The Winter of 1962-63
The big freeze of 1947 saw the worst weather since records began. Although many parts of the country were brought to a complete standstill due to heavy falls of snow which lasted from the middle of January to the beginning of March, surprisingly relatively few football matches were cancelled. Hibernian only missed two games during this period although several clubs were hit much harder. In those days, matches were only postponed if the playing surface was considered unplayable, unlike today when the pitch can be in good condition but games are occasionally cancelled due to the condition of the surrounding roads and pavements.
In the winter of 1962-63, however, it was a vastly different story. A few days before the turn of the year, Hibernian's home game against Clyde received the go ahead from the referee a mere twenty minutes before the kick off due to the severe weather sweeping the country. The heavy falls of snow earlier in the week had discouraged all but the brave, or the foolhardy, and at the kick off it was reported only a few hundred hardy souls were inside the ground. The entire sporting card had been heavily hit by cancellations and ultimately Hibs may have wished their game had also been a casualty, a 2-1 defeat seeing the home side drop to third bottom of the league table.
The heavy snow, which had come so close to postponing the match against Clyde, continued to fall. The New Year's Day game against Hearts became an immediate casualty of the atrocious conditions with eight inches of snow covering the Tynecastle pitch, as did Hibernian's home game against Motherwell the following day. This turned out to be only the start, conditions eventually becoming so severe that Hibs, along with most other clubs in Scotland, would not play another league match for nearly three months. As far as football was concerned the situation was unprecedented, the worst in living memory, breaking all records for the postponement or abandonment of matches. Throughout January, February, and the early days of March, the snow frost and ice continued to play havoc with the entire sporting card, resulting in two extensions to the end of the season being required to ease the fixture backlog.
Over the years many different methods of protecting pitches from the ravages of winter had been tried including covering the pitch with straw and the use of braziers but none proved particularly effective. At the time envious eyes were cast in the direction of Murrayfield Stadium where the underground electric blanket had allowed rugby matches to proceed undisturbed by the inclement conditions, and many were of the opinion the under-soil heating system was a medium worthy of consideration for football. Although nearly twenty years elapsed before its introduction into the Scottish game, Hibs were destined to play a leading part in the innovation when it did arrive.
Results elsewhere, when the occasional game managed to escape the stranglehold of the severe conditions, saw Hibs drop another league place without playing a game, putting them second bottom of the table. The alarm bells were ringing, the situation critical.