Shame on you, Hibs
Many years ago , my friend Fred was one of the founders of the Australia branch of the Hibernian Football Club Supporters’ Association. Over the years, pre-internet, they’ve spread the word through snail-mailed press cuttings, and monthly newsletters; members have even bought season tickets that were rarely if ever used. They are true addicts, football fans of the finest kind. Their club should be proud of them and should encourage them in any way it can. At least that’s what you’d think.
A few days ago, the man who looks after their website <<http://www.ozhibs.com/>> contacted Easter Road and asked if he could use the Hibs badge in a new logo he’s doing for them. He offered to acknowledge Hibs’ copyright and to give HibernianTV a free ad on every page of the site. It took a club official all of 45 minutes, and just ten words to say, ‘No’. The man involved didn’t even have the courtesy to offer an explanation for his intransigence. I know this because I’ve seen his email. There may be legal inhibitions on use of the badge, but it would have cost nothing to set these out.
No wonder Fred and his pals feel let down, and angry. If someone who reads this post knows Hibs’ majority owner Sir Tom Farmer, (or any senior executive of the club) I’d be grateful if they’d bring it to his attention. I’m sure he’ll appreciate that no club has so many fans, nor any business so many customers, that it can afford to snub a single one of them, least of all those who carry the torch on the other side of the world.
Quintin Jardine's blog 