1990 Scottish Cup final

1990 Scottish Cup Final
Event	1989–90 Scottish Cup
	(after extra time); (Aberdeen won 9–8 on penalties)
Date	12 May 1990
Venue	Hampden Park, Glasgow
Referee	George Smith
Attendance	60,493
	← 1989 1991 →

Last updated February 26, 2025

The 1990 Scottish Cup Final was the 105th final of the Scottish Cup, Scottish football's most prestigious knock-out association football competition. The match took place at Hampden Park on 12 May 1990 and was contested by Scottish Premier Division clubs Aberdeen and Celtic. It was Aberdeen's 13th and Celtic's 45th Scottish Cup Final. The clubs had previously met at the same stage of the tournament on five occasions. Celtic were the defending champions of the competition from the previous two seasons having defeated Rangers and Dundee United respectively.

As Scottish Premier Division clubs, Aberdeen and Celtic both entered the competition in the third round. Aberdeen won all of its four fixtures before the final on its first attempt whilst Celtic needed one replay to see off Premier Division club Dunfermline Athletic in the quarter-finals. Aberdeen knocked out Division One clubs Partick Thistle and Morton before defeating Premier Division clubs Heart of Midlothian and Dundee United before the final. Celtic also defeated two Division One clubs as well as Old Firm and Premier Division rivals Rangers in the fourth round.

The match was Celtic's 45th appearance in the final while it was Aberdeen's 13th. Both clubs had met in the final on five occasions beforehand in 1937, 1954, 1967, 1970 and 1984 with Celtic winning three over Aberdeen's two. Celtic had previously won the tournament 29 times whilst Aberdeen only six times, four coming in the previous nine seasons. Aberdeen were favourites to win the match on this occasion having finished well ahead of Celtic in the league, and having beaten the Glasgow side 3–1 at Parkhead a mere ten days earlier.^[1]

Aberdeen won the match 9–8 on penalties after a 0–0 draw over 90 minutes of normal play and 30 minutes of extra-time. With the shoot-out poised at 3-4 Celtic bound striker Charlie Nicholas was required to score to send the shoot-out to Sudden Death. After a further 8 consecutive successful penalty kicks Celtic's Anton Rogan missed the penultimate kick, allowing Brian Irvine to win the tie and claim Aberdeen's seventh Scottish Cup victory.^[2]^[3]

Route to the final

Aberdeen				Round	Celtic
Home team	Score	Away team	Aberdeen scorer(s)	Round	Home team	Score	Away team	Celtic scorer(s)
Partick Thistle	2 – 6	Aberdeen	Van der Ark Mason Grant Robertson	Round Three^[4]	Forfar Athletic	1 – 2	Celtic	Morris Dziekanowski
Aberdeen	2 – 1	Greenock Morton	Gillhaus Nicholas	Round Four	Celtic	1 – 0	Rangers	Coyne
Aberdeen	4 – 1	Hearts	Bett 7' McKimmie 71' Irvine 75' Nicholas 84'	Quarter-finals	Dunfermline Athletic	0 – 0	Celtic	None
Aberdeen	4 – 1	Hearts	Bett 7' McKimmie 71' Irvine 75' Nicholas 84'	Replay	Celtic	3 – 0	Dunfermline Athletic	McStay Coyne Miller
Aberdeen	4 – 0	Dundee United	Irvine Gillhaus (o.g.)(o.g.)	Semi-finals	Celtic	2 – 0	Clydebank	Walker

Match details

12 May 1990

Aberdeen	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Celtic
	Report
Penalties
Bett Connor Gillhaus Grant Nicholas McLeish McKimmie Robertson Watson Irvine	9–8	Wdowczyk Grant McStay Coyne Galloway Miller Whyte Elliott Dziekanowski Rogan

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 60,493

Referee: George Smith


ABERDEEN:
GK	Theo Snelders
DF	Stewart McKimmie
DF	Alex McLeish
DF	Brian Irvine
DF	David Robertson
MF	Paul Mason	105'
MF	Brian Grant
MF	Jim Bett
MF	Bobby Connor
FW	Charlie Nicholas
FW	Hans Gillhaus
Substitutes:
DF	Graham Watson	105'
MF	Eoin Jess
Manager:
Alex Smith


CELTIC:
GK	Pat Bonner
DF	Dariusz Wdowczyk
DF	Paul Elliott
DF	Derek Whyte
DF	Anton Rogan
MF	Billy Stark	90'
MF	Peter Grant
MF	Paul McStay
FW	Joe Miller
FW	Andy Walker	100'
FW	Dariusz Dziekanowski
Substitutes:
MF	Mike Galloway	90'
FW	Tommy Coyne	100'
Manager:
Billy McNeill

References

↑ Potter, David; Jones, Phil H (2016). The History of the Scottish Cup the Story of every Season 1873-2016. Worthing: Pitch Publishing. p. 268. ISBN 978-1-78531-214-4.
↑ Traynor, James (14 May 1990). "Stagnant Celtic pay ultimate penalty. Snelders saves Rogan's kick and Irvine secures cup for Aberdeen". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
↑ Don Morrison (13 May 1990). "Cheers and tears". Sunday Mail. The Celtic Wiki. Retrieved 27 October 2018– via The Celtic Wiki.
↑ Premier Division teams received a bye to the third round.

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[PotterJones268-1] Potter, David; Jones, Phil H (2016). The History of the Scottish Cup the Story of every Season 1873-2016. Worthing: Pitch Publishing. p. 268. ISBN 978-1-78531-214-4.

[2] Traynor, James (14 May 1990). "Stagnant Celtic pay ultimate penalty. Snelders saves Rogan's kick and Irvine secures cup for Aberdeen". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 19 January 2018.

[3] Don Morrison (13 May 1990). "Cheers and tears". Sunday Mail. The Celtic Wiki. Retrieved 27 October 2018– via The Celtic Wiki.

[bye-4] Premier Division teams received a bye to the third round.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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1990 Scottish Cup final

Contents

Route to the final

Match details

References