I have known older Hibernian fans to near weep at the mere mention of Pat Stanton.

What a player he was at Easter Road in the 1960s and 1970s; the very phrase "a cultured footballer" might have been invented for Stanton. And what Pat Fenlon's current side would do for a magical reinvention of their former captain among their ranks at Hampden Park tomorrow.

Stanton is still a well-known figure around the club, and whenever a certain vintage of Hibs supporter sees him, their minds are taken back to a time when their club played a brand of football often the equal of Jock Stein's Celtic.

Everyone knows about Hibs' Famous Five of the 1950s. Many fans, though, with their eyes welling up, recall equally the great side of the 1970s under Eddie Turnbull, the team of Stanton, John Blackley, John Brownlie, Erich Schaedler, Alex Cropley, Alex Edwards, etc. One phrase suffices: "Seven-nil".

Stanton, still an unassuming man, was everything in a Hibs shirt: skill, intelligence, roaming power, sophistication. It is no coincidence that two of the greatest managers ever produced by Scotland – Eddie Turnbull and Stein – both prized him highly.

One of five boys from a poor family in Craigmillar in Edinburgh, Stanton, now 68, refers to himself as "the last of the romantics" from a fine football age. It took Stanton until the age of 32 and Stein until 1976 to prise him away from Hibs.

"I grew up a Hibs fan and my dad, of whom I'll tell you a great story, was a big Hibee," he says. "When I was a young player they sent me out to Bonnyrigg Rose for a season to 'toughen me up' and there was talk then of Chelsea and others wanting me. But I was a Hibs fan. My heart was set on Easter Road.

"Over these years at Hibs quite a few teams were said to be in for me, but I guess I just wanted to stay put. Tom McNiven, the old Hibs trainer, used to say to me, 'aye, Pat, you're a home bird, this is where you want to be.' He probably knew me better than I knew myself."

Stanton became the brains, the heartbeat, of a memorable Hibs team. The odd thing is, most of us recall him as a midfielder, which he usually was for Hibs. But he always viewed himself as a defender, which caused him some ructions throughout his career.

"In the end the issue caused a wee bit of friction between me and [former Hibs manager] Eddie Turnbull," he says. "Eddie always played me in midfield and I had a few wee gripes with him about it. I always felt I was a defender. I was reluctant to play in midfield. Looking back now, maybe I was wrong about it. Maybe I was a midfielder.

"Funnily enough, Jock Stein, first time around when he managed me at Hibs [in 1965], played me in defence. But then Bob Shankly came in and played me in midfield, as did Eddie Turnbull after that. It was only very late on in my career, when big Jock took me to Celtic, that I was back in defence. 'We're losing too many silly goals,' Jock told me. 'That's why I've brought you here.'"

Turnbull, who died two years ago, was a memorable manager, and a fine player before that. It is quite a thought: the blunt, fiery Turnbull and the quiet, stoical Stanton at odds with each other. Each knew that the other was supremely gifted in his craft.

"It's an open secret we didn't see eye to eye," says Stanton. "But I'll be the first to stand up and say Eddie Turnbull's knowledge of football was first-class, it was exceptional. He was a great manager who got that wee bit extra out of you.

"Eddie had a gruff exterior, but he was actually a funny man, he had quite a sense of humour. And he was very determined. Although he had been one of the Famous Five I think he sometimes felt overlooked, as if he was the mere workhorse of that group.

"Maybe he lived in the shadow of the other four: Lawrie Reilly, Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone and Willie Ormond. But Eddie was a damn fine player, who respected players, and who gained respect from his players."

There was also a professional "edge" between Turnbull and Stein. Stein was openly lauded, but those in the game also rated Turnbull, who had already defeated the Celtic manager in the 1970 Scottish Cup final with Aberdeen, but had then come a terrible cropper in the infamous Celtic-Hibs Scottish Cup final of 1972, which Celtic won 6-1.

The 1972 Scottish League Cup final, just months after that hammering, remains the perfect evidence of the quality of Hibs and Celtic at the time. If you watch that game today, it looks like something out of the modern era, rather than a period piece of 40-plus years ago.

"That was a great game," acknowledges Stanton, who scored that day for Hibs. "We were 2-1 up and it was like an eternity until the final whistle. It was pay-back for our supporters after the terrible drubbing we'd got off Celtic. That Hibs team was terrific, but Celtic had players like Kenny Dalglish, Danny McGrain, Bobby Lennox, George Connelly and others. What a time that was at the Hibs. We were the last of the romantics."

Stanton, late in his career, was finally lured away from Easter Road to Glasgow by Stein, and won league-and-cup double medals with Celtic, though injury would soon finish him. But Hibs remained the team of his heart, and certainly that of his father, Michael, a worker in an Edinburgh brewery.

"When I was a lad aged 14, I went to train with Hibs," Pat recalls. "They were keen to sign me and after training one evening I was sent up to the boardroom to see the manager, Hugh Shaw, who had managed the Famous Five team. Mr Shaw said to me, 'did you enjoy training, Pat?' and I said, 'yes, I did.' He then said 'here' and handed me a 10 shilling note. I got the bus back home to Craigmillar and handed that note to my mother, who showed it to my dad, a proud Hibee. I thought nothing more of it.

"Many years later, when my father passed away, my mum handed me a folder of some of his collections – letters, football cards, other wee items – and then she said to me, 'do you know what this is?' Tucked away at the back was an old 10 shilling note. 'This is the same 10 shilling note you handed to us after you first trained with Hibs,' she said. 'That's what it meant to your dad.'"

Stanton will be at Hampden tomorrow, hoping the spirit of Hibs can somehow prevail. "I'd like to say to the players, 'be brave, go out there and enjoy it,' but that's a bit rich coming from me. I was part of a great Hibs team which froze a couple of times on the big stage. I just hope it is a great occasion for the supporters."