Hibs legend Gray on sharing Scottish Cup moment with late chairman Rod Petrie - gaffer pays tribute
Ex-SFA President passed away at the age of 69, drawing tributes from former colleagues
Hibs boss David Gray has added his tribute to former chairman Rod Petrie, who passed away at the age of just 69 last week. Petrie, who had served Hibs in a number of roles during the ownership of Sir Tom Farmer, also rose to the office of SFA President during his time in football.
Gray said being able to hand over the Scottish Cup to Petrie in 2016, the then-captain ending 114 years of hurt by scoring the injury-time winner in a famous 3-2 victory against Rangers at Hampden, remained a favourite memory of his relationship with a famously taciturn chairman.
Former captain hails ‘quiet man’ in Easter Road hierarchy
The manager said: “Yeah, very sad news. Thoughts are with his family at the time. I know he's suffered for a while with illness. So, very sad news.
“When I joined the club, he was obviously the chairman of the football club and what he's done, what it meant to him and everything else, a very quiet man around me. To be honest, he wasn't someone that was very conversational, but he was very much passionate about the football club
“And I was delighted we were able to win the Scottish Cup with him. It was something that we spoke about a lot.
“So it’s great that he was here to see that as chairman of the club at the time, to see and what that meant for everybody. It's a really sad day for everybody and his family, and he's certainly been a massive figure for the football club.”
Hibs injury news - update on key pair ahead of UEFA Conference League tie
Hibs hope, meanwhile, to have Jamie McGrath and Nicky Cadden fully recovered from injury and available to compete for starting places in Warsaw on Thursday night, as Gray’s men look to secure historic progress to the UEFA Conference League proper. McGrath and Cadden were both second-half substitutes in the first leg at Easter Road last week, as the home side fell to a 2-1 defeat
“Yeah, in contention to start, if selected, definitely,” said Gray. “Jamie was the one, because of the impact injury that he had, was probably a little bit more of a risk.
“I wouldn't say we took a risk, but in terms of ideal world, maybe we wouldn't have given as many minutes as he got. But he came through that, which was positive.
“And Nicky was one that, because of the injury he had, and it is something he's had previously, we'll have to be very careful with that. He came on against Partizan at home with 30 minutes to go, but that went to extra time, so all of a sudden, he's ended up with 60 minutes in his legs that we needed to then be careful of, which is why you don't then push him too quickly.
“I think he's in a really good place at the minute. I thought he affected the game well when he came on that night again, which is what Nicky Cadden does. I think it's good, healthy competition on that side of the pitch, which is what you want.
“We’ve got a couple of knocks, bumps and bruises, but as I say, we've had a bit of a rest in between. So, expecting everybody to come through it.
“Today was a bit more of an extensive day. We'll see if people recover from that, but everyone's geared up towards the game on Thursday.”
Explaining his team’s travel plans for Warsaw, Gray said: “We’ll make sure we get everything done here before we go. That way, we're just making sure everything's in order and in place so we can go over there.
“We'll go to the stadium and just have a walk around and get used to the environment as we've done the last time over in Belgrade. Rather than training over there, we'll train here. And I think that was good preparation the last time, especially flight times not being too far, everything else that comes with that.
“And then, straight after the game, you need to make sure we're doing everything right because we've obviously then got a huge game again at the weekend. So, it's back to the full-on schedule, but a brilliant time to be a Hibs player and be involved in the football club.”