When the first Edinburgh derby was played between Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian – a 1-0 win for Hearts on Christmas Day 1875 – Australia wouldn’t exist as a nation for 25 years. It was only months prior that one of the first confirmed games of association football took place down under when the Brisbane Football Club clashed with a combined squad of inmates and staff of the Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum under rules which stated the ball “should not be handled nor carried”.
Nearly 150 years on from those divergent origins, it could be said the ties that bind Edinburgh and Australian football have never been stronger. Eight Australians call Scotland’s capital home this season, after the Central Coast Mariners’ championship-winning coach Nick Montgomery became the latest to arrive in the city as Hibs’ new permanent boss last week.
