the semi final story
Aberdeen in League Cup Semi Finals
by Kevin Stirling
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 that year. A year earlier it was Aberdeen that won the inaugural competition after beating Rangers 3-1 to lift what was known as the Southern League Cup, the competition that came into force after the end of World War Two. In that 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 hearts 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.
A year later Aberdeen against 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. 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 Dons won the League Cup in 1955 that they 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 great 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. 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. 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 in 1966 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 in later in 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 abt they went down 3-2 to Celtic at Hampden. Ironically Hibernian went on to win the cup after the Dons had beaten them 4-1 in a sectional tie at Pittodrie.
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 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 under MacLeod. 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 a hat trick by Jocky Scott ensured a glory night for the Dons who went on to humble Rangers 5-1. Two years later in 1978 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.
A year later (1979) Aberdeen were back at Hampden 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. 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. Aberdeen against lost out in 1983 when Celtic knocked the Dons out at Parkhead after the teams drew 0-0 at Pittodrie. Aberdeen gained revenge on Dundee Utd in 1985 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 tie. 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 that season.
In between the Dons winning the League Cup in 1976 and again in 1985, unprecedented success had come Aberdeen’s way at home and abroad.In 1987 it was Dundee that 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. In 1988 Aberdeen defeated Dundee Utd once again to reach the final. Ironically it was former United striker Davie Dodds that did the damage as he scored to help Aberdeen to another Final against Rangers. Aberdeen reached their third final (1989) in succession after a wonder goal from Ian Cameron gave Aberdeen a 1-0 win over Celtic at Hampden. 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 (1992) 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. 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 their last trophy success a 2-0 win over Dundee in the 1995 League Cup after the Dons beat Rangers 2-1 in the semi final. Aberdeen have since reached the last four of the League Cup on three occasions. In 1997 at Tynecastle the Dons lost 3-1 against Dundee United inspired by Robbie Winters, a result which effectively ended Roy Aitken’s time as Aberdeen manager. In 1999 at Dens Park against Dundee United again Hicham Zerouali inspired Aberdeen to a 1-0 win with an Arild Stavrum goal enough to take the Dons through to the final against Celtic.
Since then it has been a tale of woe and bitter disappointment for the Dons as they have lost out at the semi final stage on two occasions. In February 2008 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 in both domestic cups, Aberdeen fell at the semi final stage. There was further 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.
Aberdeen in the League Cup Did You Know?
Aberdeen won the inaugural competition in 1946. It was after the end of hostilities in World war 11 that prompted some hastily arranged competitions in an effort to keep football going and keep up morale during those difficult times. The Southern League Cup began in 1945 and was in an initial group section before going to the knock out stages. Aberdeen went on to beat Rangers 3-2 in a sensational final with George Taylor scoring the winning goal in the last minute.
The Dons record win in the League Cup was a 9-0 hammering of both Queen of the South on 13th September 1947 and Raith Rovers at Pittodrie on 24th August 1983. The tie against Raith produced the Dons best aggregate score as they won the return 3-0 in Kirkcaldy to register a 12-0 aggregate win.
Despite scoring an incredible 38 goals from 11 League Cup ties in 1972.73, the Dons did not even reach the final that season. Aberdeen were knocked out by Celtic in a 3-2 defeat at Hampden. Joe Harper was the top scorer with 15 of the Dons 38 goals.
When Aberdeen won the League Cup in 1955, they went into the final as the only undefeated team in Britain that season. Graham Leggat scored the winner in a 2-1 win over St Mirren at Hampden. Aberdeen manager Dave Shaw said his side were lucky to win the cup but as reigning champions the Dons had mastered the feat of playing badly and winning. They also recorded the most wins in the League Cup that season with nine victories from ten matches.
The record attendance for a home League Cup tie for the Dons was a massive 42,000 for the visit of Hibernian in a Quarter Final tie on 16th September 1950.
Joe Harper is the Dons top scorer in all League Cup ties with 51 goals to his credit. Harper opened his account against St Johnstone in August 1971 with his final goal in the competition coming against Rangers at Ibrox on 10th October 1979. Included in that haul were two four-goal feats against Airdrie in 1971 and against Hamilton in 1978. In 1976 Harper scored in every one of the Dons group matches.
When Aberdeen won the League Cup in 1985, they went through all six ties without conceding a single goal, including the final at Hampden when they defeated Hibernian 3-0.
George Hamilton and Joe Harper share a unique record of having scored four goals in a League Cup tie on two separate occasions. ‘Gentleman’ George Hamilton scored four in the Dons first ever group game against Falkirk in September 1946 and he repeated that four goal salvo against Queen of the South in 1947.
It was in a League Cup tie against Clydebank at Pittodrie on 10th August 1993 that the first goal was scored in front of the new Richard Donald Stand. Aberdeen captain Alex McLeish had the distinction of scoring the first goal in a 5-0 win for the Dons.
The Dons last major success was in the League Cup. Goals from Billy Dodds and Duncan Shearer gave Aberdeen a 2-0 win over Dundee at Hampden on 26th November 1995.
Aberdeen reached the final of the League Cup in 2000 by never scoring more than one goal in any tie. In fact the Dons scored only four goals in the entire competition before going down to Celtic in the Hampden final on 19th March 2000.
