2000–01 Hibernian F.C. season

League season

Hibs got off to an excellent start to the league season, winning 11 of their first 14 games. This led to Celtic manager Martin O'Neill describing Hibs as "worthy challengers" for the league in October, after they had beaten defending champions Rangers 1–0 at Easter Road. Rangers manager Dick Advocaat dismissed Hibs' chances, but Hibs responded with a "scintillating display" as they won 6–2 in an Edinburgh derby days later, with Mixu Paatelainen scoring a hat-trick. Celtic eventually ran away with the league championship, but Hibs continued to challenge for second place until a losing run in March effectively ended their chances of finishing above Rangers. Their early season form, however, meant that Hibs finished well clear of the other SPL clubs in third place, qualifying for the following season's UEFA Cup competition.

Results

Agathe
McManus Agathe
Lehmann
Lehmann
Lovell Paatelainen Lovell Larsson
Burchill Paatelainen Zitelli
Latapy Paatelainen
Zitelli
Paatelainen
O'Neil
Latapy Cameron Zitelli Mayer Townsley
Zitelli Zitelli
Paatelainen Paatelainen Fenwick
O'Neil Zitelli
Zitelli
Latapy Gillies Hampshire Lovenkrands Zitelli Libbra McNamara
Larsson
Stubbs
Moravcik de Boer
de Boer
Vidmar

Final table

Scottish League Cup

As one of the SPL clubs who failed to qualify for European competition, Hibs entered at the second round stage of the competition, in which they defeated Stenhousemuir 2–1. Another 2–1 win, after extra time against Falkirk, sent Hibs through to a quarter-final against Kilmarnock. In that match, Hibs took an early lead through a Russell Latapy goal, but conceded two second half goals to lose 2–1 and exit the competition.

Results

Lehmann Latapy Dargo

Scottish Cup

Results

Jack
Sauzee
Paatelainen
Lehmann
Lehmann Graham O'Neil
McManus Zitelli
O'Neil Larsson
Larsson

Transfers

The only major transfer involving Hibs during the season was the sale of Kenny Miller, Hibs' top goalscorer in the previous season, to Rangers for £2M in total. It was suggested in the media that the fee would be used to finance refurbishments of Easter Road, but the Hibs board denied this and pledged to reinvest in the playing squad. A curious bit of transfer activity involved Didier Agathe, who Hibs signed as a free agent on a short-term contract in the 2000 close season. After a few good performances for Hibs, Agathe was offered the chance to double his salary by Celtic manager Martin O'Neill. This prompted Hibs to sell Agathe to Celtic for the relatively small fee of £50,000, given that the player only had weeks remaining on his contract, and could have signed for Celtic for no transfer fee when it expired.

Players in

Players out

Loans in

Loans out

Player stats

During the 2000–01 season, Hibs used 27 different players in competitive games. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player. None of the players appeared in every match, but goalkeeper Nick Colgan played in all but one of the league matches and in all eight of the cup ties. Gary Smith and Mathias Jack also appeared in 37 league matches, as Hibs fielded a relatively settled side.

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Notes

References

1. "Average Home League Game Attendances". fitbastats.com.
2. (26 May 2001). "McLeish gracious in defeat". BBC.
3. (17 October 2000). "O'Neill warns of Hibs title challenge". [[BBC Sport]].
4. (22 October 2000). "Six-goal Hibs break Hearts". [[BBC Sport]].
5. Ross, Kenny. "Hibs' Euro Dream Now in Dane-Ger". [[Daily Mirror]].
6. [https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/scottish/latapy-keeps-hibs-in-the-hunt-628975.html Latapy keeps Hibs in the hunt]{{dead link. (August 2021)
7. Lomax, Andrew. (22 June 2000). "Rangers close in on £1.5m deal for striker Miller". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
8. (4 June 2001). "Hibs get tough over Libbra". [[BBC Sport]].
9. Gordon, Phil. (14 October 2001). "Celtic seek exultation on sacred ground". [[The Independent]].
10. "Hibernian 2000/2001 player appearances". Soccerbase.