The Golden Years

Title: The Golden Years - Hibernian in the Days of the Famous Five

Author: Tom Wright

Published: 2010

Publisher: DB Publishing

The Golden Years is the history of Hibernian’s success in the years following the Second World War. Led by a quintet of talented players - Gordon Smith, Lawrie Reilly, Bobby Johnstone, Eddie Turnbull and Willie Ormond. They were known as the Famous Five and for a decade wrestled for dominance as one of the top club sides in Britain, if not the world.

The book is told in standard linear fashion and begins before the outbreak of the Second World War. The style is informative and factual, almost textbook like, not necessarily aimed at entertaining the read. This is a piece of historic preservation rather than an examination of the personalities involved and whilst there is certainly not glaring faults with this style, it does treat the piece rather earnestly rather than celebrate the time with added colour. Another criticism would be the size of the print which is far too small and makes the task of reading the Golden Years far more daunting than it should be.

Wright is the Hibs club historian and it shows. He has access to reams of sources and it’s clear as all the detail is in the book very precisely. There are as well a good few anecdotes which are worth sharing, which certainly date the era: for example in 1949 the Hibs players gave the Board of Directors a Christmas gift. Not a move that I can imagine is replicated in the current era by players at Easter Road (or most clubs for that matter). Also, more tellingly, it emerges that Scotland took 41 people to the World Cup finals in 1954 in Switzerland. Only 13 of them were players. So it appears mismanagement and incompetence has been a fundamental part of the SFA for a prolonged period of time.

What is all the more remarkable about Hibs’ achievements on the pitch during the Famous Five era is that for a side that won the league three times between 1948 and 1952 is that the Famous Five only appeared together in 80 league matches. It is purely conjecture but one would have to wonder what could have been achieved by this Hibernian side if they had stayed injury free.

Buy The Golden Years here.