
In 1990, Hibernian had major financial difficulties due to mismanagement in the prior years. Wallace Mercer, the chairman of Hearts at the time, tried to merge Hibernian with Hearts to create Edinburgh United. In his words, it would ‘save’ both clubs, but in reality, it meant that Hibernian would be executed to make Hearts better. This ‘football genocide’ was an atrocity for Scottish football and the fans of Hibernian fought for 40 days to save their beloved club (with success).
The song ‘Sunshine on Leith’ from the Scottish rock duo The Proclaimers, whom you might know from their hit ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’, became the club’s anthem during the Hands Off Hibs campaign. Fans would blast out the emotional song from the top of an open bus with the twins Craig and Charlie Reid, the singers of The Proclaimers, who were Hibees from birth. The song is still being sung by fans during the good and bad times. Go to YouTube and search for the video where you can hear the Hibernian fans sing ‘Sunshine on Leith’ in a full Hampden Park after they just won the Scottish Cup in 2016. Goosebumps!
Arthur’s Seat not only gives a magnificent view of Edinburgh’s historical centre but also of Easter Road. If you are lucky, you might even hear the fans sing on match days from here, like the time when Hibernian won the Edinburgh derby in 2023.
Hibernian was founded in 1875 by Irish immigrants in the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Edinburgh’s Old Town. In the early days, the club was known as an Irish and Catholic Institution, but nowadays this is not really the case. Hibernian (Hibernia is the ancient name of Ireland) gets the most support from people who live in the north and east of Edinburgh. However, you are more likely to see Irish flags instead of Scottish ones on the Easter Road stands.
Hibernian played its very first games on the fields of The Meadows, a large park in Edinburgh’s city centre. It is a perfect place to spend a sunny day with the locals if the Scottish weather allows so.
A few hundred yards from Easter Road you will find Meadowbank Stadium, the home ground of third-tier side F.C. Edinburgh. After the Hillsborough Stadium disaster, Hibernian’s Easter Road did not meet the new safety requirements. Hibernian was looking to move to the athletics stadium, but luckily these plans did not go ahead and Easter Road was thoroughly renovated instead.
You will find many Hibernian pubs nearby Easter Road. The Harp and Castle (named after the club’s emblem) and the Persevere Bar are popular among fans on match days. So is the old pub Robbie’s, which has a lot of club memorabilia. The Mash Tun is another great place to drink a pint before or after the match.
You can easily buy tickets on the club’s official website. Please note that if you want to visit a ‘Category A’ match, which includes games against Celtic, Rangers and Hearts, you must have had an account on the website for a minimum of 12 months and would have had to buy tickets for a non-category A game before. So create an account today and visit a match against teams like Aberdeen or Kilmarnock before.
It only takes you half an hour to walk from Edinburgh Waverley train station to Easter Road. Too far? Then you can also take bus 1 or 35 from the train station to the Brunswick Road bus stop, which is nearby the stadium.
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