SCOTTISH CUP FINAL 2020…
The Scottish Cup final of 2019 was played on Lisbon Day, 25 May 2019. The following year’s Scottish Cup final was played in 2020, as it should have been, but on 20 December in front of a paying crowd of zero, and in the weirdest Cup final of them all. The teams were the same as in 2019, Celtic and Hearts, but in circumstances so vastly different that they could not have been imagined a year previously.
The cause was the Coronavirus pandemic. It is of course very easy to say that the world went mad and over reacted – and that is certainly true – but one mustn’t be too hard on politicians, for they were in a totally new situation as panic and hysteria swept the globe. T
he decision taken in May 2020 to call a halt on the 2019/20 season had major implications for both Celtic and Hearts. Celtic won the League, and Hearts were relegated! Hearts would argue that they were ill done by, but Celtic were far enough ahead in the League to justify the awarding to them of their 9th League title in a row. We would rather have won it some other way, however!
But the Scottish Cup was now at the semi-final stage. Hearts had beaten Rangers in the quarter final and had been drawn against Hibs, while Celtic took on Aberdeen. Sadly the semi-finals were postponed to the autumn and played behind closed doors but televised to the world. Hearts and Celtic triumphed and the final was set for the day before midwinter’s day 2020 at Hampden – again behind closed doors but televised to the world. Thus there was at least a huge worldwide audience.
Celtic were not having a good season behind closed doors. Europe was even more disappointing than normal, the team lost 0-2 to Rangers at a silent Parkhead on 17 October and never recovered their League challenge, and a few weeks before the Scottish Cup final, any chances of a quintuple treble evaporated as they went down 0-2 to Ross County at Parkhead in the Scottish League Cup.
It is of course very easy to say it was all because they lacked the presence of the fans – and that is true – but there was more to it than that. Some players, particularly the overseas players who were trapped in Scotland, were clearly unhappy, homesick and miserable, there was a particular inability to defend corner kicks and free kicks, and there was possibly also a conspiracy against Manager Neil Lennon. In such circumstances it was difficult to be optimistic about the delayed Cup Final, which nevertheless, if successful, would have delivered a quadruple treble.
Hearts were now in the Championship. They were no strangers there, of course, but naturally their supporters, encouraged to a certain extent by the club themselves saw a conspiracy here, for they felt that they might have rescued themselves in 2020 if given a chance (and one would have to concede that it was, at least, possible). However, they were now doing well in the Championship and at the end of the season, they would win it by some distance.
It was a bizarre, outlandish situation, as we switched on our televisions to watch the 135th Scottish Cup final. In tune with the rest of the world, it was a peculiar game as well, but it did provide some entertainment and gave Celtic fans a Merry Xmas, in spite of the madness and unhappiness going on all around them The Government saw fit to discover a “variant” or two of the disease (they did likewise the following Christmas as well) to further cow the people into submission, but at least we had something to cheer us up.
Celtic: Hazard, Ajer, Jullien, Duffy (Johnston), Taylor (Frimpong), Brown (Soro), McGregor, Christie, Turnbull (Rogic), Elyounoussi (Laxalt), Edouard (Griffiths)
Hearts: Gordon, Smith, Halkett, Berra. Kingsley, Irving (Frear), Halliday (Haring), Walker (Ginnelly), Naismith, White (Lee), Boyce (Wighton).
Referee: John Beaton.
The TV cameras were in the North Stand, which provided an interesting perspective on it all, and by half time, Celtic playing into the Mount Florida End were 2-0 up, one a fine shot from outside the penalty area from Ryan Christie, the other a penalty exquisitely scored by Odsonne Edouard in what is known as the Panenka style. A sour and uncharacteristic note was struck when Edouard’s one time team mate Craig Gordon threw the ball at him in disgust!
That ought to have been it all done and dusted, but this was an awful Celtic defence and two goals were conceded, one when Boyce should have been covered, and the other when Kingsley’s shot seemed to have been cleared, but modern technology in the shape of the referee’s wrist watch ruled (correctly) that the ball had crossed the line.
And so to extra time, although Celtic had come close to a winner in the 90 minutes. Continuing the theme of all goals being scored into the Mount Florida end, Celtic scored through Griffiths, then late in the game Ginnelly equalised. Once again Celtic came close at the other end, but penalties it was.
Celtic don’t always do well in penalty shoot outs – one recalls the grizzly horrors of Aberdeen and Raith Rovers – and when Ryan Christie missed the sixth penalty, things looked grim. But Connor Hazard now earned his moment of glory when he saved two penalties. In between them Mikey Johnston had held his nerve to score his, and all that was now required to win the 40th Scottish Cup for Celtic was for Kristoffer Ajer to score his. He duly did so, and the reaction of the steward in the corner was significant. He was clearly a crypto Celtic supporter, but his feelings were replicated in Celtic households throughout the world.
It was hardly Celtic’s best ever Scottish Cup final, but it was possibly the most precious and the most required at a particularly difficult period of Celtic and world history. “Merry Xmas “almost seemed to mean something after all! 40 Scottish Cups and a quadruple treble had been achieved – but in a way that no-one could have believed!
And yet, even in our muted triumph, it was hard to disagree with the old dictum of Jock Stein that “Football, without fans, is nothing”.
David Potter
THE BOULD BHOYS! ‘GLORY TO THEIR NAME’ IS OUT ON FRIDAY 24TH MARCH 2023…
Matthew Marr’s debut Celtic book – ‘The BOULD BHOYS – Glory to their name’ is published on Friday 24 March. Thanks to everyone who has ordered since we announced the book’s release date on Monday night via an interview with the author. Please note that all pre-ordered books will be personally signed by Matthew Marr and you can order below if you’d like a signed copy posted out to you 24 March.
READ THIS...‘The Bould Bhoys – Glory to their name’ by Matthew Marr
