Exclusive:Ian Gordon lifts lid on owning Hibs: admitting mistakes, ambition for future, his recruitment role and Bill Foley relationship

“We know we need to do better,” Gordon states, matter-of-factly, as he speaks publicly and exclusively to The Scotsman for the first time since landing on Scottish shores. “I take it very hard personally. I live and breathe this club and me and my family want to bring success, but there have been more poor performances than we would have liked.”

Gordon is combing over the managerial turnover since 2021. Too many head coaches have come and gone in the past three years. First Jack Ross, then Shaun Maloney. Lee Johnson lasted just over a year, Nick Montgomery not even a season. Once a fairly benign club, Hibs have become volatile. “We've created too much instability with the footballing turnover,” admits Gordon. “That's why we are in this position now.”

On the pitch – and we'll come to off the pitch later – the position is a precarious one. Hibs are yet to win a match in the Premiership this season and sit fourth bottom on two points from four matches. Their Premier Sports Cup campaign ended at the second-round stage, paying the price for losing at Kelty Hearts, becoming unseeded and landing Celtic. Another head coach – David Gray this time – is in place. Malky Mackay is the new sporting director. Eleven players have arrived, 17 have left. This isn't a renovation job, it's restoration, restoration of a team that has underperformed for too long. Last season Hibs finished eighth, their joint-lowest placing since returning to Scotland's top flight seven years ago.

“It's been a slow start to the season – but we knew when Malky and Dave came in that this needed time,” explains Gordon. “They inherited a bloated squad, they inherited past mistakes that we had made on the recruitment front, but we were very active this summer. Seventeen players going out, 11 coming in – we're very happy with the business that we have done. But we have players coming back to full fitness, we have some injuries, so we knew it was going to be a tough August for us. We knew that. Going forward we still have full confidence in Dave and Malky and this group of players. We think we have assembled a good squad. We're excited.”

Not everyone shares the same excitement. A portion of the Hibs support is wary, perhaps even fearful of how this season could unfold, even if Gray – a club legend – was a reasonably popular appointment after three stints as caretaker despite his relative inexperience. Following years of experimental recruitment, of which many players became expensive failures, Hibs decided to go back to basics this season. Every single signing this summer has a background in British football. There is a strong Scottish nucleus. Gordon calls it a necessary “reset”, saying that he and his fellow directors have learned from past errors.

“With Malky coming in, through those discussions it was very much we wanted to have that Scottish core, and that British experience,” says Gordon. “That is our main focus but we still want to explore new markets and keeping that going, but it's about reassessing where we are at. We tried to go too international, too young, too quickly. With Malky's experience and Dave, it was about the Scottish core, British experience that we can build around. I'd say there needed to be a bit of a reset. There's proof that that works in this league and the club has a history of it. I think it is absolutely that.”

Gordon, of course, became notorious for his previous role at Hibs. Silently appointed head of recruitment after Ross' departure, he presided over a team of people who were scouring the globe for new players. It was not all bad – but for every Myziane Maolida, there has been a Nohan Kenneh. Too many costly additions whose impact has been negligible. Gordon has never spoken on that specific gig at Easter Road. Invited to explain, he says the following: “At that time, when we made the change with the structure, we felt from an admin standpoint, getting the full scope of the club and how it operates and the full detail of the league, as we learned we felt it was the best time to put me in that place to oversee things. Yes, [head of recruitment] was the role, but it was very much part of a collective team that worked together to identify targets.

“For me, it was about driving the process of how that manager was presented the players and ultimately it was the manager who made the decisions on recruitment. We were very manager-led recruitment but collectively we worked day-in, day-out to present those lists. There's been a lot of failings but there have been a lot of positives. Over the past three years we've done £7 million in player sales, which are great numbers. We believe that if we get better footballing success, those numbers can only improve because we have great young talent right now.”

The Gordons have been beaten with so many sticks since taking over at Hibs. But it is right to point out some of the success stories. Hibs finished third during the pandemic season and survived Covid from a financial perspective. They reached the League Cup final in 2021 and last season lost to Aston Villa in the Europa League Conference play-off round after taking out Luzern previously. Easter Road has certainly been spruced up, with plush hospitality lounges and rail seating in the North Stand. Infrastructurally and commercially, Hibs are in a better place. But none of that matters much to the average football fan when the team is underperforming.

Hibs are also running at a loss, too. The financial results posted last year were grim, being £3.9m in the red for the year up to 30 June 2023. Wage to turnover ratio increased to 81 per cent. The next set of figures are not expected to be much better. The Gordon dynasty is not short of a penny but such a situation is not sustainable in the long run. Gordon's commitment to the club, however, is unwavering, promising to pay for any overspend on the sporting side of the club as he bids to get Hibs back to the sharp end of Scottish football.

“At this time, we are over the budget,” reveals Gordon. “That's an overspend that me and my family are committed to. We've had tons of commercial growth with the business side of the club, but we've been chasing football success and obviously there have been some mistakes along the way. That's why we are in this situation now, but our family is committed to that overspend until we find the football success that allows the club to be sustainable.”

I ask Gordon if he is dedicated to making sure the club is not saddled with debt. “One hundred per cent,” he says. “That's why we wiped the debt in February when the Black Knight deal went through. We don't want the club to have debt, so that was a big reason behind that. We're well aware of the overspend and our family is committed to that.

“With all the growth you see on the business side, over 400 per cent growth on the commercial partnerships, over 200 per cent on the hospitality income, we feel the business is in such a strong position that when we do find that football success, the club will be very sustainable.”

The club tried to strengthen its sporting and financial position with a tie-up with Black Knight, whose chain of football sides includes Bournemouth, Lorient and Auckland. Their shareholding and £6m investment was confirmed earlier last year, although the relationship hit a significant speedbump when their figurehead Bill Foley claimed Hibs “have not been listening to our input”. Foley wanted a different head coach and sporting director, but Hibs went with Gray and Mackay.

“I think their reaction caught us all off-guard a little bit,” Gordon says of Foley's comments, “but ultimately through the recruitment process of Malky and Dave, they were very involved in that whole process and it came down to what we felt was best for the club. So that's why we went with the appointment of Malky and Dave. Obviously he voiced his opinion on that but we thought that was the best move for the club.”

Dispelling any notion of a fracture in the rapport, Gordon continues: “I think the relationship is very strong. I think we are still in the early stages of that [relationship] and we're going to see the true benefits in months and years to come. We feel we are in a really good place with them. We've had many conversations, there is constant dialogue. They've just hired a new president for the Black Knight group, which will set up the network. It is still very much in the early stages of this. Malky is now in constant communication with them.”

I query where the £6m has been spent. “We probably haven't been as good at communicating that through, but the money has been ring fenced for very specific sections,” Gordon says. “The rail seating, the fixing of the lights, the North Stand – some of the money was for that. Some of the money is for commercial growth, some of the money is for academy and women's football, and then some of it is for the wage bill. It had to be very much broken down into specific areas.”

When pressed how much went into the first team, Gordon adds: “I wouldn't give an exact percentage on it, but I think what's been reported in the past is slightly wide of the mark. A portion of that was invested into the wage bill.”

Well-remunerated chief executive Ben Kensell remains on that wage bill, despite many fans calling for his exit. He has survived the multiple changes at coaching level, although his involvement in recruiting Montgomery was very limited, falling on now departed director of football Brian McDermott instead. Kensell is a divisive figure among the Hibs support, and so I ask Gordon if he ever thought about change at the top.

“No, we felt we needed to get the structure in place,” he says. “I think that's why we are here now, with Malky coming in and his experience. He heads up the football side, Ben runs the business side. So we feel now, with the current structure, we are in a very good place going forward.

“Over the past couple of years, there have been lessons learned – absolutely. We have to hold our hands up to that, but through these management turnover, it's all of us collectively as a board making those decisions. We have taken ownership of that. We feel we are in a good spot now.”

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Gordon has always been immersed in football from a young age despite his American roots. His father Ron was fascinated by the sport, nourished by it from his childhood in Peru. The obsession became infectious, with Ian catching the bug early on.

“Even since I was as young as I can remember, my dad always talked about owning a football club, and that was his ambition,” tells Gordon. “Even in those early days when he was building his business, it was a fantasy dream at that point, but it was always something he fully believed in and thought he could do. It was something he worked on for years and years.

“Football was such a massive part of his life. He grew up in Peru and living all over the world, football was his true love. Even when we were younger he would annually try to take my brother together or my brother and I separately to huge games around the world – El Clasico, Boca-River, London derbies, Manchester derbies. He had great pride for sharing his love of football with me and my family. My uncle is crazy about it. He played as well. It's always been a part of our lives.”

Gordon was a handy man with a stick and puck back in his youth. “Football and ice hockey were my two loves, but with my dad's background and my mum was born in the States but lived in Argentina and London for most of her childhood, I wasn't the typical American kid,” he recounts. “We had that international influence growing up. One month a summer we would try to travel and get new experiences as a family. He always shared that with us.

“I was sport crazy as a kid. Football and ice hockey were my big things. I played football until I was 15 or 16 but I needed to choose a sport. Ice hockey was the way but due to many injuries, three ACLs later that dream fell when I was 18/19.

“I got a move when I was second/third year in high school that gave me a pretty good platform to a school that was known to produce professional hockey players. I was part of a very successful team. We won the New England championships and we were the top-ranked team in the country. But a couple of knee injuries and a shattered wrist with ten screws and ten metal plates – I had a two-and-a-half-year run where I just couldn't stay fit. Surgery after surgery. It went away quite quickly.

“But I always wanted to be involved in sport, work in sport. It's always been my ambition.”

Gordon's ascension to running Hibs came earlier than anticipated. Diagnosed with cancer in 2022, Ron passed away at the age of 68 in February the following year. The whole club deeply mourned his death. Ron was a vibrant, positive, popular figure at Easter Road. Understandably, his absence led to questions over whether the Gordon family would remain committed to Hibs. Whatever mistakes have occurred under their watch, the dedication to making Hibs a success remains.

“Great pride,” is the answer Gordon gives when asked how it feels to be called Hibs owner. “This is something I did with my dad since he took over the club. We did it together and it was something that brought us really close. It brought my whole family together because we all share a love for it. When my brother comes over, he absolutely loves it. My mum is obviously very involved and loves the club. But it was my dad's passion and how in such a short period of time he became obsessed with it. This was such a special thing for him, so for me now, I carry that.

“Having been the family member who has lived here in that period of time, my wife and I have been here almost three and a half years now and we love Edinburgh, but we absolutely love the club, the staff and everyone has become such a part of our family, we're desperate to do what Ron set out and what he wanted, and to carry that flame going forward.”

Gordon does admit there was a family discussion in the aftermath of Ron's death about the future of Hibs. A potential sale was rumoured by some media outlets. “It's something we discussed with my dad towards the end in depth and it was very much 'no, we desperately want to continue this' and we want to get it where we believe we can,” assures Gordon. “I'm still very young and have long-term ambitions for the club. Our family has long-term ambition for the club. It's nothing we ever really considered [walking away].

“We weren't prepared for this. We have a lot of different businesses so there was obviously a necessity to spend a period where we got our ducks in a row and figure out how we wanted to move forward. But after that review, it was very much that Hibs is at the front of our mind and it's something we want to do for a long time.”

Gordon lives in the centre of Edinburgh with his wife Callie. “I love Edinburgh,” he says. “It's a place I call home now. It truly feels like that now. I love living in the city centre. I've met some of the nicest people here and the friends I've made. It's a special place.”

There have been a handful of times when fans have spotted him and made him aware of their displeasure at the club's performance. “I've had it on a couple occasions,” he says of the personal criticism. “It's their passion and they love the club. It hasn't been good enough and we know that. It's a part of the job. It absolutely adds fuel to the fire. To prove the doubters wrong is a massive driving force.”

Where does Gordon want to see the club in three years' time? “European group stages,” he answers. “That's the ultimate goal. If we want to be competing in those competitions year on year, that needs to be a top-four finish, competing for cups every year. That ambition has not changed.”

We end our chat on the subject of his father, and whether the memory of him is evoked more whenever Gordon sets foot in Easter Road. “I just got chills when you asked that,” is his reply. “Every time I walk into a game, or see the stadium, it's massive and it's something that I desperately want for him, because he loved this club and had big ambitions for it.”

It now lies on Ian's shoulders to achieve them.