Hibernian vs Naples 29/11/67 any footage exist?

[williammcgregor]

Hi,

I was looking at a Hibernian FC fans forum this morning and the question asked was does any film footage exist of a famous victory by Hibernian FC (of Scotland) against the Italian side Naples ? in the old Fairs Cup (now known as the Europa League)

It was at Easter Road, Edinburgh, on the 29/11/67 the scoreline was 5-0 to Hibernian after losing the 1st leg 4-1.

The fan who posted the question said that they remember watching highlights of the game that night? and that the game may have been on "Scotsport"

any help would be much appreciated! thanks.

[Peter Stirling]

Off the beaten track perhaps to the usual suspects....?

but a fair few old football matches survive as 8mm home movie highlights. Sometimes these could be purchased by fans from their team ground.

....just a thought anyway

[williammcgregor]

Thanks Peter I'll give that a try

[Jeff Lewis]

The date you gave is actually incorrect and should read 29th November 1967. There was football broadcast that night on the BBC. The only details of schedule broadcasts I can find are from England and Wales so it's quite possible BBC Scotland broadcast their own programme that night. Worth remembering however that the obvious choice of match would be Glasgow Rangers v Cologne.

29/Nov Manchester United 2 (Aston, Best) FK Sarajevo 1 (Delatic) [European Cup R1 L2] *David Coleman
Cardiff City 4 (Brown, Jones, Clarke, Toshack) NEC Breda 1 (Nouwens) [ECWC R2 L2] *BBC Wales 11:25pm, Infax, 5-2 agg

[williammcgregor]

Hi Jeff thanks for correcting me on the actual date of the match and for the other info

[robincarmody]

This will definitely have been 'Scotsport' coverage. The Times listings for 29th November 1967 give 'Scotland Late (including Scotsport)' for STV, at the unlikely times of 10.42-11.53 pm. There was no football on BBC Scotland who did not take either the Man Utd or Cardiff games and closed down earlier.

Actually there was some interesting scheduling that night - it was the day before St Andrew's Day so STV, Grampian and Border all showed 'The Queen of Scots' in the 'Scottish Playbill' series from 8-10 pm - this isn't included in the Kal guide, but all the 'Scottish Playbill' entries they do list were junked. Border did their own rugby coverage, surely a rare thing, of Scottish Districts vs The All Blacks, but Grampian just took the post-News at Ten network schedule of The Frost Programme and Wrestling.

I don't think it's so obvious that Rangers would have been shown: Scottish Television, like their English counterparts, had a commitment to show a wide range of teams and I suspect it was written in the contracts by which they had to show football (it certainly was for the English-based companies), for all that two teams were historically more dominant there. There is definitely some 'Scotsport' footage of European matches from the 1960s surviving - coverage of a famous Dunfermline Athletic win over Valencia from December 1962 was included in the 1997 'Arena' trilogy on Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Jock Stein, the last-named of whom was then the Dunfermline manager. I suggest that William contacts STV, possibly via their YouTube channel, to ask of the match's survival - they have shown themselves receptive to similar enquiries in the past.

[williammcgregor]

thanks for all your research Robin, it's much appreciated.

I think I'll get in touch with Scottish TV

thanks again

[Ronnie McDevitt]

`Scotland Late' was a joint news and sports production by the `Scotsport' and `Scotland Now' teams which went out on most Wednesday evenings from the start of the 1967-8 season until early 1968 when the midweek sport went out under the Scotsport banner again.
Hibs V Napoli may have featured but I have no further details for that particular edition. The Rangers V Cologne match was played the previous evening in Germany but this does not eliminate it from being screened on Scotland Late as it was not unusual in those days for overseas matches not screened on the Eurovision link to have film flown back to STV or BBC Scotland for transmission the next evening. Certainly there was no football on either channel on the day of the Cologne game. BBC Scotlands 'Sportsreel' did incidentally show highlights of the first leg at Ibrox on November 8th. Equally at this time Scotsport had a contract to show two ten minute edits during each broadcast (longer versions could be negotiated for European matches and internationals) so both games could have been shown on the 29th. The only other Scottish side in action that night were Aberdeen who were away to Standard leige in the Cup Winners' Cup.
The chances are the STV library will no longer have any footage as there was at the time deemed little point in retaining football matches once broadcast although some of the goals were kept with the rest of the highlights junked. STV sometimes gave film prints to the participating clubs which is how a number of Dunfermlines European matches survive - including the 6-2 Valencia game which Robin mentions, although the first goal is missing. Other games from the period retained by STV are pretty much hit and miss. As far as Hibs are concerned there are highlights of Hibs V Bayern Munich from 1960, V Balenenses from '61 and Real Madrid from 1964 at least in the STV library. Hope this is off some help.

[williammcgregor]

thanks very much Ronnie much appreciated

[John Green]

Robin,Lost Shows has 8 'Scottish Playbills' listed over the course of a year 66-67.I wonder how many more might actually have been broadcast?

[Tom McPhillips]

I recall being told in the early 80's that STV had cleared its archive of many early football matches and that Jim Hossack who was then involved with Scotsport had purchased the material. I'm fairly confident this information was accurate so it may be worth trying to make contact with him to ascertain if footage from that match was included.

[williammcgregor]

Thanks for the info Tom, I'll try contacting Jim Hossack

[Ronnie McDevitt]

Better late than never - highlights of Hibs V Roma were definitely shown during Scotland Late on 29/11/67.
I can even tell you that the comentator was Bob Crampsey.

[williammcgregor]

Thanks for the update Ronnie

It leaves the hope that if a Hibs fan knew there was definitely going to be footage of the match that night on STV then they could have either filmed the footage from the TV screen or even just taped the commentary?

Either scenario is not very likely, but I live in hope!

It would be fantastic however to discover that the footage did survive!

[Ronnie McDevitt]

Well I've not been looking all this time but happened to come accross confirmation yesterday and remembered this old thread!
Spent a few hours in the Mitchell Library yesterday looking through the readers letters to the TV pages of the Evening Citizen.
A letter appeared from one viewer regarding Scotland Late. It raised the question of commentators impartiality and criticised Crampseys excitement at Hibs performance as going against this during the highlights.
If he hadnt been biased the letter would not have been written and we would of course have been non the wiser!