Peter Cormack

Hibernian

A product of Tynecastle Boys Club the young Peter Cormack was signed by Heart of Midlothian directly from school. He was the first ground staff boy at Tynecastle Park since Hearts all-time great Tommy Walker in the 1930s. However Cormack left following an incident in which a grass cutting machine damaged a perimeter wall. Cormack was quickly signed by cross city rivals Hibernian who he joined in 1962. After impressing in the reserves he scored on his first team debut in November 1962 against Airdrieonians. His best season at Hibs was 1964-65 during the 12 months they were managed by Jock Stein (Stein had a 62% win rate at Hibs). Hibs challenged for league and cup until Stein left before the end of the season to manage Celtic in March 1965. Cormack scored twice when Hibs won 4–2 against Rangers at Ibrox Park on 10 October 1964 in one of three victories against Rangers. The 4–2 win at Ibrox was three days after Cormack and Hibs had beaten Real Madrid 2–0 in a challenge match at Easter Road. Cormack scored the opener against Real volleying home a cross by Neil Martin. Stein was replaced by Bob Shankly with whom Hibs finished fourth in the league and lost in the Scottish Cup semi final to Dunfermline Athletic. Cormack played regularly with Hibs in Europe but was unable to progress past the quarter final stage. The most significant of Cormack's wins in Europe with Hibs was the November 1967 6-4 aggregate success against S.S.C. Napoli featuring Dino Zoff. Napoli…

Whilst at Hibs, he won his first full cap for Scotland on 25 June 1966 in a prestigious friendly with Brazil at Hampden Park. Brazil were warming up in readiness to play in the 1966 World Cup which was to be held in England. On Cormack's debut the Scots held the reigning World Champions to a 1–1 draw. In total he collected nine full caps all when playing for Hibs and his next club, Nottingham Forest. When at Liverpool he was selected for Scotland's squad for the 1974 FIFA World Cup. Davie Hay was selected to play in preference to Cormack who didn't cross the touchline for any game time as the Scots returned home unbeaten after the group stage with a win and two draws. Cormack also represented the Scottish League XI six times.

On 5 December 1980, he was appointed Partick Thistle manager, succeeding Bertie Auld who had gone in the opposite direction to manage Hibs. Thistle finished sixth in the top flight at the end of Cormack's first season there. However they were relegated the season after from finishing 9th of the 10 clubs in the division. They missed out on promotion the season after in finishing fourth. They reached the last eight that season of both cup competitions being eliminated by Celtic and Aberdeen. Thistle missed out on promotion again in the 1983/84 season after when they finished third. Cormack was there for three and a half years leaving at the end of the 1983–84 season. In the league he played for Thistle once in season 1983–84. From 1984-86 he managed Anorthosis Famagusta in Cyprus. In 1986 he managed the Botswana national football team before he returned to Scotland as assistant manager to Alex Miller at St Mirren. However, on 15 November 1986 Miller was appointed manager of Hibs after which Cormack had two games in charge of Saints as interim manager. Cormack then followed Miller to Hibs as his assistant manager once again. The St Mirren team they left behind won that season's Scottish Cup. In December 2000 he was appointed manager of Cowdenbeath in the Scottish fourth tier. Cowdenbeath were promoted at the end of the season. However Cormack was sacked after 10 days during which time his side never played a game. In July 2001 he took over at Greenock Morton in Scotland's third…

Born in Edinburgh, Cormack was described on his profile on the Liverpool F.C. website as "a skilful player with an eye for goal" and "a classy player who loved to entertain". The article as a Hibernian Hall of Fame inductee says of him: "Once described as a skinny kid built like a greyhound, he was as hard as nails, his fiery competitive nature earning him several altercations with officialdom. According to a popular Hibs player of the time, Peter could do everything, pass, beat a man, tackle and head the ball. The versatile Cormack could also play anywhere, out wide, midfield, up front and even in goal as he once demonstrated when keeping a clean sheet for most of the match against St Mirren after goalkeeper Willie Wilson had gone off injured." He offered a serious attacking threat from headers with an apparent natural ability to hang in the air. He had a prance like style of running, by running on the balls of his feet. Cormack worked hard to improve as a footballer and did extra training sessions three times a week with Peter Marinello and John Murphy at Hibs. With a background in cross country running, he was very fit using his stamina to tire out opponents to allow space for himself.