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League Cup | The semi-final story

22 October 2018
Author RedMatchday Team

 

On Sunday Aberdeen travel to Hampden to play Rangers in the League Cup semi-final. The Red Matchday team look back at the Dons record at this stage of the competition.

THE PRE-LEAGUE CUP

In May 1946, it was Aberdeen that won the inaugural competition after beating Rangers 3-2 to lift what was known as the Southern League Cup, the competition that came into force after the end of World War Two. There is much debate about the 1945-46 season, as it is not recognized as an official season by the authorities, but we will leave that for another article.

Aberdeen had beaten Airdrie in a semi-final replay 5-3 after the sides had drawn 2-2 three days before.

The euphoria that followed the cup win added to the feel good factor that prevailed at the time. The city was gradually getting back to normal but there was still some military work to be carried out—both Stan Williams and George Hamilton had little time to dwell on their success as they were both whisked away to fulfill military obligations shortly after the game.

While Aberdeen and their supporters could be excused for some over-zealous celebrations they were soon dashed.

The authorities had previously arranged another competition; the Victory Cup, and Aberdeen managed to reach the latter stages only to go down 4-2 at Clyde. That defeat on 18th May 1946, seven days after their stunning success over Rangers ended the Dons season. Aberdeen’s great rivals Rangers went on to win the hastily arranged tournament. However in keeping with the on going chaos of the time, there was a competition but with no cup on offer for the winners. In a move that was met with much dismay in Aberdeen, the Scottish League insisted that Aberdeen return the Southern League Cup and it was quickly re-named as the Victory Cup. To rub salt in to the Aberdeen wound, the trophy just like the Southern League Cup was never played for again and as Rangers were last winners it proudly resides in the Ibrox trophy room to this day.

THE ACTUAL LEAGUE CUP

George Hamilton remains one of the greatest ever Aberdeen players and it was Hamilton’s hat trick against Hearts at Easter Road on 22nd March 1947 that helped Aberdeen to the first ‘official’ League Cup Final in 1947.

In the semi final against Hearts the Dons simply swept aside the Gorgie challenge at the home of their greatest rivals in what was effectively an away tie for the Dons as it was being played in Edinburgh. The bulk of the 36,000 crowd were from Edinburgh and they were stunned to see a slick Aberdeen cut through their team at every turn. An own goal and further strikes from Billy McCall and Archie Baird confirmed the Dons superiority.

The Dons won 6-2 but lost to Rangers 4-0 in the final.

A year later Aberdeen again reached the semi-final only to go down in a shock 1-0 defeat to East Fife who went on to win the trophy. The tie at Dens Park was one to forget for Aberdeen who never looked like reproducing the cup form that they had become renowned for. Dens would over the years become a familiar venue for many Aberdeen semi-finals, with mixed results over the years.

A FIRST SUCCESS

In the formative years of the League Cup the latter rounds were played after the initial group sections were completed. Aberdeen as traditional slow starters to any season did not fare that well as the group stages always opened every season. It was not until the season the Dons won the League Cup in 1955 that they actually qualified for the later stages. It was the best of times for the Dons as they went into the semi-final against Rangers as the only undefeated team in Britain. A 2-1 win over their great rivals before a near 90,000 Hampden crowd was a remarkable victory for the Dons who were league champions at the time. The damage was done in a first half dominated by Aberdeen who scored with goals from Bob Wishart and Graham Leggat.

League Cup Semi-Final 1955-56 | A Rangers defender picks the ball out of his net.

 

It was Leggat who would go on to have the final say against St Mirren as the Dons took the trophy north. The League Cup drought was to continue after their success in 1955.

GROUP SECTION STRUGGLES

It took Aberdeen a further 11 years before they reached the last four again, even in the intervening years they only managed to qualify from their group section on one occasion in 1957. It was in the early days of Eddie Turnbull’s reign that the Dons reached the semi-final again and came up against Rangers. After a 2-2 draw at Hampden the tie went to a replay and the Dons went down 2-0 before a 38,000 crowd. Ally Shewan was a rare scorer for the Dons in the first game.

Six years later in November 1972 it was Celtic that stopped the Dons reaching the final in a classic match that went right down to the wire. The Dons had an exciting side back then and had been scoring goals for fun, with an incredible 36 goals netted in the League Cup that season prior to the semi-final. In one tie they scored eight against Falkirk, with all the goals coming in the second half. But they went down 3-2 to Celtic at Hampden and Joe Harper, who scored 15 goals in the competition that season, was sold to Everton shortly after. Interestingly Hibernian went on to win the cup after the Dons had beaten them 4-1 in a sectional tie at Pittodrie.

JOCKY’S HAT-TRICK

Four years later and 21 since the Dons last success, Aberdeen took the League Cup back to Pittodrie after a 2-1 win over Celtic in the final. Aberdeen had been the most improved team of the season after just saving themselves from relegation from a first ever new Premier League in 1976. Ally MacLeod was brought to Pittodrie to improve matters and his enthusiasm helped Aberdeen to their first trophy for six years. The new Aberdeen manager had moved swiftly to bring in new players and among those was a return for Joe Harper which proved to be a masterstroke by MacLeod. Harper was immediately among the goals and the Dons cruised through their section. After negotiating their way to the semi-final they once again came up against old rivals Rangers at Hampden. On a memorable night for Aberdeen, one of their finest ever at Hampden, a hat trick by Jocky Scott ensured a glory night for the Dons who went on to humble Rangers 5-1.

League Cup Semi Final 1976-77 | Jocky Scott scores his second goal against Rangers

 

THE LATE 1970s

Ahead of the glory days of the early 80s, there were some tough cup final defeats to experience for the Red Army despite semi success.

Two years later in season 1978/79 extra time was needed when Aberdeen eventually beat a stubborn Hibernian 1-0 at Dens Park. A huge Aberdeen support was in joyful mood after a long ball from Stuart Kennedy eluded Hibernian keeper MacDonald to put Aberdeen through to Hampden.

League Cup, Semi-Final, Season 1978-79 | Hibernian 0 Aberdeen 1 (AET).
Hibs keeper Mike McDonald makes his one mistake of the night … and is left stranded as Stuart Kennedy’s lob drops over his head and into the net.

Aberdeen went on to lose 2-1 in a hugely controversial final against Rangers when Doug Rougvie was astonishingly sent-off. The ever-increasing hostilities between the sides intensified further.

A season later Aberdeen were back at the national stadium in December of 1979 and this time only 11,896 turned up to see the Dons defeat Morton 2-1 to reach the final. Mark McGhee was on target against his first senior club. Previously Aberdeen had knocked out both Rangers and Celtic on the way to the semi-final but they would lose to Dundee United in final after a replay at Dens. Alex Ferguson’s side had therefore played in three League Cup finals in 1979 (if you include the replay) and not won one of them.

In 1981 the League Cup criteria had changed once again and with the group stages gone the semi-finals were being played on a home and away basis. The Dons looked to have book their place in the 1981 final after winning 1-0 at Tannadice against Dundee Utd but a shock 0-3 reverse at Pittodrie was a bad night for the Dons. A very rare home defeat in a cup competition during that golden era.

FERGIE WANTS THE CUP

Aberdeen against lost out in 1983/84 when Celtic knocked the Dons out at Parkhead after the teams drew 0-0 at Pittodrie. The Glasgow side won the second leg 1-0 thanks to a goal from Reid.

Since last winning the League Cup in 1976, unprecedented success had come Aberdeen’s way at home and abroad. But it was also the one trophy that had eluded Alex Ferguson in all of his time at Pittodrie and the Aberdeen manager made it a priority to win during the 1985/86 campaign.

Like most things Fergie put his mind to, he was successful. Aberdeen gained revenge on Dundee Utd with 1-0 wins at both Tannadice and Pittodrie. Frank McDougall was the Aberdeen hero as Aberdeen went on to win the League Cup defeating Hibernian in the final. What was unique about the competition that year was that the Dons did not concede a single goal in any of their ties.

09/10/85 SKOL CUP SEMI-FINAL 2ND LEG | Frank McDougall (9) scores for Aberdeen.

 

THE SKOL CUP

In 1987 it was Dundee who were beaten as Aberdeen once again made the final. Brian Irvine and former Dundee midfielder Bobby Connor were on target before a 22,034 attendance at Tannadice. Aberdeen lost the final to Rangers on penalties.

In 1988 Aberdeen defeated Dundee Utd to reach the final. Having lost a cup tie against United at Dens on two occasions in the past decade – in the 1979-80 final replay and the Scottish Cup semi-final replay in the spring of 1988 – this win proved an important one for manager Alex Smith’s side. A John Hewitt goal after two minutes set the Dons on their way and ironically it was former United striker Davie Dodds that did the damage as he scored to help Aberdeen to another final against Rangers which was again narrowly lost.

20/09/88 SKOL CUP SEMI-FINAL | Theo Snelders (left) and Alex McLeish salute the Aberdeen supporters.

 

Aberdeen reached their third final in succession after a wonder goal from Ian Cameron gave Aberdeen a 1-0 win over Celtic at Hampden. Third time luck, Aberdeen won the final against Rangers after extra time.

The Dons run of success in semi finals came to a close in 1990 when Rangers won 1-0 at Hampden through a Trevor Steven goal.

Two years later it was Aberdeen striker Eoin Jess who scored the vital goal that knocked Celtic out at the semi-final stage. Included in the Aberdeen side that night was former Celtic legend Roy Aitken who had led Celtic to many trophies in the past. Aitken by that time was assistant manager at Pittodrie under Willie Miller. Aberdeen would again lose to bitter rivals Rangers in the final.

23/09/92 SKOL CUP SEMI-FINAL | Eoin Jess (2nd left) wheels away in delight after breaking the deadlock for Aberdeen.

 

VINTAGE JESS

By the time Aitken had taken over as manager in his own right the Dons had lost to Celtic in 1994 semi-final at Ibrox and Aitken had his finest hour as Aberdeen boss when he led the Dons to a 2-0 win over Dundee in the 1995 League Cup.

It was the semi-final victory though over the much vaunted Rangers that gave the Red Army greatest pleasure and there is one particular moment involving Jess that lives long in the memory for Dons fans who followed the team during that turbulent era.

For those who were there it was a night that will remember. Not least for the weather which was horrendous and little fun for anyone travelling to the game. Only a small but noisy section of the Red Army had managed to reach Glasgow. Not many Rangers supporters had bothered to turn up, assuming their progress to the final to be a mere formality.

The match was also being broadcast live on Sky, principally so they could watch over one of their own – Paul Gascoigne. After a goalless first half Aberdeen dominated the second and scored twice through Billy Dodds.

League Cup Semi final 1995-96 | Dodds scores against Rangers

 

However the highlight of the evening came from the irrepressible Eoin Jess. He had been running the show from the middle of the park all night. With the assistance of Paul Bernard and Brian Grant they had completely overwhelmed and out-classed the Rangers midfield that included the aforementioned Gazza.

The unforgettable moment came when Jess took the ball for a run into the corner and then started doing keepie uppies beside the flag before coolly passing the ball back to a teammate. The incident was greeted with disgust by the Ibrox faithful and displeasure by the Rangers tam. What made it even better was the fact the act was committed in front of the Rangers support. Oleg Solenko scored a late consolation in the dying minutes but the result was never in question.

The match still ranks as of the finest Aberdeen performances at the national stadium. It was vintage Jess at his very best.

WINTER OF DISCONTENT

Aberdeen reached the last four of the League Cup on two occasions in the late 1990s, both against Dundee Utd. In 1997 at Tynecastle the Dons lost 3-1, a result which effectively ended Roy Aitken’s time as Aberdeen manager. Robbie Winters took the Dons apart that night. United took the lead through Winters, Dean Windass did equalise, but United eased through to the final courtesy of second-half goals from Craig Easton and another from Winters.

In 1999 at Dens Park against Dundee United Hicham Zerouali inspired Ebbe Skovdahl’s Aberdeen to a 1-0 win with an Arild Stavrum goal from an Andy Dow pass enough to take the Dons through to the final against Celtic. It was a rare highly under the management of Ebbe and the Dons were well beaten in the final.

DRAW MESS UP

In February 2008 Aberdeen finally made it back to a League Cup semi-final.

Darren Mackie was present at the Scottish Parliament as the Dons representative for the CIS League Cup semi-final draw. Aberdeen were paired with Rangers and Dundee United were pitted against Hearts. After Darren had done all his media duties for about an hour, he returned home, by which point the news broke that the draw had been redone. Rangers would now play Hearts, whilst Aberdeen would meet Dundee United. Scottish Parliament presiding officer Alex Fergusson mixed up the numbers, and miscalled the ties when the four balls were drawn. The error was only made public at 1720, four hours after the draw was made at 1330.

“This was a genuine error and I can only apologise for the confusion caused,” said Mr Fergusson. First Minister Alex Salmond who made the draw, said, “As soon as the mistake was realised Alex Fergusson did the right thing by owning up and moving to correct the genuine error straight away. Once football fans are over the shock, I am sure even Hearts fans like myself will have a wry smile and get down to planning for the semi-final.”

Sadly the Dons were not laughing as they would exit both domestic competitions at the semi-final stage that season. The Dons went down in 4-1 to Dundee United at Tynecastle in a season that had brought the excitement of European football back to Pittodrie but would be remembered for the cup failings.

The Dons had led through Andrew Considine’s goal in the 19th minute, but Darren Dods headed United level midway through the first half before they took control against an error-strewn Aberdeen side in the second period. It was a night to forget for keeper Jamie Langfield.

The original semi-final was actually postponed due to the weather, who knows what might have happened if that game had gone ahead?

Then there was disappointment for Craig Brown during his time in charge when Aberdeen went down 4-1 to Celtic in the semi-final at Hampden in January 2011.

RECENT TIMES

But under Derek McInnes, the Dons record in the League Cup was to change dramatically.

In his first full season in charge, Aberdeen won the League Cup, ending a 19-year wait for success. In the semi-final a huge Aberdeen following turned up for the clash with St Johnstone at Tynecastle. After Jonny Hayes opened the scoring early in the game a further goal from Peter Pawlett ensured Aberdeen would go on to win comfortably with Hayes and Rooney adding more goals in the second half. The emphatic 4-0 win set Aberdeen up for their first final since 2000. A famous win over Inverness CT on penalties followed at Celtic Park, or ParkRed as it affectionately became known.

01/02/14 SCOTTISH LEAGUE CUP SEMI-FINAL | Adam Rooney celebrates his goal with his team-mates

 

In January 2015, a Dundee United side containing Gary Mackay-Steven defeated the Dons 2-1. Donervon Daniels on his debut headed Aberdeen into the lead before referee Steven McLean controversially ruled out an Aberdeen goal. Ex Don Callum Morris nodded a leveller for United and Ciftci with six minutes to go sealed the win.

Then in October 2016 Adam Rooney and Kenny McLean scored second-half goals as Aberdeen overcame stubborn resistance from Greenock Morton. The Dons hit the crossbar twice in the first half and were starting to get frustrated against the Championship side. But Rooney looped in a header on 69 minutes and McLean tapped in from close range late on. Aberdeen would lose the final to Celtic.

So to 2018/19, a fourth league Cup semi-final in six years for Aberdeen under McInnes. Hopefully someone in red will be writing their name into our semi-final story.

 

STATS | AFC League Cup Semi-Final Record

Season Date Opposition Venue Game Crowd WLD F A
1946-47 22-Mar-47 Hearts Neutral SF 36200 W 6 2
1947-48 11-Oct-47 East Fife Neutral SF 30000 L 0 1
1955-56 01-Oct-55 Rangers Neutral SF 80000 W 2 1
1966-67 19-Oct-66 Rangers Neutral SF 38600 D 2 2
1966-67 24-Oct-66 Rangers Neutral SFR 38000 L 0 2
1972-73 27-Nov-72 Celtic Neutral SF 39682 L 2 3
1976-77 27-Oct-76 Rangers Neutral SF 20990 W 5 1
1978-79 13-Dec-78 Hibernian Neutral SF 21048 W 1 0
1979-80 01-Dec-79 Morton Neutral SF 11896 W 2 1
1981-82 07-Oct-81 Dundee Utd Away SF1 15000 W 1 0
1981-82 28-Oct-81 Dundee Utd Home SF2 21000 L 0 3
1983-84 22-Feb-84 Celtic Home SF1 20074 D 0 0
1983-84 10-Mar-84 Celtic Away SF2 41169 L 0 1
1985-86 25-Sep-85 Dundee Utd Away SF1 12837 W 1 0
1985-86 09-Oct-85 Dundee Utd Home SF2 20119 W 1 0
1987-88 23-Sep-87 Dundee Neutral SF 22034 W 2 0
1988-89 20-Sep-88 Dundee Utd Neutral SF 18491 W 2 0
1989-90 20-Sep-89 Celtic Neutral SF 45367 W 1 0
1990-91 26-Sep-90 Rangers Neutral SF 40855 L 0 1
1992-93 23-Sep-92 Celtic Neutral SF 40618 W 1 0
1994-95 26-Oct-94 Celtic Neutral SF 44000 L 0 1
1995-96 24-Oct-95 Rangers Neutral SF 26131 W 2 1
1997-98 15-Oct-97 Dundee Utd Neutral SF 10456 L 1 3
1999-00 13-Feb-00 Dundee Utd Neutral SF 9500 W 1 0
2007-08 05-Feb-08 Dundee Utd Neutral SF 12046 L 1 4
2010-11 29-Jan-11 Celtic Neutral SF 38085 L 1 4
2013-14 01-Feb-14 St. Johnstone Neutral SF 16761 W 4 0
2014-15 31-Jan-15 Dundee Utd Neutral SF 29608 L 1 2
2016-17 22-Oct-16 Morton Neutral SF 16183 W 2 0

 

Full Record  
Win Draw Lose
16 2 11
     
Total Games  
29    
     
Win Ratio  
55%    
     
Average Crowd  
28164    
     
Goals     
F A  
42 33  

 

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