Career
Hanlon has represented Scotland at under 19 and under 21 level He also previously played for Street Johnstone. Hanlon played for the well known Edinburgh youth football club Hutchison Vale, along with future Hibs teammate Danny Galbraith.
Hanlon was an attacking midfielder who scored plenty of goals in youth football, but was converted to a defensive position after he signed for Hibs.
He played his first senior game for Hibs on 12 January 2008, against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup, due to injuries sustained by David Murphy and Lewis Stevenson. Hanlon played for Hibs on a regular basis over the next seven months, and he agreed a five-year contract with the club
During the 2008-2009 season, however, Hanlon was replaced by Ian Murray as Hibs" regular left back. Hanlon was loaned out to Street Johnstone in December 2008, initially for one month.
Street Johnstone wanted to extend the loan arrangement, but Hibs refused to allow this.
Hanlon went straight back into the Hibs team after returning from Street Johnstone, but he was dropped soon afterwards by Mixu Paatelainen due to a defensive error he made in a match against Kilmarnock. Hanlon played infrequently during the 2009-2010 season, only featuring when one of the regular defenders was unavailable. One such period was when Sol Bamba was with the Côte d"Ivoire national team at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
Manager John Hughes said it was a tough decision to reinstate Bamba to the team at Hanlon"s expense.
At the end of the season, Hughes commented that Hanlon was a "great" football player, but needed to become tougher and show more desire. Hughes again praised Hanlon before the start of the 2010-2011 season, saying that he had a "real future" in the game and had the potential to play in the Premier League.
Following the departure of Chris Hogg, Hanlon captained the team at times. Hanlon agreed a new contract with the club in May 2011.
At the same time, Hanlon was ruled out of action for the rest of the season due to a knee injury.
Hibs were seven points ahead of the relegation play-off position at that point, but a continued bad run of results led to their eventual relegation to the Scottish Championship. Hanlon was a regular in central defence during the 2011 Union of European Football Associations European Under-21 Football Championship qualification campaign, which ended in a play-off defeat by Iceland. Hanlon then captained an inexperienced side in November 2010 as head coach Billy Stark made initial preparations for the 2013 Union of European Football Associations European Under-21 Football Championship qualification campaign.