Black Knight president in exciting Hibs transfer vow as move made to take relationship into new frontier
The Black Knight leader has told fans what he hopes can happen on the Hibs transfer front this summer
Black Knight Football Club president Tim Bezbatchenko hope European football can unlock a gateway to a higher calibre of player arriving at Hibs.
David Gray’s side completed an outstanding turnaround from struggling in the Premiership to finishing third in the 24/25 campaign, his first term as permanent head coach. Celtic victory in Saturday’s Scottish Cup final versus Aberdeen will book passage to a Europa League play-off, which at minimum books eight European games next season, as even losing that will see the team drop into the league phase of the Conference League.
Bezbatchenko, who has assumed Bill Foley’s seat on the board as executive director, has been left delighted with how the season has panned out for Hibs. Now with the transfer window looming, continental football could broaden the recruitment horizons.
Hibs transfer plans aided by European football
He told club media: “We're obviously very pleased with the relationship between Black Knights and Hibernian FC. At the end of the day it's what happens on the field and after the slow start, David and the team really came together, showed resilience, showed courage and it's been just an absolute pleasure to watch them on the pitch compete and finish third and solidify our place in Europe.
“From a Black Knight perspective, where we're committed to is developing players, investing in scouting and recruiting, figuring out how to learn from each other This just gives us an opportunity, a platform to go and recruit better players who want to participate in Europe, who want to be a club that's competing at the top of a league like the Premiership.”
Black Knight partnership
Bournemouth, Auckland FC and FC Lorient also fall under the umbrella of Black Knight Football Club, with Bezbatchenko asked about a visit to the Cherries in pre-season. He said of Hibs’ first team visit to Bournemouth: “As part of our Black Knight group, it's important that we're constantly in communication but take advantage of opportunities to visit.
“One of those is where a team in pre season can come down and we can not only play a potential match together but also train and the staff can get together and do strategic sessions. You can talk about the curriculums, can talk about player development and we are really excited about those days where we can spend together We've done it before with the executive staff, many meetings with Ian Gordon, Malky Mackay and the recruitment staff. To be able to do it with the coaches and the players is really taking the relationship to a whole new level.”
He added on his boardroom position: “Since joining Black Knight last year, it is sort of a natural transition for me to step onto the board, given my location in the UK as well as my constant contact with with Ian and and the other members of the board. I think this was always the plan to join the board and really connect at a deeper level. My colleague Ryan Caswell will remain on the board and and what we're going to do is is really connect at all the layers right from the top down.
“Just because Bill is stepping away, he's still engaged day to day, whether or not that's at executive meetings with Ian or speaking with me frequently on the phone or on other meetings and calls. Bill loves his football clubs. He's connected to all of them including Hibernian FC so we're excited about that. Then we're looking to engage not just at the board level but all the way down right the sporting directors and the presidents of football. There's all the clubs across Black Knight that we're looking to connect so that Hibbs can benefit from the relationships across the group.”