On the pitch, the 1980s were a decade to forget for the Hibernian faithful as the club flitted between mid-table finishes and occasional flirts with relegation.
Off it however, a certain section of the Easter Road support were busy transforming themselves from a small hooligan element to the most feared casual gang in the UK.
The Capital City Service (CCS) held running battles with similar groups from Celtic, Hearts and Rangers before later branching out to fight across the UK and Europe, sparking mass police incidents in the process.
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Brawls in England with the likes of Leeds United, Manchester United and Millwall’s firms saw dozens arrested while a Uefa Cup meeting between the Hibees and Belgian outfit Anderlecht resulted in pubs being turned into battlegrounds in both Amsterdam and Brussels.
However, perhaps their most infamous outing, and the one that solidified their formidable reputation, came in front of shocked onlookers who ran for their lives when a petrol bomb exploded at the entrance of Waverley Station during a chaotic melee with Aberdeen’s ASC (Aberdeen Soccer Casuals) group.
The incident, recounted by former CCS leader Derek Dykes in his book ‘These Colours Don’t Run, saw the firm gain a measure of revenge after one member of the group was put into a coma during a previous fight.
“We didn’t become Scotland’s top mob overnight, in the beginning, we took some right beatings,” Dykes recalled in 2008.
“It all changed in February 1984. One of our boys took a kicking from Aberdeen’s crew, the ASC.
“He got separated from us and Aberdeen gave him a kicking. They all piled in, not content with just giving him a kicking, they jumped on his head.
“It happened on Bothwell Street. There was nothing we could do. We were totally outnumbered. It was a day I’ve never forgotten.
“He was in a coma for a week and almost died, but thankfully he recovered.”
He added: “Aberdeen lit a flame that day, one that has never been extinguished. We swore there and then that we would take revenge on Aberdeen.”
In November, the Dons were back in the capital to face the men in green and white at Easter Road.
A paltry crowd of just over 5,000 saw the visitors ease to a comfortable 3-0 win, but for many of those in the home crowd, the football was simply a warm up to one of the most shocking instances of violence ever seen on Edinburgh’s streets.
After initially chasing the ASC away from the stadium, the two firms faced off on Princes Street.
“We had no bother putting a mob together that time, Dykes said.
“Everyone wanted a piece of them.
“We followed Aberdeen on a march to Waverley Station. It was mental. There was just bodies scattered all over Princes Street. Tourists and shoppers were running for cover at 6pm on a Saturday night.
“There was a mixture of feelings of excitement and fear. It was the best feeling in the world.
“There was people lying all around me, getting their heads kicked in. There was about 400 people fighting in the middle of the road. It was the maddest fight I had ever been in.
With carnage raging around them, it appeared the brawl had no end in sight, but what happened next changed the course of history for the CCS and solidified their status as the top boys in Scotland.
“There was a red flash in the sky,” Dykes said.
“It happened in the heart of Princes Street, right in front of the Aberdeen fans. At first I had no idea what it was.
“But it was a petrol bomb. Aberdeen got the fright of their lives and ran into the train station, the first time they had ever run.
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“That was the best feeling for us, seeing them run.
“Everyone was in high spirits, there were a lot of tall tales, but we had won. We went to the pub and had a few pints.
“We had got our revenge, but more than that, we were number one. Finally, we had arrived.”
Andy Blance, another member of the CCS elite who later wrote about his experiences in the 2009 book ‘Hibs Boy,’ described the incident as “madness,” admitting the group’s behaviour overstepped the mark.
“The petrol bomb was thrown and everyone scattered,” he wrote.
“It was the magnitude of it, it wasn’t just some wee fizz, it was big.”
He added: “I look back on it and I think it was madness. Even the guy who did it probably thinks it was madness.”
