David Gray's Tenure as Hibernian Coach Ends After 12 Years

David Gray’s 12-year Hibernian story is over. Six league games into the new Scottish Premiership season, the cup-final hero has been sacked as head coach, with Tuesday night’s 1-0 home defeat to bottom side Kilmarnock proving the final straw.

Hibs sit ninth in the table on six points. The loss to Killie was their sixth home defeat in a row, a miserable run stretching back into last season and one the Easter Road board could no longer tolerate.

Assistants Liam Craig and Craig Samson have also left the club. John Potter has been placed in temporary charge for Saturday’s home game against Aberdeen, a fixture that suddenly carries far more weight than anyone at Easter Road would have expected in mid-September.

Executive chairman Ian Gordon admitted the call was painful but unavoidable.

“Ultimately, this is a decision that we have not taken lightly, but unfortunately, one as a board we had to make due to the recent downturn of results and performances,” he said, underlining how quickly the mood has darkened after the optimism of Gray’s permanent appointment.

For Hibs supporters, this is not just another managerial change. Gray is woven into the club’s modern history. He is the captain who rose above everyone at Hampden in 2016, met the corner in stoppage time and headed Hibs to Scottish Cup glory against Rangers, ending a 114-year wait for only the club’s third triumph in the competition. That moment alone gave him near-mythic status in Leith.

Signed in 2014, the right-back made 177 appearances before retiring in 2021 and stepping straight into the coaching staff. He became the go-to firefighter, taking the reins three times as interim manager as the club lurched between permanent appointments.

In May 2024, Hibs finally handed him the job outright, replacing Nick Montgomery with a figure the fanbase already adored. The romantic narrative was obvious. The reality, far harsher.

Gray won just one of his first 15 league matches in charge, a sequence that would have buried many coaches. Yet his team somehow rallied, piecing together a stirring recovery to finish third that season, before ending last term in fifth. It bought him time, faith and the sense that Hibs had found stability at last.

Across 107 games in charge, Gray recorded 43 wins, 35 defeats and 29 draws. Respectable numbers on paper, but the recent slide – especially at Easter Road – eroded the goodwill built up over a decade.

Gordon paid a fulsome tribute to a man who has been far more than just another name on the manager’s door.

“Dave has been an inspirational figure at the club during his time here, and he has been a true friend and fantastic colleague to so many,” he said. “On behalf of my family, I would like to personally thank him for everything he has done for us since we joined the club.

“As a person, he constantly set the standard with his attitude, professionalism and general work ethic and he will be sorely missed around the building by all the players and staff.

“On the pitch, he has delivered some incredible moments for our fans, and brought a level of stability and consistency that we haven't reached in recent years.”

Now Hibs must try to arrest a slump without the man who delivered their greatest modern-day moment. The statue-in-waiting has gone. The home form is in ruins. Aberdeen are coming to town. What happens next will shape far more than just this season.