Tom McNiven, former Hibs physio, trainer, and caretaker manager, dies at 87

A keen sprinter and former player with junior outfit Stonehouse Violet, he joined Third Lanark as trainer in the late 1950 at the tender age of 24 after studying at Tom McClurg Anderson’s Scottish School of Physiotherapy.

McNiven had agreed to join Morton ahead of the 1963/64 season but was approached by Hibs, and the Cappielow side reluctantly let him make the move to Edinburgh where he replaced Eddie Turnbull, who had given up the same role at Easter Road to take charge at Queen’s Park.

Easily recognisable by his white bunnet when he ran onto the pitch to tend to stricken players, McNiven was soon co-opted by Scotland. He remained with Hibs until the early 1970s but left when Turnbull, back at his former club as manager, refused to permit him to serve as national team physio on a part-time basis.

McNiven returned in 1980 following Turnbull’s departure and once again linked up with Scotland at the 1982 World Cup. Despite them not seeing eye-to-eye, McNiven’s contribution to the squad was highlighted by the legendary forward in his autobiography Having a Ball.

"It was largely due to him that we had so few problems with muscular injuries in my time at Easter Road. He would conduct warm-ups that lasted for 40 minutes, and he emphasised to the players the need to remain supple at all times. ‘Have you ever seen a cat after it has been out chasing mice? Or maybe a lion on the television? They are always stretching, always trying to relax their muscles. That’s why you never see a cat with cramp’. It was a good way of explaining the principle.”

An important member of the Hibs backroom team across his two spells, he took temporary charge of the team in 1969 following the resignation of Bob Shankly, and recorded three wins out