2000–01 Hibernian F.C. season

Hibernian
2000–01 season
Manager Alex McLeish
SPL 3rd
Scottish Cup Final
League Cup Quarter
Top goalscorer League: Paatelainen, 11
All: Paatelainen, 12
Highest home attendance 14939[1]
Lowest home attendance 8224[1]
Average home league attendance 10793[1] (down 1277)

Season 2000–01 was Hibs' second season in the Scottish Premier League, after gaining promotion from the First Division in 1999. 2000–01 proved to be a successful season for Hibs, as they started the season extremely well and eventually finished third, qualifying for the 2001–02 UEFA Cup.[2] The club also had a good Scottish Cup run, reaching the 2001 Scottish Cup Final, but were beaten 3–0 by treble winners Celtic at Hampden Park.[2] The season was also memorable for Hibs fans due to a 6–2 win in an Edinburgh derby against Hearts.[3]

League season

Hibs got off to an excellent start to the league season, winning 11 of their first 14 games. This led to Celtic manager Martin O'Neill describing Hibs as "worthy challengers" for the league in October, after they had beaten defending champions Rangers 1–0 at Easter Road.[4] Rangers manager Dick Advocaat dismissed Hibs' chances, but Hibs responded with a "scintillating display" as they won 6–2 in an Edinburgh derby days later, with Mixu Paatelainen scoring a hat-trick.[3] Celtic eventually ran away with the league championship, but Hibs continued to challenge for second place until a losing run in March effectively ended their chances of finishing above Rangers.[5] Their early season form, however, meant that Hibs finished well clear of the other SPL clubs in third place, qualifying for the following season's UEFA Cup competition.[2][5]

Results

Final table

P Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Celtic38314390296197UEFA Champions League 2001-02 Third qualifying round
2 Rangers38264876364082UEFA Champions League 2001-02 Second qualifying round
3 Hibernian381812857352266UEFA Cup 2001-02 First round
4 Kilmarnock38159144453-954UEFA Cup 2001-02 Qualifying round
5 Hearts381410145650652
6 Dundee38138175650647UEFA Intertoto Cup first round
7 Aberdeen381112154557-745
8 Motherwell38127194256-1443
9 Dunfermline Athletic38119183454-2042
10 St Johnstone38913164056-1640
11 Dundee United3898213863-2535
12 St Mirren3886243272-4030Relegated to First Division 2001-02

Source: SPL official website

Scottish League Cup

As one of the SPL clubs who failed to qualify for European competition, Hibs entered at the second round stage of the competition, in which they defeated Stenhousemuir 2–1. Another 2–1 win, after extra time against Falkirk, sent Hibs through to a quarter-final against Kilmarnock. In that match, Hibs took an early lead through a Russell Latapy goal, but conceded two second half goals to lose 2–1 and exit the competition.

Results

Scottish Cup

Results

Transfers

The only major transfer involving Hibs during the season was the sale of Kenny Miller, Hibs' top goalscorer in the previous season, to Rangers for £2M in total.[7] It was suggested in the media that the fee would be used to finance refurbishments of Easter Road, but the Hibs board denied this and pledged to reinvest in the playing squad.[7] A curious bit of transfer activity involved Didier Agathe, who Hibs signed as a free agent on a short term contract in the 2000 close season.[8][9] After a few good performances for Hibs, Agathe was offered the chance to double his salary by Celtic manager Martin O'Neill.[8] This prompted Hibs to sell Agathe to Celtic for the relatively small fee of £50,000, given that the player only had weeks remaining on his contract, and could have signed for Celtic for no transfer fee when it expired.[8]

Player stats

During the 2000–01 season, Hibs used 27 different players in competitive games. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.[11] None of the players appeared in every match, but goalkeeper Nick Colgan played in all but one of the league matches and in all eight of the cup ties. Gary Smith and Mathias Jack also appeared in 37 league matches, as Hibs fielded a relatively settled side.

No. Pos Nat Player TotalSPLScottish CupLeague Cup
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
GK Republic of Ireland Nick Colgan 4503705030
GK Canada Mike Franks 20200000
DF Scotland Derek Collins 30000030
DF Scotland Mark Dempsie 10100000
DF Canada Paul Fenwick 3913115030
DF Denmark Ulrik Laursen 3532925110
DF Scotland Martin McIntosh 70400030
DF France Franck Sauzee 3943325210
DF Scotland Gary Smith 4403705020
DF Scotland Tom Smith 110800030
MF Trinidad and Tobago Lyndon Andrews 1401101020
MF France Frederic Arpinon 80701000
MF Scotland Scott Bannerman 20200000
MF Scotland Grant Brebner 1701104020
MF Germany Mathias Jack 4313704120
MF Trinidad and Tobago Russell Latapy 39103374023
MF Australia Stuart Lovell 3653153020
MF Scotland Ian Murray 2512114000
MF Scotland John O'Neil 4073345320
MF France Hakim Sar-Temsoury 30100020
FW France Didier Agathe 64540010
FW Germany Dirk Lehmann 3352921231
FW France Marc Libbra 1351053000
FW Scotland Tam McManus 2051623211
FW Scotland Garry O'Connor 10100000
FW Finland Mixu Paatelainen 431236115120
FW France David Zitelli 361130105110

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 "Average Home League Game Attendances". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "McLeish gracious in defeat". BBC Sport. BBC. 26 May 2001. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  3. 1 2 "Six-goal Hibs break Hearts". BBC Sport. 22 October 2000. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  4. ↑ "O'Neill warns of Hibs title challenge". BBC Sport. 17 October 2000. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  5. 1 2 Ross, Kenny. "Hibs' Euro Dream Now In Dane-Ger". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  6. ↑ Latapy keeps Hibs in the hunt, Independent on Sunday, 31 December 2000.
  7. 1 2 3 Lomax, Andrew (22 June 2000). "Rangers close in on £1.5m deal for striker Miller". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Gordon, Phil (14 October 2001). "Celtic seek exultation on sacred ground". The Independent. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  9. ↑ "Hibs get tough over Libbra". BBC Sport. 4 June 2001. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  10. 1 2 "Agathe fixed up by Hibs". Daily Mail. 4 July 2000. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  11. ↑ "Hibernian 2000/2001 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 21 January 2010.

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