Hibernian goalkeeper Matt Macey has revealed details of his brief encounter with the Easter Road hero he hopes to emulate in Saturday’s Scottish Cup final against St Johnstone.
Conrad Logan’s name went down in Hibees folklore following his brief spell at the club in 2016 when he helped the club win the trophy for the first time in 114 years.
A brilliant debut performance against Dundee United in the semi-final, where he saved two penalties in the shootout, took the Leith outfit to the final, where they beat Rangers 3-2 for an historic win before Logan left after eight appearances.
Macey, who joined Hibs on loan from Arsenal in January before signing a two-year contract in May, has made his seven appearances so far – four in the cup in which he has replaced outgoing Ofir Marciano – and is “definitely” hoping to become a Hibs hero, like the club’s previous cup-winning keeper.
The 26-year-old said: “That’s what I will be looking to do.
“He made a name for himself and I have heard a lot about him.
“I am excited about the opportunity. If I can perform anything like he did, I will be happy with that on Saturday.
“I obviously heard a lot about it before our semi-final because we were playing Dundee United.
“I watched that previous game – it was probably the best goalkeeping performance I have ever seen.
“So I am very aware of that situation and funny enough he probably isn’t aware but, when he went on loan to Bristol Rovers a year or two before he came to Hibs, I was actually a young goalkeeper there.
“I was only about 15 but trained with him for one session so I had tracked his career from that point.
“I am sure he won’t remember me – it was literally one session.
“I knew about Hibs from that cup run so it is quite a nice coincidence.”
Macey, who was on the bench when Arsenal beat Chelsea in the 2020 FA Cup final – “I didn’t feel that I really won that competition” – admits the prospect of appearing in a Scottish Cup final was not on the radar at the start of the season when he was contemplating his future.
He said: “No, a million miles away from that at the start of the season and I feel very fortunate to be in this position.
“It has almost come out of nowhere and if you had told me I was playing in a cup final at the start of the season, it was the furthest thing I was thinking about doing.
“I was thinking about trying to play some sort of football at some point this season.
“I am very lucky to have found such a great club and for everything to have fallen into place that has given me this opportunity to possibly reach the highest point in my career so far.”
