Leith legend Hanlon’s name goes down in club history
IN one glossy page of the match programme for Paul Hanlon’s testimonial the extraordinary longevity of this one-club man was laid bare yesterday.
The booklet contained a feature with a 119-strong roll call of his Hibs team-mates – from Junior Agogo to Abdellah Zoubir – over the centre-back’s 10 years in the senior side at Easter Road.
With more than 340 appearances for the Hibees, Hanlon has endured the harrowing lows of relegation, the soaring highs of Scottish Cup glory and everything in between.
The 28-year-old has played under seven different managers and, much like fellow Leith legend Lewis Stevenson, has largely won them all over.
As he soaked up the plaudits at Easter Road yesterday, it’s certain Hanlon will remain a constant in the dressing room regardless of who comes and goes.
John McGinn could become another one of those names he sees move on to pastures new in the coming days.
The friendly defeat to Tony Mowbray’s Blackburn Rovers may prove to be the midfielder’s final outing in a Hibs jersey as Celtic prepare to up their bid after an initial £1.5million offer was rejected last week.
Hoops star Leigh Griffiths was among those in attendance to pay tribute to Hanlon and he didn’t have long to wait to see what the 23-year-old would bring to Parkhead.
McGinn surged forward and unleashed a ferocious drive that forced a sensational save from keeper Jayson Leutwiler with 20 minutes on the clock.
Played to a constant backing track of “Football’s Coming Home” from the away section following England’s World Cup heroics, Rovers struggled to get a handle on the action and Oli Shaw forced another fine save from the goalie.
Former Hibs boss Mowbray, who was in charge from 2004 until 2006 when a teenage Hanlon was knocking on the door of the first team, fielded an entirely different XI in the second period.
Led by their Scottish contingent, they blew the Hibees away within three minutes of the restart.
Former Dundee United midfielder Craig Conway curled in the opener from the edge of the box and Willem Tomlinson bundled home the second after his initial effort was blocked by keeper Ross Laidlaw.
McGinn was presented with the Man of the Match award at full-time but after Hanlon took his lap of honour in front of 6,520 fans it’s his name that will go down in club history.
Bogdan (Laidlaw 45), Ambrose (Boyle 45), McGregor, Hanlon, Gray (Whittaker 70), Bartley (Allan 73), McGinn (Mallan 62), Stevenson (Mackie 73), Swanson (Slivka 62), Shaw (Murray 70), Kamberi.
HIBS –