Hibs pipped Liverpool to Archibald

IT IS a measure of a supremely self-assured man that Steve Archibald can reflect on the time he missed out on a move to the great Liverpool side of the late 1980s without any hint of bitterness.

His love affair with Barcelona had soured to the extent that he found himself excluded from first-team football due to the foreigner restrictions in place at the time, with Gary Lineker and Mark Hughes the strikers of choice. A loan move to Blackburn Rovers was designed to place him back in the shop window. Given his standing it was no surprise that Liverpool made known their interest. Notice of Hibs' intention to join the hunt was less expected, and that this chase proved a fruitful one despite Liverpool's own bid to lure Archibald is, even now, a startling revelation.

The Anfield side were at the peak of their powers under Kenny Dalglish, although, unusually, Hibs were able to offer something even Liverpool could not – a route into Europe. English clubs were still suffering from the post-Heysel ban from European football. But Archibald had not had his senses sufficiently frazzled by the Catalan sun to be rendered unmoved by an approach from Liverpool, whose exciting side included the likes of John Barnes, Peter Beardsley and Ian Rush.

As Archibald recalled yesterday from his home in Barcelona, only the nascent state of mobile phone communication was to blame for the Anfield club's name not appearing on an already impressive CV. Hibs were the winners when a snag became apparent during contract talks with the then Liverpool chief executive, Peter Robinson. Dalglish, who was abroad at the time, could not be contacted to iron-out the details. Rather than that year's Charity Shield final Archibald made his season's bow against Stranraer in the Skol Cup, scoring twice. It was another surreal turn in a career that was never conventional and is worth recalling before Barcelona take on Hibs in a challenge match on 24 July at Murrayfield.

"At the time I was at Blackburn Rovers and Jim Gray, who was joint chairman at the time, came on the phone," revealed Archibald. "He wanted to see what the situation was. At the same time Liverpool were trying to sign me, but no-one had really noticed this.

"I had Kenny on the phone, and I had Hibs on the phone," Archibald continued. "It was close season and Kenny was going away with Liverpool for pre-season training. It was the time before everyone had mobile phones and communication really wasn't that brilliant. Kenny left it to the chief executive of Liverpool at the time to take care of business. We started talking and it would have been a fantastic move for me to go to Liverpool. It would have given me a chance to get a league title under my belt – that is what I really desired.

"But Jim Gray was pushing hard at Hibs. We came across a stumbling block at Liverpool and could not get over it. The only hope was Kenny but he was away. It was between Liverpool and Hibs and because Kenny was not available the deal never got done, so I went to Hibs. I have no regrets and had a fantastic time. I made some good friends and we had success. I scored goals and we got into Europe for the first time in over ten years."

Liverpool went on to miss out on the league title when they lost 2-0 at home to Arsenal on the final day of a season that remains indelibly marked by the Hillsborough disaster. Archibald, whose team-mates included Gordon Hunter and Gordon Rae, helped inspire Hibs to a fifth place finish in the league. He also scored Hibs' goal when they fell 3-1 to Celtic in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup. By the next season difficulties had arisen between player and club. Asked later how he would sum up the experience of having Archibald on the premises, Gray replied with one word: "Educational."

Gray had been so keen to impress Archibald when he finally signed on for Hibs in August 1988 that the player's last port of call momentarily slipped his mind. He took the striker by the arm and told him: "You must come out and see the pitch". Easter Road, however, was then undergoing reconstruction work. "When you came out of the tunnel, straight across the pitch at the back of the terraces it was all corrugated sheeting," recalled Archibald. "It wasn't very impressive after the Nou Camp."

Archibald provided the club with the glamour desperately required at the time. After all, it is not every day Hibs sign someone whose task at Barca had been to replace Diego Maradona.