The applause from Hibernian supporters for Sir Tom Farmer as the hearse carrying his body passed Easter Road stadium this week took me back to the 90s when the attitude of many Hibs fans towards the Kwik Fit tycoon was not one of affection.

Far from being the man who saved the club in 1991 from being swallowed up in the rough wooing by the late Hearts chairman Wallace Mercer for the two rivals to come together, he was regarded by more than a few as someone with no genuine interest in football whose love for the club was all about the development potential of the wasteland surrounding the stadium, the so-called Lochend Butterfly, named after the shape of intersecting disused railway lines.

It was not, they argued, an act of civic altruism, but a property opportunity. Sir Tom’s patience eventually ran out after a critical article in The Scotsman by the diarist and diehard Hibee, Simon Pia and he successfully sued for defamation.

Despite the splendid new stadium, replacing the crumbling old ground and its infamous sloping pitch, a handful of diehards still believe he took the club and supporters for a ride, and years later as I leafleted the flats on Lochend Butterfly Way and Lawrie Reilly Place, I thought that even if Sir Tom was only in it for the money, which I didn’t believe then or now, the deal ultimately put roofs over the heads of hundreds of families as well as 25,000 football supporters. Both the flats and the stadium provided a fitting backdrop for his final journey.

Read more

Surprisingly, telling people road closures are 'for their own good' goes down badly

© Herald Scotland