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Hibernian are one half of Scottish capital city Edinburgh’s challenge for the Scottish Premier League. Alongside city neighbours Hearts, the ‘Hibees’ as they are affectionately known, have provided a consistent challenge to the dominance of Glasgow’s Old Firm down the years. The two clubs have also enjoyed an intense rivalry which has produced numerous exciting derby clashes. And you can see all Hibernian’s games via the Live Sports Network. Through our dedicated member’s area, access to live Scottish matches is just a click away. If you can’t get to watch live footie at Easter Road, why not catch all the action through online streaming of Hibs games right here at Free-Football.TV. Don’t miss out - join Live Sports Network and watch Hibernian live on your own pc.

2010/11

Hibernian will play their home fixtures at a redeveloped Easter Road ground, which was finished just in time for them to start their SPL home games schedule for 2010/11.

Although exiting early from this season’s UEFA Europa League, Hibs qualified thanks to a fourth place finish in last year’s SPL. They might have finished in third, and indeed were briefly threatening to overhaul a struggling Celtic for second place until the season fell away towards the end.

Manager John Hughes will be anxious to replicate Hibs’ earlier season form. And they will be hoping for another impressive goal tally from striker Anthony Stokes, whose career in Scotland and England has long promised to take off. The Dublin-born Irish international bagged 22 goals for Hibs last season.

Strike partner Derek Riordan will be hoping to provide the goalscoring support for Stokes which made Hibs such a potent early season force in 2009/10.

 A Brief History

Hibernian FC was formed in 1875 and eventually moved to Hibernian Park, their first home ground in 1880 to the North of the city and in 1891 moved to their present ground Easter Road which again is situated in the North of the city. The current capacity of the ground is 20,250 after extensive re-development work was carried out just in time for the 2010/11 season. At the time they were created, many clubs were being formed and had direct links with opposite sides of the religious spectrum. The very name of Hibernian reflects the Irish roots of the club as Hibernia is the Latin name for Ireland and the actual translation for Hibernian FC would be Irishmen Football Club.

Although the club has been devoid of much success over the years it does hold some interesting records. Hibernian took part in a matched dubbed the Association Football Championship of the World decider in 1887 and defeated Preston North end after both clubs had been successful in their respective domestic cup tournaments. This was also the year that Hibernian won the first of 2 Scottish Cup victories. They followed this achievement by winning the Scottish Cup for a second time in 1902 as they beat Celtic 1-0. However this was to prove the last time they won the Scottish Cup and has been a source of frustration for the fans and club alike ever since. This is antagonized

by the fact they have reached the semi finals a total of 17 times and the final itself a further 8 times only to fall at the final hurdle. The League Cup has given them a little more in the way of success in recent years culminating in 3 trophies the last being crowned League Cup Champions for 2006-07 season when they beat Kilmarnock 5-1. Better still they beat rivals Hearts earlier in the competition by a solitary goal.

Hibernian has made appearances in European competitions. They were the first British club to take part in the very first competition in 1955-56 season. They went on to reach the semi finals of the competition, but fell short of achieving success in Europe. Since then Hibernian have struggled to gain any foothold in European competitions. They qualified for the UEFA Cup for the 2005-06 but fell in the first round after a largely unimpressive display. Last season they qualified for the InterToto Cup but again fell very early in the competition after another poor performance.

Hibernian FC have been Domestic Champions a total of 4 times although as with most of their success’s the last time they held the honour was way in the past. In fact they have not been Champions of the top division for over 55 years, when they were crowned in 1952. They have been crowned Champions but Champions of the First division and Second division during promotion seasons. Hibernian however enjoyed recent success when Tony Mowbray replaced unpopular Manager Bobby Williamson. Almost immediately the team seemed to be a force to be reckoned with after years of unremarkable results and many people started to watch Hibernian live. The season 2004-05 finished with Hibernian in 3^rd place and a place in the UEFA Cup. It was not the Champions League but after so many years away from European competition the fans were ecstatic, especially as they had a very good run in the Scottish Cup but yet again fell short at the semi-final stage

2005-06 seemed to be the year that Hibernian put all the lows behind them as they went on a fantastic run of wins and with a third of the season gone were viewed as real contenders for the championship title. Fans of the club found enjoyment once again when they went to watch live Hibernian matches. However as predicted by manager Tony Mowbray earlier in the season a lack of depth in the squad led to a poor end to the season with only 4^th place to show for all the early promise.

Early in the 2006-07 season Mowbray and his assistant Mark Venus left the club and were replaced with John Collins and Tommy Craig. The season finished with the League cup success and a 6^th place for the Edinburgh side, but all was not well behind the scenes.

Rumours started to emerge of player unrest towards new manager John Collins and talk of players complaining to chairman Rod Petrie, unfortunately for them the League Cup success meant their concerns fell on deaf ears and they were eventually forced to apologise publicly for their actions.

Collins relinquished the manager’s role late in 2007, citing issues over funding. He was replaced by former player Mixu Paatelainen, who struggled in the role and resigned at the end of the 2008/09 season, having guided Hibs to sixth place.

Current manager John Hughes took over and despite becoming one of Ross County’s high-profile Scottish Cup scalps, Hibs league form was an improvement, especially early on, and they finished fourth, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League in the process.