Lee Johnson hoping Hibs can benefit from his 'mini football mafia' family as boss hits milestone

Lee Johnson reckons his family is like a “mini football mafia” throughout the UK. And he hopes the network that stretches 470 miles from Leith to Devon can benefit his Hibs side as they look to take command of Edinburgh again.

The Easter Road boss, who celebrates a year in the job today, is one of 10 Johnsons in the pro game with his dad Gary, who is manager at Torquay United, still the don. Johnson senior made a trip to Edinburgh earlier this month to spend a week watching his son and protege at work on the training ground and when business was done with a win over St Mirren on their own patch.

And while there’s certainly nothing dodgy about their set-up, Johnson junior insists the extended family which includes players, managers and scouts can give him a leg-up in his bid to make Hibs a force again. The Hibees have three games to lock down a European spot and could jump capital rivals Hearts who they face in Gorgie on the final day of the season. Asked about his dad’s visit to HTC the 41-year-old said: “It was really good. He loved it.

“He knew Hibs was a big club but to see how big it is when you are at a game, at the stadium, you see the history, the training ground and you see the numbers of workforce around the training ground. He loves football and he enjoyed it and he was delighted that we won because he knew how big a game it was.

“Obviously, we have conversations about football and my daughter always moans at Sunday lunch that it’s 10 minutes talking about her and then three hours talking about football. But football is in our family. There are 10 Johnsons in football and another set of Griffins, which is my nan, my dad’s mum’s maiden name, who are also in football.

“It is, I suppose, a mini football mafia