page_title: 2009–10 Hibernian F.C. season
section_title: Transfers
hierarchical_section_title: 2009–10 Hibernian F.C. season / Transfers
caption_attribution_description: English: Graeme Smith playing for Motherwell F.C.
context_page_description: Season 2009–10 for Hibernian was their eleventh consecutive season of play in the Scottish Premier League. The SPL season began on 15 August 2009, with a 2–1 win against St Mirren at home. After a very strong start to the season in which they challenged for the league leadership, Hibs then had a slump in form in the later part of the season. The team eventually secured a Europa League place via finishing fourth in the SPL by winning 2–0 on the final day at Tannadice. Hibs were eliminated from the Scottish Cup in a quarter final replay by Ross County and were knocked out of the Scottish League Cup in the third round by St Johnstone.
context_section_description: Hibs' first significant move in the close season was to part company with manager Mixu Paatelainen, becoming the third SPL club to change manager in the space of a week. Falkirk manager John Hughes was immediately linked with the vacancy, and he was appointed Hibs manager 10 days later.
  Paatelainen had already begun making changes to the squad for the new season before he left, by releasing Fabián Yantorno, Damon Gray and Andrew McNeil. Grzegorz Szamotulski's departure under free agency meant that Hughes needed to sign a new goalkeeper, which he addressed by signing Graham Stack. Paatelainen had also done much of the work leading to the signing of Danny Galbraith, which Hughes completed after he was appointed.
  There were two significant departures early in the summer, with Scotland international Steven Fletcher moving to newly promoted Premier League club Burnley, and club captain Rob Jones signing for Scunthorpe United. Both buying clubs broke their transfer fee record to secure their services.
  Hughes went back to his former club to sign midfielders Patrick Cregg and Kevin McBride, with Cregg being his first signing as Hibs manager. Towards the end of the window, he signed Anthony Stokes from Sunderland, with the move going against a trend of SPL players moving to English clubs. Like Cregg and McBride, Stokes had previously played under Hughes' management at Falkirk.
  On the first day of the January 2010 transfer window, Hibs signed goalkeeper Graeme Smith on a free transfer. The club also loaned out youngsters Lee Currie and Sean Welsh to Stenhousemuir for a month. Towards the end of the window, Hibs signed another goalkeeper, Mark Brown, who had been released by Celtic. Hibs had tried to sign Brown in the previous window, but Celtic had been demanding a transfer fee at that time. John Hughes stated that it "looks as if" the deal to sign Brown would complete Hibs' transfer activity for the season, with the club now having a "goalkeeping school" in place. Nonetheless, late on transfer deadline day, Hibs brought in Alan Gow on loan from Plymouth. Gow had previously played for Hughes at Falkirk, forming a forward partnership with Anthony Stokes.
caption: Graeme Smith signed on a free transfer at the start of January 2010.
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