| Sport | Football (soccer) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003 |
| Ceased | 2004 |
| No. of teams | 2 |
| Country |  Scotland |
| Last champion(s) | Heart of Midlothian (2nd title) |
| Most titles | Heart of Midlothian (2 titles) |
The Festival Cup was a Scottish football tournament played in 2003 and 2004. Designed to tie in with the Edinburgh Festival, on both occasions when competed for it consisted of a single match between Edinburgh's two professional clubs, Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian.
The idea for a football tournament during the Edinburgh Festival was first mooted in early 2003, with the intention being to organise a three team tournament during the duration of the Edinburgh Festival. [1] Initial proposals suggested a club from one of the cities with which Edinburgh has twinning agreements would be invited to compete with Hearts and Hibernian in a triangular tournament. As Edinburgh's twin cities include Munich, Florence and Kyiv, the local media speculated that a globally recognised team such as FC Bayern Munich, ACF Fiorentina or Dynamo Kyiv may play in Scotland's capital. [1]
Eventually, though, organisers proved unable to attract a suitable foreign team and a single game format, comprising Hearts and Hibs, was agreed upon, with the clubs hosting the game in alternate years. The first event was scheduled for the Saturday before the start of the 2003–04 season.
| Hibernian | 0 – 1 | Heart of Midlothian |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Webster  17' |
Despite initial enthusiasm for the competition, logistical problems soon led to doubts over its future. The failure to attract any non-Scottish opposition reduced it merely to the status of an extra Edinburgh derby. The prominence of the first game was not helped by the Scottish Premier League scheduling a league derby would occur just two weeks after the Festival Cup, with both matches played at Easter Road. [2]
The following year, pre-arranged friendlies and fixture congestion meant that the clubs found it difficult to find a suitable date within the Festival period. [3] The international fixture weekend in early September was agreed upon, but this meant that both sides were missing players who were representing national teams, effectively reducing the game to little more than a reserve team fixture. [3] Amongst the sides who played, Craig Sives and Calum Elliot had both yet to feature in the Hearts first team, while Hibs included untried personnel in the form of John Kane and Jay Shields.
Further fixture congestion resulted in the clubs failing to reach agreement upon a suitable date in 2005, and there has been no attempt since then to revive the competition.
Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of 20,421, which makes it the fifth-largest football stadium in Scotland. Easter Road is also known by Hibs fans as "The Holy Ground" or "The Leith San Siro". The venue has also been used to stage international matches, Scottish League Cup semi-finals and was briefly the home ground of the Edinburgh professional rugby union team.
Hibernian Football Club, commonly known as Hibs, is a professional football club based in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The club plays in the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). The club was founded in 1875 by members of Edinburgh's Irish community, and named after the Roman word for Ireland. Nowadays, while the Irish heritage of Hibernian is still reflected in the name, colours and badge, support for the club is now based more on geography than ethnicity or religion. Their local rivals are Heart of Midlothian, with whom they contest the Edinburgh derby.
Peter Barr Cormack is a Scottish former international football player and manager. His greatest success was with Liverpool in the early 1970s, for whom he played 178 times, winning two league championships, one FA Cup and two UEFA Cup medals.
Gordon Smith was a Scottish footballer. He is the only player to have won a Scottish league championship with three clubs: Hibernian, Heart of Midlothian, and Dundee. Smith also represented Scotland and the Scottish League XI.
The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any football match played between Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian (Hibs), the two oldest professional clubs based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The two clubs have a fierce rivalry that dates back to the clubs being founded in the mid-1870s, which makes it one of the longest running rivalries in world football. The first match between the clubs was played on the Meadows on Christmas Day 1875.
James McGhee was a Scottish footballer who played for Hibernian and Celtic, and later became a manager with Hibernian's city rivals Heart of Midlothian.
The East of Scotland Shield is a Scottish football trophy awarded by the East of Scotland Football Association. The only older cup competition in Scottish football is the Scottish Cup. The tournament is the third-oldest in world football still competed for annually, after the FA Cup and the Scottish Cup. The next oldest tournament in world football is the Sheffield and Hallamshire Senior Cup; the next oldest tournament in Scottish football is the Renfrewshire Cup.
Season 2008–09 for Hibernian was their tenth consecutive season of play in the Scottish Premier League. The SPL season began on 9 August 2008 with a 1–0 defeat at Kilmarnock. The team were eliminated from each cup competition at the first hurdle, due to defeats by IF Elfsborg in the last Intertoto Cup, Greenock Morton in the Scottish League Cup and Edinburgh derby rivals Hearts in the Scottish Cup. The team was inconsistent in the league, and only squeezed into the top six by a single point ahead of Motherwell. This led to the resignation of manager Mixu Paatelainen at the end of the season. One bright spot for the club was the performance of the under–19 team, which won the Scottish league & cup double.
Arthur Duncan is a Scottish former footballer, who was capped six times by Scotland and currently holds the record for the most number of league appearances for Hibernian.
Hibernian, one of the most prominent clubs in Scottish football, was founded in 1875. The club was named in honour of the Roman name for Ireland and the Ancient Order of Hibernians. The club has competed in the top division of Scottish football in all but four seasons since they first gained entry to the top division in 1895. Hibernian have been Scottish champions four times, most recently in 1952. The club has also been champions of the second tier six times, most recently in 2017. Hibernian have won the Scottish Cup three times, the last time in 2016. This win ended a drought of 114 years and ten cup finals lost since 1902. The club has won the League Cup three times, most recently when they defeated Kilmarnock 5–1 in 2007.
Hibernian Park was the home ground of the Scottish football club Hibernian from 1880 until the club's dissolution in 1891. When the club was reformed in 1892, the club took out on a lease on a site which became known as Easter Road. Hibernian Park was also located in the Easter Road area; in fact, it was closer to Easter Road itself than the present stadium because it was on the site of what is now Bothwell Street.
Season 2005–06 was a season of missed opportunities for Hibernian. The team started strongly in the league, winning 10 of their first 14 games, but this form dipped after Christmas. The Scottish Cup seemed to be opening up for Hibs after they defeated Rangers 3–0 at Ibrox in the fourth round, but they then lost 4–0 in an Edinburgh derby semi–final against Hearts. Hibs lost 3–0 in the quarter–final of the Scottish League Cup at Dunfermline, and were well beaten by Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the UEFA Cup.
Season 2004–05 was a relative success for Hibernian, as the team performed well in the league, finishing third and qualifying for the UEFA Cup in Tony Mowbray's first season as manager. Hibs lost to league strugglers Dundee United in both cup competitions; 2–1 in a Scottish Cup semi-final, and 2–1 after extra time in the League Cup quarter-final. The season also saw the development of a number of promising young players, particularly strikers Derek Riordan and Garry O'Connor. This relative success came after the club had been disappointingly beaten by FK Vetra in the UEFA Intertoto Cup.
Season 2003–04 was a disappointment for Hibernian, as the team again finished in the bottom half of the Scottish Premier League, and was knocked out at the first stage of the Scottish Cup. The main highlight of the season was the run to the 2004 Scottish League Cup Final, which Hibs reached by defeating both halves of the Old Firm. This also ended in disappointment, however, as the Final was lost 2–0 to Livingston. A month after that defeat, manager Bobby Williamson was allowed to leave the club to manage Plymouth Argyle.
Season 2002–03 was a disappointment for Hibernian, as the team finished in the bottom half of the Scottish Premier League in Bobby Williamson's first full season in charge. The team were also knocked out of the two domestic cup competitions at an early stage. In a preview for the next season, BBC Sport commented that the biggest problem "was a fragile defence that developed a nasty habit of conceding late goals".
Season 2001–02 was a turbulent one for Hibernian, as the team had three different permanent managers during the season. Alex McLeish left the club in December to manage Rangers; Hibs surprisingly replaced him with star player Franck Sauzée, who retired as a player when he was appointed manager. Sauzee's brief tenure saw a long winless run in the SPL and domestic cup defeats by Rangers and Ayr United. The winless run in the league dragged Hibs into the fringes of a relegation battle, and Sauzee was sacked after just 69 days in charge. Kilmarnock manager Bobby Williamson was hired as Sauzee's replacement, and a brief winning run averted any danger of relegation. Earlier in the season, Hibs had been knocked out of the UEFA Cup in the first round by AEK Athens, but only after a dramatic second leg at Easter Road that went to extra time.
Season 2000–01 was Hibs' second season in the Scottish Premier League, after gaining promotion from the First Division in 1999. 2000–01 proved to be a successful season for Hibs, as they started the season extremely well and eventually finished third, qualifying for the 2001–02 UEFA Cup. The club also had a good Scottish Cup run, reaching the 2001 Scottish Cup Final, but were beaten 3–0 by treble winners Celtic at Hampden Park. The season was also memorable for Hibs fans due to a 6–2 win in an Edinburgh derby against Hearts.
The Capital City Service (CCS) is a Scottish football hooligan firm associated with Hibernian F.C. and active from 1984 when the casual hooligan subculture took off in Scotland. Their roots were in the previous incarnations of hooligan groups attached to the club and also the wider Edinburgh and surrounding area's gang culture. They are more commonly known in the media and amongst the public as the Hibs Casuals, although within the hooligan network they may also be referred to as Hibs Boys.
The 2012 Scottish Cup Final was the 127th final of the Scottish Cup. The match took place at Hampden Park on 19 May 2012 and was contested by the Edinburgh derby rivals, Hibernian (Hibs) and Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). It was Hibs' 12th Scottish Cup Final and Hearts' 14th. It was also the first time the clubs had met in a Scottish Cup Final since 1896.