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.
That’s a challenge former Blackburn boss Kean believes they’ll meet head on – thanks in part to so many of them getting the chance to play and train with the first team over the past few months. Kean said: “We played against Livingston a couple of weeks ago and David Martindale brought most of his first team.
“All our first-team coaching staff were there and I was thinking, ‘This can’t be any better’. This is their chance to show they can play against men. The manager was kind enough to let us play our Under-19 group in those games.
"He held back his pros who needed some minutes so that our boys could play. Those two games have got us back up to speed.
"We were thinking, ‘This is what we are going to be doing against Dortmund', it was invaluable.”
Kean’s preparation has been affected by his team’s success, ironically, with so many of them training with Johnson’s squad they’ve only had two sessions together in the build-up to the match. But Kean said: “Josh and Oscar have come on for the first team in recent weeks and Ethan has been in and around the squad, as has Murray Johnson as the No.2 goalie.
“He was born in 2004 and it’s great that a lad of that age is already getting the experience of being around David Marshall and learning from a keeper of that quality. Murray is exceptional.
"He’s got the same demeanour as Craig Gordon, really calm with an old head on his young shoulders. We’ve got real high hopes for him.
“In the last home game against Aberdeen you’ve got Josh Campbell scoring a hat-trick, five academy players on the pitch, three on the bench. Our 2004s, this year’s Under-19s, are very strong.
"There are players in there who we just hope can get that little sniff and then kick on. Six outfield players and the goalie have trained with them all last week.
"It’s a massive shot in the arm to them knowing they’re close to the first team but are then fitting back into a more comfortable role. They ’re back with their mates, who they know inside out.
“They’re buzzing because they feel they can win. We know that each time we go deeper into the competition we’re facing better teams.
"Borussia are a really good team, but so are we and we have every reason to think we can win. Thankfully Jude Bellingham isn’t young enough to play for them!
“But they’ve got a brilliant model where they have their own players but cherry pick some of the best youth players and pay big money for them, stick them into the system and get them into the first team then sell them on.”
And Kean’s message to his kids before they walk out for the biggest game of their fledgling careers? He smiled: “Just that they’re ready.”
