Exclusive:Hibs cult hero on Russian lessons, Big Eck's accent, armed guards and crazy fans on Euro adventure
German is back in Edinburgh for Rott-Weiss Essen friendly
If only Alex McLeish had been speaking Russian, Mathias Jack might have been able to understand every second word or so. Even with Big Eck slowing down his delivery and flattening his vowels, the German trialist struggled to follow the thread of conversation.
Which makes it all the more surprising, and rewarding, that Jack should develop such a strong rapport with his gaffer, his team-mates and – especially – the Hibs support during his four years at Easter Road. Here was a guy who spoke the language of the fan, in a very real sense, every time he threw himself into battle wearing the green-and-white jersey.
Having grown up behind the iron curtain in the old DDR, taking his first footballing steps in a league competition skewed by the influence of a notorious secret police chief personally tilting the playing field, Jack still occasionally finds himself wondering about the distance travelled – geographically, politically and personally – in the years since the Berlin Wall came crashing down. And his time in Edinburgh will always be special.
Back as a guest of Hibs ahead of Wednesday night’s European throwback classic against another of his former clubs, Rott-Weiss Essen, Jack recalled some lasting experiences – the madness of playing AEK in Athens just a week after 9/11, not to mention limping his way through celebrations after a special Edinburgh derby victory – as he wandered down memory lane. Starting with his arrival in the summer of 1999.
Defender rose to Bundesliga before joining Hibs
“Yeah, obviously coming here, I had English in school,” he said, the man known as ‘Matty’ to punters adding: “Also I had Russian in school for six years because growing up in East Germany … I don't mention bad names, but they made me learn Russian in school. Which I hopefully don't need for the rest of my life.
“I had only four years English, like normal school English: ‘Hello, how are you doing, blah, blah, blah …’ But if you're not in a country who speaks permanently English, and you don't speak it every day, sometimes you lose a lot of things.
“And then I came here to Hibs, I remember Alex McLeish picked me up from the airport when I arrived here … and I couldn't understand a single word in the car. And then he realised: ‘Yeah, the guy's not answering.’ So he spoke a little bit more slowly and a little bit clearer.
“We flew out to Denmark, and then we had two pre-season games there, and then he said to me: ‘Matthias, we want to sign you.’ My aim was to learn the language quick because you want to be part of the dressing room and not left out.
“And even though I was 28 when I joined Hibs, you feel a little bit unsecure, a little bit ashamed, you open your mouth, and then probably your teammates laughing at what you're saying. But it wasn't the case.
“After two months I was confident enough to speak beyond the normal words, man on, left, right, and whatever, to have a normal like proper conversation. But it took three months to feel comfortable enough to open my mouth.”
Stasi chief threatened best players if they didn’t join BFC Dynamo
Jack had already surmounted a few obstacles just to reach that point. Aged 20 when the Wall came down in 1989, he was one of many East German footballers who leapt at the chance to embrace a new life.
He said: “I was playing in the highest league in East Germany. They called it at the time Oberliga. With BFC Dynamo, Dynamo Dresden, Lokomotive Leipzig. I was playing in Aue. And Klaus Toppmoller, he was Leverkusen coach when they played in the Champions League against Real Madrid at Hampden Park, he was my coach there.
“The last East German champion was Hansa Rostock. But the Dynamo team usually won everything because Erich Mielke, the head of the Stasi police, that was his club, his baby, BFC Dynamo. The best players, they were sent to this club. If not, then they would destroy your football career if you don't go.
“Honestly, I could have fled because I played in East Germany for the under-15s, under-17s. And we went actually abroad. But I was never tempted to flee, if that's the right word. I always wanted to come home to my parents.
“And then obviously the war came down and then I moved to the 2. Bundesliga, then the 1. Bundesliga. Suddenly I played against the guys like Lothar Matthaus and Jurgen Klinsmann and so on. And we finished fifth with Bochum, which entitled us to European football.
“Sometimes in a quiet moment, I think of how much things changed. You know, I grew up with black and white television in East Germany. We had no phone, no landline. And even mobile phones, they came much, much later.
“After the wall came down, I could watch Lothar Matthäus on television. And then two, three years later, I'm on the same football pitch with him. It seems crazy sometimes.”
Jack is hoping Hibs progress far enough in Europe to draw someone within easy driving distance of his home in Dusseldorf; Midtjylland is just that bit too far, even for someone who loves to watch his old club. He also feels proud to have represented the team in UEFA competition, albeit in distinctly awkward circumstances.
AEK Athens clash delayed by 9/11 atrocity
Reflecting on the 2001 UEFA Cup first-round loss to AEK, the Scots going down 4-3 after extra time at Easter Road, Jack said: “Obviously, the games against AEK Athens were very memorable, obviously with the surroundings, 9-11 ... Actually, the pilot was accelerating the airplane, and then he stopped it suddenly here in Edinburgh, and then he came back to us and said, we just got the information from the UEFA, all UEFA Cup games are cancelled.
“And then we went back to the terminal, jumped off the plane, back to training, and then a week later we flew there. We would have had, I think, 3,000 Hibs supporters there. When we actually played, like a week later, we ended up maybe with 300, and that was probably the most hostile atmosphere I've ever played in.
“I was captain that night in Athens. On the night before final training session in the stadium, very old stadium, very, very old, and we were guarded by not only police but army, with machine guns.
“They were outside where we stayed at the Hilton Hotel, we had bodyguards, they told us not to go out on your own, like for a little walk. And then outside the stadium on game day, they were like, army with machine guns.
“So I was captain, and also there was a minute of silence. But you can see a YouTube video about this.
“We were all standing around the centre circle, and I could see the AEK supporters, and there was like a fence where they're crawling up, climbing up, really high. And they were trying to burn American and Great Britain flags.
“And obviously they were chanting something, singing something, and then the referee asked the club: ‘Can you please tell them to shut up?’ He spoke to the guy on the microphone, but we couldn't hear a word.
“But what I remember from the actual football is, at the very, very last minute, we had like a sitter, David Zitelli, instead of using his right foot, he was using his strong left foot - and missed the post by a few inches. And same in Edinburgh.
“Paco Luna scored both goals at home. But he had the easiest header in stoppage time.
“He wanted to place it too precise in the corner, instead of just getting something on the cross from Ulysses de la Cruz. If he had scored, I think they still would be working on the roof, because the roof would have come off!
“When you talk about highlights, many people would say the 6-2 game, the derby win. I only played in this game half an hour, because one Hearts player broke my toe in this game, and I couldn't play on. But I remember limping through the celebrations.”
It was worth a broken toe, of course, to be part of that victory. In fact, Jack was reminiscing about it just the other day, in conversation with hat-trick hero Mixu Paatelainen. A German and a Finn sharing memories of a famous triumph in Scotland’s capital city. With nothing lost in translation during the re-telling of favourite old tales and legends.
Coming tomorrow: Fan passion unites Hibs and their historic first Euro opponents - Jack’s inside track on Rott-Weiss Essen