I’ve been a bit busy this week so after the highs of four “sets” of floodlights this week we’re down to zero actual pictures BUT we do have an extensive article..well, a potted history of Hibs under the lights with loads of mistakes..

Issue 8 of this august journal appeared in April 1988 and cost just 20p! The cover has news of an altercation involving the beloved Graeme Souness, unprescedented! Hibees Glasgow Gossip was apparently from the Glasgow Hibs supporters club but had an Edinburgh address and the views expressed didn’t “necessarily coincide” with Hibs Glasgow Branch even if it was their fanzine in case you weren’t aware and were thinking of complaining. ISSUE 1 was free if you sent an sae!

The Souness-Mcnee thing actually happened though as with all these things details vary depending on who is remembering it. Apparently journalist Gerry McNee called Souness out on a flight back from a game in Bucharest. He felt Souness had mislead some of the press corps regarding an injury to player Ally McCoist. A seething Souness stormed down the airplane aisle at 38,000 feet threatening to smack McNee. Here’s a newspaper version from the time. McNee had already been hit by the Celtic boss years before so perhaps he was looking to even things out vis a vis fights and the Old Firm.

Anyway, from fisticuffs to floodlights..The article in question confirms that there had been floodlit trials at Powderhall (one of Hibs early homes) in late 1878. We covered what is widely thought to be the first floodlit game in Scotland here. https://footballfanzineculture.blog/2026/07/24/floodlightfriday-from-london-to-manchester/ so it looks like October 1878 was a bonanza month for floodlit games in Scotland. I wonder if Mr Joshua Horton from Glasgow was using his reflector chasing the players at this game as well?

It seems crazy that there was 73 year gap (not 57 as the article states) until Hibs played under lights, this time at Ochilview and also that the game was part of the transfer of Willie Ormond as it happened 5 years after Ormond moved.

Three years later the first floodlit match at Easter Road took place against Hearts. I chuckled at the lovely detail “120 lights on the four pylons were tested to their full potential of 1500 watts” A modern stadium LED set-up can have 1650 watts PER LAMP to meet HD camera requirements and a major professional stadium can have 100 plus lights producing 200-500 KW!!

The final twist comes with the revelation that there was the “innovation of putting up white goalnets to allow players a better target to shoot at!” I’d never really pondered this before!

The picture of the programme from the game is as terrible as you would expect in a fanzine but I managed to find a pic online. Still no flood lights but this copy does identify tommy Preston, Bobby Johnstone and Gordon Smith. It also confirms another thing the article got wrong, the game was played on the 18th October.

A fanzine getting things wrong multiple times in one article? Unprecedented! Still a great floodlight friday piece though.