Mickey Weir: Ron Gordon's last act as Hibs owner showed the stature of the man

Like many Hibs supporters I was really shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of Ron Gordon.

Obviously there was the statement brought out a couple of weeks ago saying he was unwell, so people were aware of the situation, but I don't think anyone expected for it to happen so quick. Unfortunately that's what happened and we've lost Ron.

There's been a great response from the wider football community, which often happens in these situations. It helps you remember that football isn't everything. When someone loses a father, a grandfather, a son, it's always a terrible thing.

I had the privilege of meeting him a couple of times. He was very nice. I couldn't say anything bad about him, he was just a lovely man. Any time I met him or had to deal with him there was never any problems.

Hibs chairman Ron Gordon sadly died last week after a battle with cancer. Picture: SNS

I first met him at the Hibs players' dance. He came over and introduced himself and spoke about his plans for Hibs.

It was the stature of the man that he was able to put his hand up and admit he made mistakes, because there's a lot of folk who don't do that. Ron did that and wanted to rectify things at the football club after the struggles of last season and the first half of this one.

You're always going to get rough spells when you're running a football club. It's how you respond and deal with it that matters. It's not easy to take over a football club and try to build it up in your own image.

An unfortunate part of it is that he didn't get to see this through. There was real warmth and feeling there towards the club. He really wanted Hibs to do well.

Hopefully the people now in charge of the club can make it happen in his honour. Because it was a worry for supporters after the initial shock at the horrendous news. You don't know what the future is for Hibs, but the family have come out and said they want to continue his legacy. That's a big relief for the future of Hibs.

But football doesn't mean anything when these situations come around.

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