Ten man Celtic won a dramatic Skol Cup penalty shoot-out against holders Aberdeen at Pittodrie 35 years ago today but the refereeing decisions taken by Bob Valentine incensed the Celtic manager Davie Hay..
And not for the fist time and certainly not the last either, the referee was at the centre of the post match talking points – despite the decent football played by both teams in a very competitive cup tie – with Celtic manager Davie Hay incensed by the decisions taken by the referee Bob Valentine who had sent off Celtic midfielder Tony Shepherd and made the remarkable call to allow the home side to leave the field of play after the 90 minutes were up.
The photograph above shows the Celtic protests with Hay later revealing that the explanation given was that it was at the referees discretion to allow one side this privilege.
“I will be writing again to the SFA asking that Mr Valentine never again handles a Celtic game,” Davie Hay said. “I’ve done so before and will do so again – with the full backing of my club. It’s for his own good as much as anything.”
The Celtic manager added: “It’s terrible to say things like this after such a tie but I think it is necessary.”
Significantly these comments came after a Celtic victory, so cannot be dismissed as sour grapes. Jim Farry later acknowledged receipt of the later and within a few weeks responded by appointing Valentine to handle his next Celtic game. It would be another decade before Fergus McCann sorted Farry out.
Aberdeen scored first but Celtic levelled through He Who Must Not Be Named. TheThe penalty shoot out is entertaining, the travelling army of Celtic supporters who had paid £2.50 for their tickets certainly thought so! The scenes! Watch below..and if anyone was at this game and would like to share your recollections please email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk
35 years ago today, Celtic beat Aberdeen on penalties after a 1:1 draw at Pittodrie pic.twitter.com/tKv5Mc7kiZ
— Li’l Ze (@LilZe_7) September 2, 2021
