Former Liverpool man says Scottish football 'a little bit like a time-travel' and reveals Hibs heartache

The 36-year-old Hungary internationalist had spells at Liverpool, Bolton Wanderers and Ferencvaros during his career but spoke fondly of his time in the capital with Hibs, where he made 18 Premiership appearances across two spells. He says that he fell in love with Edinburgh straight away but found league “funny” at times due to the differences between playing teams like the Old Firm and then heading to smaller venues.

Recalling his time in Scotland, Bogdan said: “The Hibernian move is a funny one because I went there, but I didn't want to go there. At that time, I didn't want to move further north than Manchester, and then Neil Lennon called me. He explained that his first-choice goalkeeper had an injury which wasn't really healing, so he needed someone to come in. I obviously knew him from my time at Bolton.

“When I went to Hibs, I fell in love with the city straight away. Edinburgh, for me, was so perfect and compact, we just fell in love with the place. And then, to play for one of the top teams in Edinburgh, in such a nice stadium ... for me, it was like the two perfect worlds had met, finally, in my life. I was in a really nice city with so much history and culture, and I was playing for a great team.

“The Scottish league is funny because it's a little bit like a time-travel, sometimes. You know, some places you'd travel to and the games you'd be involved in... there was lots of playing long, and second balls. But then you play against Celtic, who are more like a Premier League team, and then Rangers, in front of 50,000 people. Then you go away to another game, where the standard feels more like League One, or League Two football. You get everything in Scotland, but I really enjoyed my time up there.

“Aside from getting relegated with Bolton, the only other real heartbreak I had in my career was with Hibs. The concussion I suffered was so strange because, although it didn't look too serious at the time, I couldn't get out of it for months. In that time, I lost my place in the team, and then Neil Lennon got sacked, and so all of a sudden it just didn't feel the same anymore. Then I found myself without a club for six months. I'd had offers, but I didn't want to take them because I knew I wanted to live in a place where the lifestyle was as good as the football, so I was prepared to wait.”

Bogdan added in an interview with Ladbrokes Fanzone: “I went back to Hibs in the December of 2019, which I was really, really happy about. I couldn't wait to get started, and then COVID came and the league got cancelled!”