At the start of season 1998-1999 things had started badly in the first division. After just six games, Hibs had slipped 6 points behind Falkirk and looking anything but championship material. A home defeat by Stranraer coupled with a crushing defeat at St Midden at the September weekend had Hibs fans worrying about where it would all go, and not many were rushing to the bookies to take advantage of the generous 3/1 odds available to win the first division title.

The season did of course have a happy ending, as Hibs did indeed triumphantly return to the SPL, finishing top, 23 points clear of second placed Falkirk. I lost my bet though. I had backed Hibs to be ten points clear by Christmas. Unfortunately for me, it was 9th January before we had secured that particular advantage.

For all Hibs superiority over the season, we also seen some of the worst central defenders in a generation at ER. Well since the Duff Jimmy generation. Derek Anderson, Paul Holsgrove and Klaus Dietrich all came and went not quickly enough, as Mark Dempsie, John Hughes and Shaun Dennis held the centre of defence together in front of the Icelandic goalkeeper who always seemed capable of losing a goal.

And then in February a strange thing happened. Hibs raided Scarborough for the signature of a French defender with Serbian heritage. His name was Alex Marinkov and he was 31 years old. He signed on the 19th February, the day before a vital league against our nearest challengers Falkirk. He made his debut in that game, along with another new French recruit Franck Sauzee. Whilst Sauzee was to go on to become instant hit with the fans, Marinkov played a mere ten more times for Hibs before deciding to retire, early into the first season back in the SPL.

So what do we know about Alex Marinkov? Very little if truth be told. He had arrived at Scarboro at the start of season 1998-1999 on a Bosman transfer from Raon D'etape: a lower French league team. He was a central defender, and he was born in December 1967, making him 31 by the time he arrived at Hibs. By the time he was 32, he had left football altogether, and no, he had not signed for Airdire.

The GJP preferred evolution, rather than revolution. Marinkov arrived in the same week as Franck Sauzee, and it could very well be true that he was only ever here as a competent journeyman, in Edinburgh to act as the interpreter for Mon Dieu until he learned English. Given that Franck gave excellent interviews in English in his time at Easter Road we could deduce that either Sauzee was an exceptionally and dedicated learner, or Marinkovs role as translator was over stated.

The Hibs team that started that day at Falkirk reveals an interesting insight into how things have changed in four years at Easter Road.

Gottskalksson, Collins, Lovering, Marinkov, Dennis, Hartley (sent off 53) ,Sauzee, Crawford, Latapy, McGinlay
Unused Subs: Lovell, Paul Holsgrove, Bannerman

It might have been something of a surprise for Markinkov to start that day, given he had missed the previous Scarboro games with a foot injury. He did however pass a medical at ER and went straight into the team. It was noted that Marinkov had performed well in his time in the seaside resort.

Having safely tucked away his first division winners medal, the Frenchman looked forward to a crack at top division football in Scotland. Sadly, for him, he never made any breakthrough as GJP preferred John Hughes, Matty Jack and Sean Dennis as his starting centre backs. Prior to the start of the season the player seemed genuinely up for his crack at the big time: he revealed in an interview:

"I am very happy to be at Hibs and I have got a big challenge ahead of me this season. I really want the chance to play against Celtic, Rangers and Hearts. I'm also relishing the prospect of facing the likes of Henrik Larsson and Lorenzo Amoruso. I feel I play the same way as Amoruso. He is a very solid defender with great leadership qualities. He is playing for a massive club and is always under heavy scrutiny but he copes with it very well. I can remember seeing him play against Falkirk in the Scottish Cup semi-final and he was outstanding."

He also had some interesting ideas about Scottish fans: "The mentality of Scottish fans is very fair. Fans in France and Italy are a lot more violent. That's why most stadiums in those countries and in Spain have high fences around the terracing.

Unfortunately he never got the chance, he played but one game for Hibs in season 1999-2000. And that was in a League Cup tie at Clyde when a virtual reserve side played, and he was substituted at Half time as Hibs struggled through on penalties.

But there were yet more startling revelations from the frenchmen, he didnae want to be a footballer at all: he wanted to be a proffesional snow boarder. You could not make this up.

"I have a degree in international tourism so when I retire I want to put it to good use. I love extreme sports like snowboarding, trekking and ski-ing so it would be a dream to teach kids those sports. I have always been into trekking and snowboarding and I used to do them all the time with my friends. When I practice snow-boarding I can relax and stop thinking about football. I would have done it more seriously but you can't survive as a professional so I had to pick football instead. But having the chance to arrange adventure tours for kids and showing them snow-boarding will be a great career after football."

Marinkov certainly knew the hard times of being a footballer too:

"In my second spell at Annecy the club declared themselves bankrupt. They had debts of over £300,000 and stopped paying a lot of the players. They owed me a lot of wages and I couldn't afford to pay the rent on my flat so I had to leave. It was very embarrassing because I had to walk out owing three months rent. Then I was stuck without a team because clubs in France don't sign new players during the season. I ended up going down to the fifth division to play for a tiny club called Martzgues. I've never played for the big clubs and I have always had to work to make enough money to live on. I've worked in a cheese firm in Entremont, a building firm in a place called Ceccon and a sports shop in Limoges."

We all heard sob stories about how hard it is to be a footballer, but I doubt we knew it was just so hard.

And then, barely six weeks into the season, it was all over for him. On September 8th 1999 he agreed his release from Hibernian to pursue his interest in a family business. Hibs fans, with their team safely back in the super new ESSPEEELL, barely raised an eyebrow. He had a year on his contract to run, and had recently become a father, which possibly played a part in his decision. GJP noted at the time: "It was an amicable parting, there was no animosity whatsover and we shook hands a the end. He has found it difficult while up here and we understand his feelings."

The player scored one goal for Hibs, against Raith Rovers, in a game in which he wore a black armband to symbolize his concern for civilians caught up in the conflict in Serbia. Although he was born in France, as his name suggests he had relatives in the war torn region.

I liked Alex, maybe his role in settling Sauzee in was crucial, perhaps it is the stuff of which legends are made. Maybe we will never know. Maybe he benefitted from the duffers that played in centre defence in that first division season like Klaus Dietrich and Derek Anderson. Anyone compared to them would have seemed like a football player.

Alex Marinkov's Hibs career:

1998/1999