Patrick Gordon Stanton (born 13 September 1944) is a Scottish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

. Stanton played for Hibernian for most of his career, making nearly 400 league appearances. Late in his career, he had a short and successful spell with

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

. Stanton also made 16 appearances for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. After retiring as a player, he assisted

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

and managed

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 189 ...

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

and Hibernian.

Club career

Stanton is the great-great nephew of Michael Whelahan (a founder of Hibernian and its first

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

) and the great-nephew of Hibernian

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

James Hendren. He signed for the club in 1963 and made his professional debut later that year. He established himself in the Hibs first team, playing either in defence or midfield. Stanton captained Hibs when they won the

1972 Scottish League Cup Final The 1972 Scottish League Cup final was played on 9 December 1972 and was the final of the 27th Scottish League Cup competition. It was contested by Hibernian and Celtic. Hibs won the match 2–1, thanks to goals by Jimmy O'Rourke and Pat Stan ...

. Stanton left Hibs in 1976 when he was transferred to

in a swap deal for Jackie McNamara, Sr. Jock Stein, who had briefly managed Stanton at Hibs in the 1960s, identified Stanton as the man to stop Celtic conceding soft goals. This was an apparent success, as Celtic won the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish league championship The Scottish League Championship (currently the Tennents League Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic rugby union league system within Scotland. Operated by the Scottish Rugby Union, the championship was founded in 1973 as the fi ...

in 1976–77. Stanton suffered a bad injury early in the 1977–78 season, which eventually forced his retirement from playing. Hibs and Celtic played a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

for Stanton on 30 April 1978.

International career

Stanton was selected three times by the Scotland under-23 team early in his career. He won 16 caps for

between 1966 and 1974, captaining the side three times. He also played for the Scotland under-21 team as an over-age player and represented the

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

Coaching and management

Stanton got a start in coaching when

made him his assistant at

, a position he held for one season, that resulted in winning the Premier Division title together. He then managed

, then

. He returned to Hibs in 1982, but his spell in the manager's chair at

Easter Road Easter Road is a association football, football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian F.C., Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity ...

was unsuccessful and he resigned in 1984. Stanton was also manager of the Scotland semi pro team for the Four nations tournament in 1981 and 1982.

Honours

; Hibernian *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

: 1972–73 * Summer Cup: 1963–64 *

Drybrough Cup The Drybrough Cup was a Scottish annual football tournament. It was held from 1971 until 1974, and was revived from 1979 to 1980. It was open to the four highest-scoring teams from Division 1, and the four highest-scoring teams from Division 2. T ...

: 1972–73, 1973–74 ; Celtic *

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

: 1976–77 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1976–77 ; Scotland * British Home Championship: 1971–72 ; Individual *

SFWA Footballer of the Year The Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the SFWA Footballer of the Year, or simply the Scottish Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the se ...

: 1969–70 *

Scottish Football Hall of Fame The Scottish Football Hall of Fame is located at the Scottish Football Museum. Nominations are made each year by fans and a committee selects the inductees. The first inductions to the Hall of Fame were in November 2004 in a ceremony at Hampden Pa ...

: Inducted 2012 * Hibernian Hall of Fame: Inducted 2012 * Hibs Special Merit Award: 2021–22

Other activities

After leaving the club as player and manager, Stanton helps Hibernian with their matchday hospitality. Following complications and surgery after the birth in 2012 of his twin grandsons, Stanton has been devoting his time to support of brain-damaged children.

References