Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Hibernian F.C." in English language version.
Sectarian bigotry may not be completely absent from this relationship, but it has always been less important than identification with territory. Hibs supporters tend to belong to the north and east of Edinburgh, while Hearts supporters (who outnumber their city rivals by a ratio of approximately two to one) are more usually found in the south and west.
Since both Hearts and Hibs originated in the Old Town, rivalry between the clubs was always inescapable. But in the main it is a fairly good-natured rivalry and, in fact, has not been without its productive aspects.
Even though Hibs were founded by Irish–Catholic immigrants, this connection to their sectarian origins has faded significantly in the Protestant-dominated Edinburgh of the twentieth century.
In August 1887, Scottish Cup holders Hibernian took on FA Cup winners Preston North End in a friendly at Hibs' Easter Road ground. Posters appeared all over Edinburgh billing the encounter as 'The Association Football Championship of the World'. Hibernian won the match 2–1 and therefore had the right (whichever way you look at it, as nobody else had bothered to stage such an event) to call themselves the first world champions, beating Uruguay to it by 43 years.
Edinburgh Hibernians were founded as the first catholic club in 1875. In its first incarnation, only catholics were permitted to play for Hibernian, but when the club was reconstituted in 1893 the ban on protestants was lifted.
Sectarian loyalties became articulated in club support for, respectively, Glasgow's Celtic and Rangers, Edinburgh's Hibs and Hearts and, early on, for Dundee's Hibs (from 1923 United) and Dundee F.C.
Other rivalries such as between Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian in Edinburgh or the Dundee and Dundee United divide were but pale reflections of this fiercer and peculiarly Scottish rivalry.
Sectarianism of a more muted kind also lay beneath the Hearts and Hibs split in Edinburgh
Welsh, a lifelong Hibernian fan, is notoriously partisan in this regard, and in the novels before Glue, few of his positive characters follow Heart of Midlothian. Welsh uses the traditions of Edinburgh's football clubs to discuss the difficult subjects of community identity and contemporary conflict
Like his main group of friends, a fan of Hibernian Football Club
She [Siobhan Clarke] is single, fiercely independent and is fond of both music and football, being a loyal supporter of Hibernian FC.
Hibs, in fact, were the first Scottish club to carry a shirt sponsor, that of Bukta in 1977 (Kettering Town were the first south of the border, in 1976).
Hibs, in fact, were the first Scottish club to carry a shirt sponsor, that of Bukta in 1977 (Kettering Town were the first south of the border, in 1976).
