Hibby heroes hailed

FANS chief Mike Riley reckons bringing Franck Sauzee to Hibs was the best move Alex McLeish has made in his managerial career so far.

The Hibs defender came out top in our Cult Heroes poll as best foreign player ever to grace the Easter Road turf and Riley, Chairman of the Hibs Supporters' Association, couldn't agree more with that choice.

Sauzee made a total of 77 appearances for Hibs in the two years he spent in Edinburgh, scoring 13 goals in the process, despite playing the majority of his games for the club in defence.

Riley said: "Franck was a tremendous player - and for the position that he played in on the park he had a great goal scoring record.

"Most Hibs supporters think of him as a real world-class player and someone that we were all very privileged to have seen play for our team week-in, week-out. Bringing him to the club was an absolute gem of a move by Alex McLeish at the time, it was definitely the highlight of his managerial era with Hibs and something people will never forget."

The winner of the goalkeeping category was larger-than-life character John Burridge, who was nicknamed Budgie throughout a career that saw him play professional football for 29 different clubs.

Burridge pipped both Andy Goram and Jim Leighton for first place and Riley remembers one save in particular that those two would have been proud of. Riley said of the wacky keeper: "I think that choosing the best goalkeeper is the most difficult category because we had guys like Jim Leighton and Andy Goram who were fantastic keepers and would have been right up there too. John maybe wasn't the obvious choice for his goalkeeping skills alone, but he was just one of those people that everyone warmed to. He was a real character of a man in every sense of the word and whenever Hibs fans stopped him in the street to say hello he would always make sure that he had time for them and had a laugh with them. He really endeared himself to everyone who met him or watched him, he even had a laugh on the pitch.

"And I'll certainly never forget the save that he made in the Skol Cup semi-final against Rangers back in 1991. We won the cup that year and a huge thanks had to go to John for the fantastic save he made to push a certain goal from Ally McCoist onto the post."

Hibs fans voted for Gordon Hunter as their favourite hard man, the defender having spent 14 years showing his commitment to the cause.

Hunter, who was given a testimonial match in 1996, now runs a taxi firm but was a huge favourite with the club's supporters. Riley watched Hunter almost every week during the 80s and 90s when he was one of the mainstays of the Hibs side and he continued: "Gordon was a very hard player but also a very fair player.

"He really played with his heart on his sleeve and he never shirked a tackle. Although there were other Hibs players who probably went in harder, I think Gordon was a good choice, simply because of the fact that he was so committed to the cause.

"He was well respected by both the fans and his team-mates and he's probably always remembered for the goal that he scored at Tynecastle to give Hibs a derby win that stopped Hearts from making it 23 in a row against us."

The final choice was for the greatest entertainer and Gordon Smith, who was a member of Hibs' legendary Famous Five forward line in the 50s, was the clear winner. He captured the imagination of the Easter Road crowd alongside Lawrie Reilly, Eddie Turnbull, Bobby Johnstone and Willie Ormond, making Hibs one of the most feared teams in the country at that time. And although Riley was too young to remember seeing him play, his father was a huge fan. He said: "Gordon Smith was my father's favourite ever Hibs player and he was always telling stories of games that he had watched him play in, particularly one where he seemingly ran the whole length of the park keeping the ball up in the air with his knees. I probably wouldn't have believed that story, but so many people talk about it.

"He told me that I saw him play when I was just a boy, for Hearts and for Dundee, but I was so young that I don't remember. From what my dad said though, it would have been an honour to watch him in action. He is the only Scottish footballer in history to have won a league championship with three different clubs - and none of them were the Old Firm.

"I certainly don't think we'll ever see that happen again."

THE RESULTS

TOP HARD MAN: Gordon Hunter

TOP FOREIGNER: Franck Sauzee

TOP KEEPER: John Burridge

TOP ENTERTAINER: Gordon Smith