When Hibs played Feyenoord in a 'UEFA Cup practice game'

By the end of 1985 Hibs were beginning to find their feet after returning to the top flight following relegation, and overcoming the resignation of club legend Pat Stanton as manager in September 1984.

Stevie Cowan in action for Hibs. The forward scored twice against Feyenoord

True; a series of finishes in seventh and eighth place plus early exits from both domestic cup competitions was not vintage form but far worse was to beset the club by the time the Nineties rolled around.

Losing streak followed by unbeaten run

Under the stewardship of John Blackley Hibs lost their first six games of the 1985/86 season, scoring just four goals in the process. A 3-0 reversal at Pittodrie was followed by a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Rangers, with St Mirren enjoying a 3-2 victory a week later.

Gordon Durie struck up a successful partnership with Cowan. The pair scored 25 league goals between them in the 1985/86 campaign

City rivals Hearts triumphed in the first Edinburgh derby of the campaign, winning 2-1 on the last day of August, before Celtic hammered Hibs 5-0 at Easter Road on September 7.

But after a meek 1-0 loss at Dundee the Easter Road side embarked on an unbeaten run stretching from September 28 until December 14, when they went down 4-0 to Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

Practice for Europe

Four days before the trip to the northeast, Hibs had hosted Feyenoord of the Netherlands in a mid-season friendly match.

Why? Because Blackley wanted his team to be prepared for the calibre of opposition they might face if they qualified for Europe… which they hadn't done since 1978.

And so on a Wednesday night in December the Eredivisie side, led by Ab Fafié, came to the Scottish capital.

The Rotterdam outfit had finished third in the Dutch top flight the previous season, level on points with second-placed PSV Eindhoven and just six points behind champions Ajax, and had qualified for the UEFA Cup. Included in their squad were Netherlands caps Johnny Rep – a veteran of the 1974 and 1978 World Cups – Joop Heile, Tschen La Ling, and Simon Tahamata, who would later have a train named after him.

Also in the squad were Sjaak Troost who would go onto win Euro 88 with the Netherlands; Danish internationalists Ivan Nielsen and John Eriksen; and Ken Monkou, best known on these shores for his spells with Chelsea and Southampton.

No McBride, no problem

Blackley had already taken the decision to leave Joe McBride out of his squad for the friendy match, preferring to keep the winger fresh for the trip to the Granite City at the weekend, but otherwise named a strong team to face Feyenoord who were sitting pretty in second spot in the Eredivisie when they came to town.

Hibs started the game strongly and Troost was forced off with injury after just two minutes following a challenge from Gordon Durie, with youngster Ton Rietbroek coming on in his place.

If the Easter Road players were cowed by the lofty stature of their opponents, they didn’t let it show. With just 11 minutes on the clock, Durie tested Hiele with an effort from the edge of the box and with a quarter of an hour gone, Hibs were awarded a penalty after Hiele felled Durie in the box.

Paul Kane stepped up and converted the spot-kick to give the hosts the lead and Blackley’s side turned up the pressure on the Dutchmen.

Defensive errors

Shortly after Kane’s penalty, Rietbroek fluffed an attempted backpass to Hiele and Steve Cowan was alert enough to capitalise on the error, running onto the loose ball and burying it for goal number two.

If Feyenoord’s defending had been ropey, Hibs gave them a run for their money on 21 minutes. A cross from Tahamata was batted down by Alan Rough but before the goalkeeper could gather the ball Ralph Callachan, attempting to snuff out the danger, hit his clearance off Gordon Hunter with the ball ending up in the net for 2-1.

There were no more goals in the first half. Feyenoord made a change at half-time, replacing goalkeeper Hiele with Jan Formannoy but the well-travelled shot-stopper’s first act was to scoop the ball out of the net.

Callachan atoned for his earlier gaffe by finding Cowan with a pass that drew Formannoy from his line, and the former Aberdeen striker neatly side-stepped the ‘keeper and tapped the ball into the gaping goal to restore Hibs’ two-goal lead.

Having reduced Hibs' lead in the first half Feyenoord did so again with just under 20 minutes remaining. Substitute Rep, just as he had done against Rough and Scotland at the Estadio Ciudad de Mendoza in Argentina seven years earlier, struck to reduce the deficit to 3-2.

The veteran winger pounced on a loose ball before firing past Rough from a tight angle at the near post, but it was the hosts who had the last word, substitute Colin Harris scampering down the left wing before crossing for Eddie May to flick in Hibs' fourth of the game at the death.

Futile exercise

It was a fine result against formidable opposition in an ultimately futile exercise. The midweek test had taken its toll on the squad with full-back pair Iain Munro and Alan Sneddon suffering knocks while Durie came down with ‘flu the day after the match, and Hibs didn't qualify again for Europe until Alex Miller’s tenure.

Blackley made just two changes to the team that had recorded the 4-2 victory against Feyenoord for the trip to face Aberdeen but Durie was sent off and three other players booked as the Dons arrested their own poor run of form with a 4-0 win.

The Easter Road side later lodged a complaint with the Scottish League over Inverurie-based referee Billy Knowles’ handling of the game.

Hibs team v Feyenoord: Rough; Sneddon, Munro (Tortolano), Rae (Collins), Fulton, Hunter, Kane (May), Chisholm (Brazil), Cowan, Durie (Harris), Callachan.

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