Golden Years
George’s night out with Blondie angered Hibees
A GROUP of Hibs stars from the late 1970s and early 1980s will be re-united at Easter Road on Saturday.
The plan is to take in the Championship clash with Ayr United before retiring to a lounge to relax and reminisce over a drink. Nothing unusual there, you might think. Except that, on this occasion, the chat between Jackie McNamara Senior, Tony Higgins, Ralph Callachan, George Stewart and Willie Murray will centre not around their own achievements but a team- mate’s failure to turn out against the Somerset Park club.
Over the years, players have sat out matches for all sorts of reasons.
Fe w, though, have matched the flamboyance of George Best’s explanation for missing the visit of The Honest Men on Sunday, February 17, 1980.
He failed to make it following an all- night drinking session with pop star Debbie Harry of Blondie fame, and the French rugby captain Jean-Pierre Rives.
Best was sacked – only to be reinstated a week later.
“It was a Scottish Cup tie and, because of George being with Hibs, there was a huge air of expectancy around the tie,” said Higgins.
“He was at the end of his career, sure. But there was still the chance you might just see flashes of genius from one of the greatest players who ever lived.
“So you got extra Hibs fans, extra Ayr United supporters and quite a few neutrals all wanting to see him shine. “It didn’t work out that way. “Our game had been put back to the Sunday to avoid clashing with the Scotland v France rugby match at Murrayfield the day before.
“The French were staying at the North British Hotel, now the Balmoral, and George got in tow with Jean Pierre- Rives, the blueeyed boy of French rugby at the time, as well as – our sources told us – a very glamorous woman (Debbie Harry).
“George had failed to show when the squad got together on the Saturday. That pretty much told us he wouldn’t play. But while we knew it, none of the genearl public did.
“So when the name of my wee mate, Willie Murray, was read out instead of George, there was this great ring of boos – not only from Ayr fans but the Hibs supporters, too!
“They clearly felt if Best wasn’t going to be playing, there should have been some prior notice!
“As it was, we won quite comfortably but it was a strange, strange occasion.”
Best wasn’t, Higgins insisted, always a disappointment.
“People ask me how George was when he was with us, and without doubt he still revelled in the big occasion,” he said.
“When we played Rangers in front of a full house, and beat them, there was a real sparkle in his eye.
“He was fun to be around. I remember I liked to start each week by asking the guys how their weekends had gone.
“Jackie McNamara said he had had a great night. He had been in the Easterhouse Masonic Club, where the beer was 3p cheaper than his usual pint. “I said: ‘And what about you, George?’ “‘Me?’,” he replied. “I was at a party with Rod Stewart, Britt Ekland and Roger Moore, and, yeah, it was a pretty good night too’.
“I said: ‘Aye maybe, but I bet YOU weren’t getting 3p off the cost of your champagne!’”
Best scored three goals in 22 appearances for the Hibees, spread over two seasons, and went on to play for another three years in England, the United States and Australia.
He died on November 25, 2005.