Hibs hero Keith Wright: I must have watched my winner against Rangers 100 times – and every time I wonder: ‘What if?’

Keith Wright laughs at the notion that if Hibs find a match-winning hero in Saturday’s League Cup semi-final, the lucky man could still be watching replays come 2047.

As the man who ended Celtic’s Treble Treble domination with the Hibees’ winner at Hampden, he would be perfectly entitled to do so.

It was back in 1991 that Wright, newly signed from Dundee, embarked on a round-by-round scoring streak that ultimately delivered the trophy to Easter Road.

And in the process, the striker ensured his thumb would be kept pressed on the “Play” button for decades to come.

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“It is 28 years ago now, but the memories of that Cup run are really fresh – not least because I have watched my semi-final winner against Rangers about 100 times!” admitted the 54-year-old.

“I got the headlines that night for scoring, as I had done throughout the tournament.

“But, for me, that goal summed up our success in that it was a real collective effort from a team of honest pros, who really worked for one another.

“You have Budgie (keeper John Burridge) starting it off with a save, followed by a kick down field.

“Pat McGinlay, who ran the show against Rangers that night, then hit it up towards the corner of their box for Mark McGraw to chase.

“The Goalie (aka Andy Goram) must have been worried because he came running off his line and punched the ball out, knocking Mark flat in the process.

“Unfortunately for him, it went straight to wee Mickey Weir.

“With Andy having taken himself out of the equation. Mickey was then able to swing in a cross for me to score with a header.

“It was perfect.

“Rangers had a great team at the time, including the likes of Ally McCoist, Mark Hateley and Mo Johnston, but they couldn’t get past Budgie, and we won 1-0.

“I love watching that goal, I really do. But each time I see it, I keep thinking: ‘What if?’.

“If Mark doesn’t chase the long ball, then Goram doesn’t come out, so it doesn’t get to Mickey.

“Mickey’s cross, too – it was absolutely on the money.

“If it hadn’t been, then I don’t know if I’d have scored.

“For all Goram was out of the picture, a couple of defenders did manage to get themselves back on the line.

“I can’t understate how important that victory was.

“The momentum of beating such a strong Rangers team in the semi-final definitely helped us win the Final a month later.

“Our tails were up and, no disrespect to Dunfermline, there was no way we weren’t go to win the Cup.”

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Especially not with the very existence of the club itself having come under question the previous year when Hearts owner, Wallace Mercer, infamously attempted to merge the two Edinburgh rivals.

“I do believe the events of 1990 and the whole Hands Off Hibs campaign played a big part in our League Cup success,” said Wright.

“The guys went through it, and the feeling at the start of the next year was, ‘Right, we are still here. Now, let’s kick on’.

“The cup was played early in the season. It was all over by the end of October, so the games came thick and fast.

“We got ourselves on a run and just kept going and going.

“For me personally, it was amazing. I had only signed in the summer from Dundee, so I had made the jump from second tier to the Premier League and everything just went so well.

“Within a few months of making the switch, I was part of a team which had won silverware.

“It was only later I realised just what an achievement we had pulled off. At the time, I just thought, ‘So this is how it will be’.

“Only when you finish your career and look back do you think, ‘We really made our mark there.

“All the guys, the ones I have mentioned at the goal plus the rest – Willie Miller, Tommy McIntyre, Graham Mitchell, Gordon Hunter, Brian Hamilton, Gareth Evans and Murdo McLeod had earned ourselves a place in Hibs’ history.

“We got back to the League Final two years later with the bulk of the team still in place.

“In fact, with Michael O’Neill and Darren Jackson added, we were possibly even stronger.

“But we lost to Rangers, who were right in the middle of nine-in-a-row.

“And, of course, the memories of that are not nearly the same.”

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If losing to Walter Smith’s all-conquering team at Celtic Park – via an Ally McCoist overhead kick – was no shame, worse was to follow for the Easter Road club in the 2004 League Cup Final, an occasion Wright attended while manager of Cowdenbeath.

“That was really tough, when they beat Rangers and Celtic on the way to the Final but got turned over by Livingston at Hampden in front of a huge Hibs support,” Wright recalled.

“The big shame was the missed opportunity for that side to go down in the history books as one of the clubs’ best, as that is what it was.

“Bobby Williamson was the manager, and he had some great young players to work with – Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson, Derek Riordan, Garry O’Connor, Steven Whittaker and Gary Caldwell were all in that group, with Steven Fletcher just about to break through.

“I knew them well because I helped coach the Hibs kids prior to becoming Cowdenbeath boss in 2002. They were all outstanding prospects.

“So much so, in fact, that when I got the job at Central Park, in the January transfer window I asked Hibs to give me Scott Brown and Derek Riordan on loan.

“Bobby Williamson said, ‘You can’t have both. You can have one’.

“So he sent Derek to us. That was great in the short term, because he hit five goals for us in January.

“But then Paco Luna got injured, and Hibs recalled Derek to Easter Road.

“I said to Bobby, ‘No bother. Can we get Scott then?’.

“Unfortunately they wanted him to stay put by then, so that was the end of that.”

It is measure of Wright’s eye for a player – and his current job is as the academy director of the SFA’s Performance School at Broughton High School in Edinburgh – that 13 years on, Brown will be one of the main obstacles to Hibs reaching this season’s Final.

“I will be going to the semi-final, and will be surprised if Broonie isn’t a big player on the day,” said Wright.

“He is terrific footballer and he has such an influence on the way Celtic play, both in an attacking and a defensive sense.

“He is so calm and composed in everything he does, and he seems to especially relish playing in these big games at Hampden Park.

“The role he plays now for his team is very different to what he used to carry out in his younger days.

“Celtic have to be overwhelming favourites to go through because they have some very high-quality players in their side.

“I am talking here about the likes of Brown, Odsonne Edouard, Ryan Christie and James Forrest.

“The other big plus is that their domestic cup record over the last three years has been immaculate. How can you argue with a Treble Treble?

“At the same time, Hibs have to see this as an opportunity to become the team who halted that amazing run.

“It is a one-off match and Celtic – good as they are – are still there to have a go at.

“We saw it recently with Livingston, who beat them at home in the league.

“This is football, so anything is possible. But Hibs will need to play to their full potential.

“That’s something I am not sure we have seen yet this season.”