When Hibs gave star-studded Anderlecht a fright in the UEFA Cup

Mickey Weir looks to get past Michel De Wolf of Anderlecht

The draw was essentially a free-for-all: all 64 teams started their European campaign in the first round held in mid-September. Hibs were in the hat with clubs including Real Madrid, Juventus, Manchester United, and Ajax as well as some lesser-known teams including Electroputere Craiova of Romaniaand Hungarian side Vác FC-Samsung.

They were eventually paired with Anderlecht; a formidable opponent. Twelve internationalists would be in the squad to face Hibs, and the Brussels-based side had won five league titles and two Belgian Cups in the previous decade, as well as winning the UEFA Cup in 1983 and reaching the final the following season.

Three years earlier Anderlecht had beaten Barcelona en route to the Cup Winners’ Cup final in 1989/90, losing to Sampdoria.

Keith Wright has a shot on goal as Filip De Wilde makes the save

In short, Hibs would have to be at their best to have a chance of progressing in the tournament.

Fiery first leg

Buoyed by a 3-2 victory at Celtic and backed by a 14,213-strong crowd, Hibs got off to a dream start against the Belgians on September 15 1992 when Dave Beaumont slid the ball home for his first goal in green and white after Anderlecht ‘keeper Filip De Wilde was unable to hold Darren Jackson's snap-shot.

The hosts had started strongly, Graeme Mitchell impressing in the opening exchanges down the left, and it took the visitors a while to settle. John Burridge had to be alert to parry a fierce free kick from Belgian international striker Luc Nilis after Willie Miller had felled the excellent Bruno Versavel, and the pace of Dutch striker Peter van Vossen – later of Rangers – was proving problematic for the Hibs defence.

Pat McGinlay speeds away from Wim Kooiman of Anderlecht

Mickey Weir and Marc Degryse then joined Miller in the referee’s book; Weir for a clash with Versavel and the Anderlecht forward for tripping the winger.

When Anderlecht did get on the scoresheet, it was no surprise that Versavel was the architect. After exchanging passes with Nilis, the midfielder evaded the Hibs defence and was brought down by Burridge, with Degryse scoring the resultant penalty to ensure level pegging at the interval.

Hibs came out for the second half fired up, and Pat McGinlay had an early sight of goal before Keith Wright twice just failed to pick out McGinlay and Jackson with crosses from the left.

The Belgians took the lead on 67 minutes; Degryse’s lightning quick turn caught out Beaumont and Neil Orr as he slipped the ball through to van Vossen, who lobbed Burridge.

Shortly after, Weir was given his marching orders after a second yellow card for a foul on Michel de Wolf and Wright crashed an effort off the underside of the crossbar.

Going down to ten men seemed to stir Hibs into action and they duly equalised with around 15 minutes remaining. Mitchell’s cross was cushioned by Jackson into the path of McGinlay, who flicked the ball in at the far post to level the scores again.

The two away goals for the Belgians were unfortunate but the Capital club had given themselves a chance going into the return leg.

To Brussels, with hope

Hibs travelled to Brussels for the second leg two weeks later, presumably cheered by news of Anderlecht’s 5-2 home defeat at the hands of KSV Waregem four days earlier in which Degryse had seen red – the first time the team had conceded that many in 30 years.

In addition, a very public fall-out between Degryse and manager Luka Peruzovic had prompted the club's general manager to intervene and urge everyone to “stop behaving like little girls".

Alex Miller made two changes to his team; Joe Tortolano coming in for Mitchell at left-back and Callum Milne replacing the suspended Weir with Billy Findlay and Tommy McIntyre on the bench. Right-back Milne was tasked with protecting the back four as Miller sought to nullify the Belgians’ threat in the final third.

Tortolano wasted no time in introducing himself to Degryse as he thundered into the Belgian inside the opening 30 seconds and was probably lucky to escape a red card.

Minutes later, Nilis repeated Beaumont's feat from the first leg by scoring in the opening five minutes. The striker rifled a shot past Burridge after good work from de Wolf and van Vossen. The Dutchman then passed up a good chance through over-elaboration to increase Anderlecht’s lead.

With the 20-minute mark approaching Tortolano made amends for his earlier booking by picking out Brian Hamilton at the back post, who squared for Jackson to finish past De Wilde from close range.

A 1-1 draw was enough for Anderlecht but the equaliser seemed to unsettle them. MacLeod and Wright had chances before the break, and Degryse and Philippe Albert tested Burridge from distance.

Versavel, so influential in the first leg, was introduced at the start of the second half as Peruzovic sought to gain the upper hand. Jackson and Wright were working hard up top for Hibs but lacked meaningful serice save for a Tortolano cross which Jackson did well to glance wide of the post.

Miller threw on Gareth Evans for Milne with ten minutes remaining but it was too little, too late, and the Belgians held on to advance on away goals.

What happened next?

Hibs put in a battling performance and could console themselves with remaining unbeaten over two legs.

Anderlecht, meanwhile, advanced to the next round where they saw off Dynamo Kyiv before losing to eventual semi-finalists Paris Saint-Germain on away goals in the third round.

Domestically, Hibs struggled for form after the draw in Brussels, winning just four games out of the remaining 14 in the calendar year.

They finished fifth in the table, seven points off European qualification and eight points above relegation, reaching the final of the League Cup and the third round of the Scottish – and wouldn’t qualify for Europe again until the 2001/02 season.

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