The very amateur status of the game in Scotland was however already under threat. The popularity of the game had not gone unnoticed by those with an eye on profit, and it was perhaps understandable also that the top players themselves should seek to profit from their talents. The Scottish Football Association rules at the time were clear however, any member club paying their players more than just normal expenses could expect to be heavily fined and more seriously, banned from participating in the game for two years. Heart of Midlothian fell foul of this and the SFA decided that they should be made an example of and the Gorgie club were banned from the Scottish Cup in 1883 and expelled for the remainder of that season.

The Hibernian Pledge

Hearts remember sought to oppose Hibernian in every local or national FA vote, but still they sought the support of their local rivals after their first appeal against the ban had failed. Typically, Father Hannan agreed and asked John McFadden to speak on their behalf at the SFA, as a result Hearts were back by December of that year. Hibs could not however expect a great deal of gratitude from their rivals, and it's believed that very little was shown! Michael Whelahan would not let such things distract his aims for Hibernian, and at the end of another successful season that saw Hibernian once again champions in Edinburgh and closing the gap further on a national level, he told a St Patrick's Day gathering of the CYMS: "Hibernian are pledged to become the best in the country, not for personal glory, but to increase the charitable work of the CYMS and to give a real sense of pride to all of Ireland's exiled children in Scotland."

By the start of the 1885 season, it was becoming clear that Michael's pledge was far from being an empty one. Hibernian entertained Scottish big guns Renton and Rangers, and beat them both. They next took on Queens Park, and this time there was to be no humble lessons for the Irishmen, as a packed 'Holy Ground' as Edinburgh Park had become known celebrated a famous and well deserved 2-1 victory. Hibernian now knew they were a match for the very best in Scotland, and of course this was not going unnoticed elsewhere in the nation.

It was around this period that Hibernian again travelled to the East End of Glasgow, where the 2nd IX fulfilled another charity game against a club they had helped form, Glasgow Hibernian. After that game the side were entertained by their hosts, the St Vincent de Paul Society, the leader of whom was Brother Walfrid. Brother Walfrid (his religious name) was born Andrew Kerins in Ballymote, County Sligo on May 8th, 1840, moving to Scotland in 1887. He could see for himself the effect that Hibernian were having both on the spirits of the community they served and in the finance they were able to raise for charitable causes, he could see also that should such a football club exist in Glasgow, it could attract an even larger following than that claimed by Hibernian. The seeds that would become Glasgow Celtic had been sewn.

The only future on the minds of Hibernian right then was to fulfil that pledge from Michael Whelahan, and the excitement around Little Ireland was building as Hibs continued to stun their more illustrious neighbours in the West. Hibs defeated Dumbarton in the Scottish Cup, first drawing away from home before coming back from 3-1 down at the Holy Ground to win 4-3 in what was becoming a trade-mark of the club, fighting back when all appeared lost. Hibs though were to falter again at the semi-final stage, Renton winning through under typically controversial circumstances. A great Hibs side was developing however, and they once again clinched their Edinburgh title, taking the Edinburgh F.A. Shield by defeating St Bernard's at Powderhall.

That season also was a particularly proud one for everyone in Little Ireland. Father Edward Hannan was now Canon Edward Hannan, and he was present with Michael Whelahan in the stand at Hampden Park to witness two Hibernian players, James McGhee and James Lundy, turn out for Scotland in an international against Wales, a match won by the Scots 4-1 with McGhee striking one off the bar. These were the first Hibernian internationals, the first of many.