John Moir 50 and 500

Logistically, the celebrations for John's 50th birthday and 500th match were a bit tricky to organise, but, in the end, it all worked out swimmingly and we had a great evening. This was the first time we had done a Beach/Banchory double header and as I wasn't playing in the former match (and I presume nobody else took a camera along), there are, sadly, no photos of that occasion.



Those who had played at the Beach were far too good for the rest of us who were only playing at DATA - although the final score of 6-5 didn't really reflect the true gap in abilities. We waited until after the match was over to present John with his 50 shirt - the first time a Hibs shirt had been presented (but not the last):

The team photo proved a bit tricky - I couldn't get the camera to balance properly - this was the first attempt - guess who the headless chickens are:

The 2nd attempt wasn't really successful either:

Finally we found a secure location for the camera to sit:

As it was a 50th birthday celebration, we lined up the 50/60 shirts - Jeb's 50 is on the front of his shirt so he could at least legitimately face the camera, but Sharpy is obviously so vain he would go to any lengths not to have his back to the camera like the rest of us:

Andy is also facing the camera and lurking at the rear because he didn't bring along either his 50 or his 60 shirt.

We managed a few beers in the Stag before rolling along to the Derbar for our curry. The last recipient of the 500 shield presented the trophy to John:

Ian also made a speech praising the "legends" who have their name on the shield - there's a bit of background noise in this short video clip:

There was speculation afterwards about how long John would hold the shield. Unless Gary, Rob, Nigel or John McW make a dramatic comeback (it can be done - I dropped out for several years), it rather looks like Ewen might be the next name on the shield - possibly some time in 2013!