A young boy from Niddrie who grew up supporting the Club, Pat went on to play over 600 times in the green and white before stepping into the dugout as manager for a spell between 1982 and 1984.
Still involved on a matchday as a host in the stadium hospitality suites, Pat’s love for the Club hasn’t waned, even after all these years.
Pat’s earliest memories of watching Hibs at Easter Road stretch back to the days of the Famous Five and huge European nights under the floodlights.
“I can remember in the very early days Hibs played Stade de Reims in the old European Cup – that wasn’t yesterday, that was a long time ago.
“It was the semi-final in 1956; the forward line was part of a fantastic side. There was a terrific player playing for Reims at the time, Raymond Kopa, he ended up playing with Real Madrid.
“I went to see Hibs playing in Europe with my dad and brothers under the lights, it was all new – the floodlights and the white ball – the atmosphere was absolutely tremendous.”
As a school boy Pat was in good company, with another future household name alongside him in the ranks at Edinburgh’s Holy Cross Primary School. A move to boys’ club football gave Pat an indication that he might be slightly ahead of his peers.
“I played in a very good school team alongside Jimmy O’Rourke and a lad called David Hogg, we were a great side.
“When I went to Salvesen, I started to realise I was doing not too badly, I didn’t realise what was going to happen because there were lots of good players.”
Despite the fact he’d end up being known as one of the greatest players to ever grace the Easter Road pitch, Pat believes it might have all started differently if he’d been introduced to the first team a few years earlier.
“I can remember thinking when I first went to Easter Road that the players in my position were getting on a bit, but people like Tommy Preston were a great help to me.
“I could have gone to Easter Road when these guys were still in their prime, in their early-twenties say, and I maybe wouldn’t have got the opportunities I did because these guys were now in their early-thirties.”
Pat’s move was a proud moment for his Hibs-supporting family members and there were well wishes from neighbours who didn’t support the Club too.
“I’d been brought up with Hibs and listening to my dad and my uncle talking about the football, to actually join the Club was a big thing. One or two of my neighbours were Rangers supporters and they were terrific and saying ‘I hope you do well’, people were pleased for me.”
A year at Bonnyrigg Rose preceded a debut goal against Motherwell at Fir Park in 1963 - a match where Pat says everything seemed to pass by in a flash.
“It was happening very quickly on the pitch; I was having a bit of trouble getting up to speed. I remember Tommy Preston coming to me and saying ‘this is first team football, it’s quicker and the players are thinking quicker – but you’ll adjust,’ and he was right.
“At the time I was saying ‘I’ll never get used to the pace of this game!’ I didn’t seem to have any time to do anything whereas I looked at experienced players and they seemed to have time on the ball.”
December 1972 saw Pat captain Hibernian to victory in the League Cup final against Celtic at Hampden Park, a win which he feels was a long time coming.
“There had been other times when Hibs had disappointed people, we didn’t play as well as we could have done in these sorts of games.
“It had been a long time since Hibs had gone through to Glasgow and won a trophy of any kind – but we managed to do it against Celtic who were a great side.
“It was funny because we beat Celtic 2-1 that day, I scored and Jimmy O’Rourke scored and we played in the same school team!
“To show people that we could turn up for games was a big thing. When the final whistle went, we were just delighted.”
Another example of Pat’s Hibs side turning up for big games was to follow only a few weeks later on a date that will forever be etched in the minds of Hibernian supporters young and old: 1st January 1973.
“We had some good players in that team and it just happened on the day for the goals to go in. Prior to us scoring, Hearts had a couple of chances where they could have scored and it might have changed the direction of the game!
“At half time Eddie Turnbull said ‘don’t go out there and take it easy or try and make a fool of the opposition’ and we scored a couple more in the second half. He was spot on; these guys had their pride as well and we weren’t trying to be smart about it.
“I always liked playing at Tynecastle, the atmosphere was terrific. Even some games where we didn’t come away with a win, I still enjoyed it – it was a great place to play football.
“I still get people coming up to me and talking about that game. When I was growing up if someone had told me I’d go to Tynecastle one day and get a result like that, I wouldn’t have believed them.”
When Pat returned to the Club as manager in 1982, he believes the atmosphere around Easter Road had changed since his time as a player.
“I felt at the time that things weren’t very clever at Easter Road but we were dead lucky to have had people like Jackie McNamara, Ralph Callachan and Alan Sneddon to keep things going and help with the young players, but it wasn’t an easy time to be there – things had slipped back a bit.”
Pat still regularly attends matches at Easter Road with his grandsons who are able to make the most of their grandad’s wealth of experience on all things Hibs.
“It great taking the boys along and getting them indoctrinated. They really enjoy it and they look forward to it. They are quite surprising, the things they come away with – they are quite clued up on what’s happening.”
And Pat still enjoys meeting Hibs fans new and old – some from across the world and others born and bred in Leith.
“You can never change your club; you’re stuck with them. At one of the games recently I was sitting at a table with people from Pittsburgh and they were really interested, it was great talking to them. We were telling them about the history of the Club, where they were formed and all that.
“You go there and there’s maybe an older guy who’s having his 80th birthday at Easter Road, his family have had a whip round to send him for his meal before the game and now they are sitting talking to you.
“They’ve probably stood and watched you from the terracing all these years and never spoken to you – I like doing things like that.”
Pat’s famous shirt adorning the white number 4 can still be seen at Easter Road on a matchday, often worn by fans who have only seen the great man play on Youtube videos – testament to the lasting impact he has had on everyone associated with the Club.
“It would be remiss of me to say too much about that, but it really is good to see - I didn’t waste all of my time.”
By Daniel Shields