Hibs' historic goalscorer Buchanan dies aged 74

Published on Friday 4 September 2009 22:37

THE first player to score a European Cup goal on British soil, former Hibernian forward John 'Jock' Buchanan, has died after a long illness at the age of 74.

Buchanan, who found himself in the unlucky position of being understudy to legendary strikers Lawrie Reilly then Joe Baker during his seven years at Easter Road, scored Hibs' goal in their European Cup return leg against German side Rot Weiss Essen on 12 October, 1955.

The Edinburgh side, who had become the first to represent Britain after being invited to take part in the inaugural 16-team European Cup, had comfortably won the first leg in Germany 4-0, and Buchanan did not even know he would be playing in the reverse fixture until arriving at Easter Road on the night of the match – shortly after he had devoured two groaning plates of his mother's mince and tatties.

In his own words the helpings he had wolfed down "would have killed a store horse", but Buchanan was given the nod to start the game and scored his historic goal in the fifth minute in front of a 30,000 crowd at Easter Road. It almost proved the winner, but Fritz Abromeit grabbed a consolation for Rot-Weiss in the 90th minute for a 1-1 draw on the night.

Buchanan was born on 3 January, 1935, and was educated in Leith, first attending Dr Bell's School and then David Kilpatrick School. He arrived at Easter Road as a teenage centre-half in 1954 from juvenile side Edinburgh Waverley, following a brief career as an apprentice painter, but decided he was more interested in scoring goals than stopping them and took the decision to convert to centre-forward.

But with Scotland and Famous Five forward Reilly ahead of him in the queue and an automatic pick in the great Hibs team of the 1950s, the red-haired Buchanan found himself having to settle for a place in the reserves. He was a popular and prolific player, amassing a tally of 60 goals in one season in Hibs' second string.

He scored on his full debut in a 2-1 win against Raith Rovers in October 1954, but would only go on to make another 12 first-team appearances, adding another five goals.

Another historic appearance for Buchanan came in Hibs' first-ever official match under the Easter Road floodlights on 18 October, 1954, a 2-0 defeat in a friendly against Hearts. Johnny Urquhart and Jimmy Whittle scored the goals for the Tynecastle side.

Buchanan's time at Easter Road was also interrupted by National Service, and he spent two years in Wales with the Royal Artillery at Oswestry.

His final match for Hibs was at Ibrox in a 2-1 defeat against Rangers in December 1960, and a short time after he moved to Raith, then south to Newport County before returning to play in the East of Scotland League with Gala Fairydean and Hawick Royal Albert, while also having a spell with Duns.

Buchanan remained an avid follower of Hibs and was one of the founder members of the former players' association. He was a keen golfer at Craigmillar Park and worked as a taxi driver after retiring from football. He lived latterly in the Moredun area of Edinburgh.

He was married to wife Bette and they had one son John and two daughters, Jacqueline and Jennifer.

His funeral will be held at Mortonhall on Wednesday.