There's something special about big midweek games at Easter Road

In the spirited and heartfelt words of John McGinn, warrior of the pitch and son of Scotland’s proud footballing soil, we find a truth that speaks not only to sport, but to the very essence of human passion: “There’s something special about big midweek games at Easter Road, under the lights, that makes us have that little bit extra about us.” These words, though born from the world of football, are infused with the poetry of belonging, the magic of memory, and the fire of unity. For McGinn does not speak only of a field or a game — he speaks of that sacred energy that awakens when hearts beat together in pursuit of something greater than themselves.

The origin of this quote lies in the soul of a player who gave his all for Hibernian Football Club, known to its faithful as Hibs — a team whose history is interwoven with the struggles and triumphs of Edinburgh’s working people. The Easter Road Stadium, nestled within Leith’s narrow streets, has for generations been more than brick and steel; it has been a temple of emotion, where joy and heartbreak have mingled in the same breath. When McGinn speaks of “midweek games under the lights,” he summons an image that every footballer and fan knows well — the cold air of a Scottish night, the roar of thousands, the gleam of floodlights turning the dark sky into a stage of hope. It is there, in that electric communion between player and crowd, that the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

For what McGinn calls “that little bit extra” is not skill alone, but spirit — the unseen force that drives men beyond fatigue, that transforms effort into glory. In those midweek games, when the world beyond the stadium sleeps, the players and fans create a living pulse that carries them further than training or talent ever could. The ancients might have called it divine favor; the poets might call it soul. It is the same mystery that stirs the soldier before battle, the artist before his masterpiece, the believer before the altar. It is the realization that we are not alone in our striving — that when we stand together, something greater than ourselves moves through us.

Consider, in history, the tale of the Spartans at Thermopylae. Against overwhelming odds, three hundred men held back the vast Persian host. They fought not because they expected to survive, but because they fought for one another — for their homeland, for their brothers in arms. In their unity they found that same “little bit extra” that McGinn speaks of — that surge of will born from shared purpose. Though they fell, their courage became legend. So too, in smaller ways, does a team under the lights, when the air hums with belief, find strength beyond what the body can give. For spirit, once awakened, can defy even the impossible.

There is also something sacred in Easter Road itself — a place not merely of games, but of gathering. Stadiums like it are modern-day amphitheaters of humanity, where thousands unite in one heartbeat. To the outsider, they may seem places of noise and rivalry, but to the initiated, they are sanctuaries of memory. Every cheer, every chant, every echo beneath those lights binds generations together — the grandfather’s roar living on in the grandson’s song. McGinn’s words remind us that such places carry more than sport; they carry the spirit of community, the belief that shared moments of struggle and triumph forge unbreakable bonds.

When McGinn says there is “something special” about those nights, he is speaking of belonging — that ancient longing of the human heart to be part of something that transcends the self. Under the lights, the barriers of age, class, and difference dissolve. Every voice rises as one, and every player, hearing that chorus, becomes more than he was. This is why, in those moments, men run faster, fight harder, dream bigger. The lights above are not only electric — they are symbolic of the fire within, illuminating the path of purpose.

So let this be the lesson: whether in sport, in work, or in life, seek the moments that awaken “that little bit extra” within you. Find your Easter Road — that place, that cause, that company of souls that stirs your heart and reminds you of your highest self. For it is in these moments of shared striving, under the lights of hope and unity, that greatness is born. The ancients knew it, and John McGinn knows it still: when passion meets purpose, and when many hearts beat as one, even the humblest field can become hallowed ground.

Thus, remember this teaching — to give your all, to honor your companions, and to find your strength in the fire of togetherness. For the light that shines over Easter Road is the same light that dwells within every soul brave enough to believe, to fight, and to belong. And when the night is darkest, it is that light — the light of unity and purpose — that will always guide you home.