The 2018–19 season was Hibernian's (Hibs) second season of play back in the top league of Scottish football (the Scottish Premiership), having been promoted from the Scottish Championship at the end of the 2016–17 season.[2] Hibs also entered the Europa League,[3] and progressed through two qualifying rounds before losing to Norwegian club Molde. They were knocked out of the League Cup in a penalty shootout by Aberdeen, and in the Scottish Cup by Celtic, and finished fifth in the league.
Hibs manager Neil Lennon was suspended by the club on 26 January 2019,[4] and was subsequently replaced by Paul Heckingbottom.[5]
As one of the four clubs participating in European competition, Hibs received a bye to the second round (last 16) of the League Cup.[10] Hibs defeated Ross County in the second round, and were paired with Aberdeen in the quarter-finals. After both the regulation time and extra time periods finished goalless, Aberdeen won a penalty shootout to progress to the semi-finals.
As a Premiership club, Hibernian entered the Scottish Cup at the fourth round stage and were drawn at home to League Two club Elgin City.[11] They won 4–0 and were then drawn at home to Raith Rovers in the fifth round.[12] A 3–1 victory put Hibs into the quarter-final, where they were drawn at home to cup holders Celtic.[13] They lost 2–0 to a Celtic side managed by Neil Lennon, who had left Hibs four weeks previously.[14]
Source: SoccerwayBBC Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Play-off (only if deciding champion, UEFA competitions qualification and second stage group allocation).[16] Notes:
^Teams play each other three times (33 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).
^Since the winners of the 2018–19 Scottish Cup, Celtic, qualified for European competition based on league position, the spot awarded to the Scottish Cup winners (Europa League first qualifying round) was passed to the fourth-placed team.
Division summary[]
Round
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
Ground
H
A
H
A
H
A
A
H
A
A
H
A
H
A
H
A
H
H
H
A
H
A
A
H
A
H
A
A
H
H
A
H
A
H
H
A
A
H
Result
W
D
D
L
W
W
W
W
L
D
L
L
D
L
D
W
W
D
D
D
L
L
W
L
L
W
W
W
D
W
W
D
W
D
D
L
L
L
Position
2
2
3
6
5
3
2
2
6
5
6
8
7
8
8
8
8
8
7
8
8
8
7
7
8
8
6
6
6
6
6
6
5
5
5
5
5
5
Updated to match(es) played on 19 May 2019. Source:[citation needed] A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss