Hibs give new East Stand the green light

Forget the three defeats in a row that have derailed any hopes Hibs might have had of hanging onto Celtic's coat tails into the split. Whatever else happens, this is a very significant season for the Leith club - today Hibs confirmed that they are finally building a new East Stand.

By starting work now, the club hopes to have the new stand finished early next season. Once open, it will complete the redevelopment of Easter Road which began in 1995, when Hibernian decided to create a modern, purpose-built all seater stadium on a ground that had seen the old banked terracing chopped up and covered in piecemeal fashion for decades.

Planning permission for the new stand had been secured some years ago, but the current slump in the construction industry has persuaded the club to enter a buyer's market and build the stand now. When complete, Easter Road will have a capacity of a little over 20,000.

Think about that for a moment. The biggest Scottish football stadia outside Glasgow are currently Aberdeen and Kilmarnock, at around 20,000 seats or so, and neither club comes close to filling them at the moment. Meanwhile, clubs across Scotland (from Celtic and Rangers down) are tightening belts as new financial realities hit home.

Yet Hibs have decided now is the time to spend a few million on a new stand.

It's brave, ambitious, and testament to the prudent way the club has been run over the past few years. Hibs are often lauded as a model of how a football club should be run - for good reason. They've spent only what they could afford, and resisted fan pressure to invest in long-term infrastructure rather than short-term signings.

In fact, chairman Rod Petrie could probably transfer himself for a hefty seven figure fee to any club that wanted to benefit from his business acumen.

If the footballing map in Scotland is changing, with the Old Firm no longer so dominant, then keep an eye on the club from Leith.