By Hibernian FC

As a supporter, Easter Road ball boy, player (twice), captain and now opposition coach, Ian’s ties to Hibs are deep rooted and long lasting.

Like many young fans Ian’s affiliation to Hibernian came from his family, with the club making a mark on him before he took his first steps in education.

“My dad and brother were Hibs fans. My first memories were at home where Hibs were engrained into me - when we got to school we were already Hibs supporters.”

As a young boy Ian was afforded the chance to get very close to the action on the east side of Edinburgh, spending his Saturday afternoons fetching stray footballs for two of the city’s league clubs.

“My brother was a ball boy at Hibs and I was for Meadowbank Thistle so we’d both work at the matches at the weekends. When he started playing football on a Saturday, I took over from him at Easter Road.

“I actually got paid at Meadowbank - we got nothing at Easter Road but it wasn’t about the money for me, it was a chance to see Hibs.”

The opportunity to get up close to some household names as a young fan left Ian with many fond memories, but not all of his encounters ended positively.

“I remember standing at the side of the pitch and Steven Tweed, who was massive in comparison to me, stood on my toe – I’ve never felt pain like it before, it lasted the whole game!

“Paul Gascoigne came to Easter Road with Rangers and gave us all money after taking shots into us during the warm ups. I was so lucky to see the players so close at such a young age.”

When the big games came around Ian knew exactly where he wanted to be placed during the matches, with an opportunity to make some pocket money from an unusual source.

“We always hoped when we played Hearts, Rangers or Celtic that we’d be behind the away goal because we knew that coins were going to get thrown over towards the players.

“We’d hear the clinks of the coins raining down onto the advertising boards – our heads were down because we didn’t want to get hit but we thought it was great that loads of money was being chucked on and we picked it up on the way to the tunnel.”

As a youngster Ian had an unlikely Hibs hero, with a goalkeeper drawing his attention on regular early visits to Easter Road.

“My favourite player by a mile was Andy Goram. I don’t know why because I wasn’t a goalkeeper but I used to love watching him.

“It was great seeing the players in the warm up because they used to make it look so effortless and I couldn’t understand how they made it seem so easy.”

After learning his trade at Edinburgh’s Hutchison Vale, Ian signed for Dundee United at the age of 15 before Hibs showed an interest in bringing him to Easter Road.

“I came home from school one day and I was lying in my bed - someone from Hibs phoned my parents and I was up like a shot. I had signed a contract with Dundee United and they wanted me to go full time.

“I told Dundee United I didn’t want to sign about a week before they were expecting me to. Jim McLean was manager at the time, he didn’t take any prisoners in those sorts of situations and I was only 15 or 16 – I’ll never forget the dressing down he gave me that day.

“I can look back now and say that regardless of the hard time I got it didn’t change my mind – I was going to Hibs.”

During his time at Dundee United, Ian retained his season ticket at Easter Road with his dad and brother, attending matches in the East Stand when his own fixture schedule would allow.

“The year I joined Hibs they had just been relegated to Division 1. I remember having a season ticket at Easter Road and then after the summer I was going in to play with the club - it was a bit surreal.

“I was already nervous and I had Pat McGinlay, Barry Lavety, John Hughes, Shaun Dennis and these characters walking past me in the corridor, it was completely bizarre.

“I’d been watching them for the last two or three years from my season ticket seat - it was a crazy experience but a brilliant one.”

After making his mark in the youth team, Ian worked hard to make his First Team debut – with some extra summer training paying off during the 1999/00 season.

“We had a long summer break between winning Division 1 and starting the season in the Premier League. We were doing voluntary sessions at Mary Erskine School on Tuesdays and Thursdays – I went to every single session because I didn’t go on holiday that year, I got really fit.

“We went to Denmark for pre-season and I didn’t play a single minute; I didn’t really mind as I was just so happy to be there. I got injured when we came back so for four months I was absolutely terrible - I couldn’t pass the ball ten yards and I lost all confidence.

“The squad were going to Trinidad - Frank Sauzee and Pat McGinley pulled out so I got drafted in at the last minute. Before you know it, I went to Trinidad, did alright and then started the next league game after we got home – I had no time to think about it whatsoever.”

After cementing his place in the first team squad, Ian’s leadership qualities became apparent to manager Alex McLeish who handed him the captain’s armband before a game against Rangers at Easter Road in 2002.

“The first time I was captain was because John O’Neill got injured at Tynecastle and I just picked the armband up and put it on. It wasn’t intentional, I just couldn’t be bothered with people wasting time to find out who was captain.

“Before the next game I was in the physio room getting ready and the manager walked in about 2:20 and told me I was captain. That was it, it was that easy.

“Looking back now, I was immensely proud to be at the club anyway, but to have captained the club was a great honour.”

After six years at his boyhood club, the time came for Ian to move on to a new challenge when Rangers moved for his services. The decision to leave Easter Road was not one he made easily.

“It took me a very long time to decide to leave Hibs – it didn’t happen overnight and it didn’t happen as quickly as some people might think, it involved a lot of thinking.

“I phoned a very close friend of mine the night before I was supposed to go through to Ibrox and saying to him ‘I don’t know what to do’.

“I had always wanted to play for Hibs. My dream as a kid was to play for Hibs, be that one minute or lots of games and by 24 I had done that so my dream had to be reassessed.”

After a spell at Norwich following his time at Ibrox, the chance to move back to Edinburgh became a possibility when Ian’s former teammate Mixu Paatelainen took over as Hibernian boss.

“My family were due to come down to Norwich in January and start their life down south and I came back to Edinburgh that month. I’d heard that Mixu was getting the job after John Collins left and I knew that he wanted me to come in so I was happy to get back up the road to Hibs.

“My form which had been horrific down south suddenly changed completely and my first game back was the derby at Tynecastle.”

As a senior player during his second spell at Easter Road, responsibility fell on Ian’s shoulders in the build-up to big matches.

“The derbies were such important games and I used to love them. I watched the fans walking along to the stadium just like I used to do when I was younger. Going into your enemy’s territory and turning them over was such a great feeling.

“You get some players who can’t quite handle them for whatever reason but I was the other way around - I would have loved to play in a big game every week.”

His most recent return to Easter Road was back in November as he pulled on the Hibs strip and took to the pitch in the Hanlon Stevenson Foundation match.

By Daniel Shields