The name Jimmy O’Rourke was mythical at Easter Road when I first signed on at the club.
You can’t help but notice the pictures of the legends which adorn the walls, the history of the club is all around the stadium and he was up there with the greatest of them all. A Turnbull Tornado, scorer of the winning goal in the 1972 League Cup against Celtic and for over four decades the youngest player to pull on the shirt.
It was a pleasure to get to know him personally and he’d forgive me for recounting a funny story as part of a tribute to his passing earlier this week aged 76 years old. I had the pleasure of getting to know him over the years, he would come into training occasionally and attend games so it would be a chance to pick a fellow striker’s brains. He’d watch training and pass on a few tips, was generous with his time and as a kid I’d be starstruck and in awe of a charismatic man who had achieved so much as a player.
Four years ago he was the manager of my team in a charity game arranged to raise funds for Gary O’Connor’s 2nd Chance Football Academy. It was hosted at Spartan’s ground and fellow club icon Pat Stanton was boss of the other team. It was a privilege to see the two of them on the touchline standing side by side.
So many ex- Hibs players had made the effort to come along and play and I remember Jimmy’s pre-match team-talk being laced with a few laughs and that competitive edge still shone through. It was for charity but there was no doubt he wanted to get one over his old Holy Cross Academy pal Pat who was addressing his troops in the other room.
Jimmy led us to a 4-3 win and I scored a hat-trick. I remember walking off the pitch and he shouted, ‘Well done McManus, but how come you couldn’t do that when you actually played for Hibs?' Charity game or no charity game, I’m counting it as a treble for the club as it’s the only one I’ve ever scored.
He looked fit and well, it was only 2018 so even doing this obituary of sorts is all a bit of a shock. It’s incredible to think that he wrote his name into the record books by being the youngest player to line up for Hibs aged 16 years and 85 days against Utrecht in an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup game.
I played in the game when that record would fall and it was Jamie McCluskey who broke it when we played a game in 2004 against Kilmarnock. You look at Jimmy’s scoring stats and it tells a story of a player who was lethal. He fired 121 goals in 321 games and sits ninth in the all-time scoring chart at the club. Those are the types of stats you dream about.
He played under another legend in Eddie Turnbull and younger Hibs fans may not fully appreciate that the club at that time were going toe-to-toe with Celtic and Rangers, they were making a mark in Europe and taking the scalps of top sides.
To score over 100 goals for any club puts you in the top bracket, I knew all about his pedigree when I first met him, when he spoke and tried to discuss aspects of my game and how he thought I was playing, I would sit there and listen. I could have sat with him and talked all day.
It’s a sad time for Jimmy’s family and friends, I would first like to express my condolences to his loved ones and state just how much I appreciated the time I had with him and for getting the chance to pay my own tribute to him. A legend in every sense of the word and a man who will never be forgotten by the club or the supporters.
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