On visits to Easter Road with his dad it wasn’t the men in green and white who caught Andy’s eye but rather the only player in the Hibs side wearing different colours.
“I was about five years old and my dad took me along to watch Hibs with some of his friends.
“What stood out was Jim Leighton wearing a different coloured strip. I didn’t understand too much about what was going on but the goalkeeper having a different kit stuck with me.
“I loved watching Leighton and that set me on the path to becoming a goalkeeper. Initially I didn’t realise how good he was - playing for Aberdeen, Manchester United and the national team - but I loved watching the inspirational saves he was making.”
With Easter Road baring little resemblance to its current modern appearance on Andy’s early visits, he has fond memories of the stadium’s quirky features.
“When I was growing up the stadium was different, there was the slope and the Cow Shed – none of the stands had been renovated at that point.
“The stadium looks fantastic now but I liked it back in the older style where everything was a bit smaller, it felt a bit more unique.”
After attracting attention from clubs across the United Kingdom, Andy’s football career took him south to Southampton’s youth academy at the age of 16. He says there was interest from some of the biggest clubs in the country before he decided to move to the south coast.
“Hibs had shown an interest in me when I was 13 or 14 – Hearts, Rangers and Celtic as well. It’s strange because everyone always says they want to be a football player but things happen and it goes from being a dream to more of a reality.
“There was interest from clubs in Scotland and then Arsenal, Manchester United and Southampton too. I went on trial with all of these different teams, some of them showed interest in me and others didn’t.
“For a variety of different reasons, I ended up at Southampton.”
As so often happens in football, two moving parts fell into place at the same time leading to Andy leaving Southampton and returning home to Edinburgh, with a familiar face looking after the goalkeepers at Easter Road.
“Harry Redknapp left Southampton for Portsmouth which was a big surprise at the time. It led to a real reshuffle at the club and the goalkeeper coach got sacked which left me in a sticky situation.
“I was third choice at the time and George Burley brought in another young goalkeeper which meant I was pushed to the side a little bit. I negotiated the release of my contract in January and came back up to Scotland.
“Within a couple of days, I was at Hibs because the goalkeeper coach, Gordon Marshall, was also with Scotland Under-19s. Once Marsh had heard I was free he brought me into the Club and that’s how it all started.”
After three years in England Andy’s relationship with Hibs changed on his return to Edinburgh. As a 19-year-old he found himself vying for a place in the Club’s First Team which meant he had to put his days as a supporter behind him.
“I was still a fan when I came back to Hibs and I wanted the club to do well but my perspective changed a little bit because I was involved in it.
“I started to see things differently and reacted to things in other ways. It was a professional relationship at that time, there’s a different mentality when you transition from being a fan to a player.”
Andy made his Hibernian debut in a 2-0 league win against Dunfermline Athletic at Easter Road in December 2006.
It was a moment he had been waiting years for and he was delighted to finally pull on the ‘different coloured kit’ he’d admired Jim Leighton wearing all those years ago.
“I was happy to wait for my time and opportunity, John Collins and Gordon Marshall gave me that chance. Marsh had told me on the Friday I was going to be playing, he told me I deserved the opportunity and that I’d worked hard so to go and do my thing.
“I was really nervous when he told me. I still didn’t expect it despite the fact Zibi Malkowski had been having a tough time.
“What was really good was the fact Marsh had told me the day before, it allowed me to settle my nerves and prepare as well as I could for the game - I was really excited to play.”
Only a few months after his debut Andy found himself in possession of the goalkeeper’s shirt going into the CIS Cup Final against Kilmarnock at Hampden Park.
In the biggest match of his career he says youthful ignorance meant the magnitude of the occasion didn’t affect him too much.
“It’s a funny thing when you’re that young and inexperienced. You take it all in your stride and don’t really realise what you’re doing.
“The year before the League Cup final I had played in the U19 European Championships final and the season before that I played in the FA Youth Cup final with Southampton so in a way it felt like a natural progression even though I would never actually play in another cup final again.
“The build-up to the game was pretty nerve-wracking. The whole day is different, you go to Hampden and it’s so big, the bus goes under the stadium and it’s totally different to turning up to Easter Road, Tynecastle or Celtic Park.”
A friend recently drew Andy’s attention to the moment when the teams emerged from the Hampden tunnel in front of the sell-out crowd. He believes he can see the moment the weight of the day was lifted from his shoulders.
“When we walked out onto the pitch I was behind big Rob Jones and the noise from the Hibs fans was unreal. You can see us walking past the cup and I was smiling looking at it, it’s as if all of the nervousness just disappeared.
“At the time I wasn’t so aware of it and I was just focussing on the job at hand. I wasn’t worried about it, just thinking ‘we can win this, we can beat Kilmarnock’. It was about getting it done rather than thinking how it might have worked out in history.”
A Rob Jones header in the snow set Hibs on their way to a convincing 5-1 victory. It was a win that secured the club’s first major trophy since Alex Miller’s side won the same competition in 1991.
Andy was kept reasonably quiet for much of the game but he says he was happy to avoid the limelight as it meant the team brought the cup back to Easter Road.
“There was definitely a feeling about half way through the second half where it felt very comfortable and borderline wanting the ref to just blow the whistle and get it done.
“It would have been great to win 1-0 and have been making loads of saves but realistically we just wanted to win, whether that was 10-0 or 5-1 as it eventually finished it was just great to win.”
The civic reception at the City Chambers was followed by an open-top bus parade up Easter Road. With cup wins few and far between for Hibernian in recent years it was a situation which very few of the players had experienced before.
“When we jumped on the bus to do the parade it was a really surreal feeling. We were driving through the streets and I know what Easter Road is normally like, it’s busy with cars but not with people.
“It was a strange experience with all of these people celebrating with us, it’s a weird one because it’s not something you can prepare for until you’re in that situation.
“Due to the fact it had been a long time since Hibs has last won a cup I hadn’t been there as a fan to experience the other side of it – it was a totally new experience, but it was really fun.”
Now living and coaching abroad, Andy tries his best to stay up to date with events in Scotland.
“I do try and keep up with the results and I’ve got friends that still play in Scotland. Hibs and a couple of the other teams I’ve played for are the ones I always try and keep tabs on.
“Lewis Stevenson and Paul Hanlon were at the club when I was there, and I know David Gray from when we were kids.
“There’s loads of these connections so you’re always looking out for how they are doing as well as keeping tabs on the club.
“The time difference is funny so I always tend to watch the highlights rather than seeing the whole game. It’s good to stay in touch because my friends and family are Hibs fans so I’m always talking to them about things.”
As a fan-turned-player Andy looks back fondly on his time with Hibernian. As a cup winner he has gone down in club folklore and to this day fans are grateful for his efforts in John Collins’ side in 2007.
“I was really happy and lucky to win something. It certainly stands out and people seem to gravitate to that.
“Recently I was back in Edinburgh with my wife and we bumped into a young guy in North Berwick. I don’t know old he was but his name was Bob, he came up to me and said he saw me in the cup final and that it was one of the best days of his life.
“It’s really nice when people are appreciative like that. It was special to me but it’s also something that was special to other people - it will stay with me forever.”
