A history

The fact that Aberdeen have been drawn away to Partick in the Scottish Cup should come as no surprise. In the previous matches Aberdeen have been drawn away on no less than four occasions. In all previous eight meetings, Aberdeen have only lost once. That was away back in February 1930, the first time the sides met in the Scottish Cup. Aberdeen went down 3-2 and since then it has been Aberdeen who have dominated with six wins and one draw.

In 1931 Aberdeen were held by Partick in a 1-1 draw before Aberdeen won the replay 3-0 in convincing fashion. Benny Yorston scored twice with debutant Lachie McMillan also among the goals before a huge 29,000 crowd at Firhill.

In 1947 on the only other occasion the teams were drawn at Pittodrie it took a rare goal from Aberdeen stalwart Willie Cooper in the closing minutes to put Aberdeen through. The Dons went on to win the cup that year for the first time. It was not until 1978 that the side met again, this time in the semi final at Hampden. Aberdeen had to face Thistle three times in eight days and won them all, including a 4-2 semi final win with Ian Fleming scoring a hat trick.

In 1980 Aberdeen came through a tough quarter final at Firhill with Drew Jarvie and Steve Archibald scoring in a 2-1 win. Three years later the team again clashed at the quarter final stage in Glasgow and the Dons again prevailed in a 2-1 win. Aberdeen had just came back from a 0-0 draw against Bayern Munich in Germany and the Thistle tie came days before the Dons beat the Germans in the Pittodrie return. Holders Aberdeen went on to retain the Scottish Cup that year. That feat was repeated in the last occasion the side met in the cup again at Firhill in January 1990. Dutch striker Willem Van der Ark became the second Dons to score three against Partick in the Scottish Cup in a 6-2 win.

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