The post-war era proved to be the most successful for Edinburgh club Hibernian, all thanks to five men: Gordon Smith, born and bred in Edinburgh, Willie Ormond, signed from Stenhousmuir for £12,000, Bobby Johnstone, a reserve team youngster given a chance to play for the first team, Eddie Turnbull, who also came up through the ranks and youngster Laurie Reilly. As he was only 16, the clubs manager Willie McCartney was not technically allowed to sign Reilly, but he got around the regulation by hiding Reilly’s signing form in his desk until his 17th birthday, and managed to secure Reilly’s signature before Hearts, who were also keen to sign the lad. Collectively and affectionately, these players went down in Scottish football history as The Famous Five.

 

They took Hibernian from a relative minnow club to a true contender for title glory over the dominant Rangers and Celtic, playing an early form of total football and interchanging positions on the fly. Each member of the famous five scored over 100 goals for the club. At the top of Hibs’ all time goalscorers list, you can find Smith (302 goals), Reilly (238 goals), Turnbull (202 goals) and Ormond (189 goals). Johnstone is on the list too, at number 7 with 100 goals. At the end World War II, almost all of the clubs guest players moved on, including Matt Busby and Billy Baxter, but Gordon Smith was signed during the war years and Reilly, Ormond and Turnbull were signed in the 1946-47 season, the first competitive season following the hostilities.

 

Hibs showed promise by finishing as runners up in both of the major competitions that year, second to Rangers in the league and suffering a narrow loss to Aberdeen in the cup final. Hibs began the 1948-49 season well and led the table for most of the year, going in to a key match against Rangers at Ibrox. The week before, they defeated Albion Rovers in the Scottish Cup, but sadly McCartney collapsed and died following the game. The clubs trainer Hugh Shaw was appointed as his successor and Hibernian went on to win the league, their first title since 1903. Shaw completed the Famous Five line up by signing Johnstone in 1948, and the first time the five were unleashed as a full unit was in October 1949 against an unsuspecting Queen of the South, a 2-0 win. Their mythical status soon grew and it was believed that with the Famous Five playing together, Hibs couldn’t lose.

 

They narrowly missed out on another title the following year when Rangers beat them to the post by a single point, but by the end of the 1950-51 season, Hibernian had won their next title, beating Rangers by 10 points. They reached the 1950 Scottish League Cup final, but with Turnbull unavailable and Ormond playing out of his position, they lost to Motherwell. However, Hibs stormed to another league championship again in 1951-52. That year, Hibs took a trip to Brazil and became the first Scottish club to play there, participating in a pre-cursor to the World Club Championship.

 

They were narrowly denied yet another title in 1952-53 on the last day of the season thanks to a Rangers equaliser against Queen of the South, giving them the title on goal average. Winning three Scottish titles in such a short period of time is a remarkable achievement, because up until then, the title had never really escaped the clutches of Rangers and Celtic. Due to their performances and the fact that they had the floodlights necessary to play at night, Hibs were invited to play in the inaugural European Cup, and reached the semi-finals where they lost to Stade Reims, who had the likes of Leblond and Kopa on their squad.After 192 games together, Johnstone was sold to Manchester City for £70,000 while Smith left four years later, moving to cross-town rivals Hearts. Smith retired at 28 with a knee injury and Turnbull retired at 36. Ormond played a season for Falkirk before swapping his boots for the managers suit.

 

The north stand of Easter Road Stadium is named in honour of the quintet.

Achievements: Scottish First Division – Champions x3 Runners up x3
                              Scottish League Cup – Runners up x1
                              European Cup – Semi-finalists x1

Star player: Bobby Johnstone DOB 7 September 1929, Selkirk, Scotland

Johnstone was born into a footballing family in a rugby loving town. His father was a centre-half playing for Peebles Rovers. His first job was as an apprentice painter and it was around this time that he attracted attention by playing in five-a-side tournaments against men twice his age. He started his career with Selkirk after many of the teams players died in the war and the club turned to the towns youth to replenish its ranks. In 1946, Johnstone was signed to Hibernian. The transfer fee, a friendly between his old and new clubs. Johnstone was allowed to represent Selkirk one last time. The famous five were given their collective debut in a friendly against Nithsdale Wanderers. Johnstone collective Scottish league winners medals in 1951 and 1952. He was also the first of the famous five to leave Hibs when he was transferred to Manchester City 1955. There, he scored in back to back FA Cup finals, winning it at the second time of asking in one of the most famous cup finals, 1956 against Birmingham City. He returned to Hibs in 1959, although now a little fatter and slower. After his second Hibs spell, he crossed the border again to play for Oldham Athletic, and is considered one of that clubs best ever players. His impact there transformed the club, and their stadium was always packed out to see Johnstone play, even though Oldham were in the fourth division. He played for Scotland 13 times, but missed out on the 1954 World Cup due to injury. He retired after 19 years of professional football and died in 2001.