They were dubbed the Hibs Golden Generation as they hit the top flight in a whirlwind of bleach-blond hairdos and free-flowing football in 2003-04.
Now, 19 years on from the days of Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson, Steven Whittaker, Garry O’Connor, Tam McManus, Derek Riordan and Stephen Dobbie, a bunch of boys born in the same year, 2004, are showing signs they can follow suit. One of them really is the next generation as O’Connor’s son Josh has already burst into Lee Johnson’s first-team squad. A son shines on Leith.
Oscar McIntyre, Ethan Laidlaw and keeper Murray Johnson are also knocking on the door and tonight they and their Under-19 team-mates will try to make European youth football sit up and take notice by knocking Borussia Dortmund out of the UEFA Youth League, as they did Nantes and Molde. More than 6000 Hibs fans will be at Easter Road and with the game being shown live on BT Sport, academy chief Steve Kean’s youngsters will showcase their talents to their biggest audience.
