On 6 August 1875 a group of Irish immigrants in Edinburgh set up a football club of their own. Hibernian, or simply "Hibs", turns 152 on 6 August 2027. It is the club that opened Europe's door to British football.

A club for the Irish of the Cowgate

The club was born in the Cowgate, an Edinburgh neighbourhood where many Irish people lived. Its founder and first president was the priest Edward Joseph Hannan, while the first team captain was Michael Whelahan.

The name comes from Hibernia, the Latin name for Ireland. Among the club's first symbols were the Irish harp and the motto "Erin go bragh", meaning "Ireland forever".

Green from day one

Green and white have been Hibernian's colours since 1875. The very first kit was a white shirt, and the team then wore green-and-white hoops, a style that Celtic would later adopt too.

From 1879, and for almost 60 years, the shirt was all green. In 1915 the outfit of green shirt, white shorts and black-and-green socks was settled, and in the early 1930s the dark bottle green gave way to a brighter emerald.

The white sleeves and the Arsenal question

In 1938 the white sleeves appeared, still the shirt's trademark today. The resemblance to Arsenal, who had added white sleeves to their red shirt in 1933, is obvious, but nobody knows for sure whether it was a copy.

New chairman Harry Swan may have been impressed by the Londoners, or he may simply have wanted a fresh look or better visibility for the players on the pitch. The same year the black socks became green and white.

The shirt has other firsts too: in 1977 Hibernian became the first professional club in Scotland with a sponsor on the chest. In 2014-15 the team briefly dropped the white sleeves as a tribute to the legendary "Famous Five".

Harp, castle and ship

The harp was removed from the badge in the 1950s and returned with the redesign of 2000. Today's crest brings together three pieces of identity: the harp for Ireland, a castle for Edinburgh and a ship for the port of Leith.

The club's home has been Easter Road since 1893. It now holds about 20,400 spectators, but in January 1950, for a derby against Hearts, it packed in 65,860 people.

The Famous Five and the first British club in Europe

The golden era came with the celebrated forward line known as the Famous Five: Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone, Lawrie Reilly, Eddie Turnbull and Willie Ormond. Each of them scored more than 100 league goals for Hibernian, and the team won the titles of 1948, 1951 and 1952.

In 1955 Hibernian became the first British club to play in a European competition, the very first European Cup. They reached the semi-finals, where they were knocked out by Reims.

The most emotional moment, though, came in 2016. A 3-2 win over Rangers brought the Scottish Cup back for the first time in 114 years, since 1902. Today the club plays in the Scottish Premiership, where it finished fifth in 2025-26.

Celebrate with us

From an immigrant neighbourhood to one of the most recognisable greens in Europe, Hibernian has never forgotten where it started. Happy birthday, Hibs, on your 152 years!

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Easter Road during a cup match in 2012 – Daniel from United Kingdom, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0.