Drybrough
Cup
1971-1974,
1979-1980
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See also |
The early 1970s
saw the authorities begin to move away from their long-standing opposition to
sponsorship. But they embraced commercialism only tentatively, refusing to
allow companies to lend their name to existing tournaments. As a result those
companies prepared to put some money into the game had to set up their own
tournaments, of which the Drybrough Cup was one - the first sponsored
competition exclusive to Scottish clubs. The
competition was established in 1971, a year after the similar Watney Cup had
been introduced in It was played
before the start of the traditional season and all competitions were done and
dusted inside a week. There was none of the giant-killing associated with the
Watney Cup (where Halifax Town knocked out the Manchester United of Best, Law
and Charlton and the competition was won by Colchester United!) as all four
top league sides - Aberdeen, Airdrieoniaans, Celtic and St Johnstone won
their ties on Saturday July 31st 1971 and the Dons and the Celts triumphed in
midweek semi-finals to clash at Pittodrie in the Final on August 7th. This was an
open, attractive match watched by around 25,000 which Although
ostensibly for an equal number of first and second division sides,
unsurprisingly the two promoted teams - Partick Thistle and The initial
tournament was judged a success. Each entrant was guaranteed a minimum of
£1,000 (a tidy sum for some clubs) out of the £25,000 pot the sponsors put up
for grabs. Significantly though, even at this stage, Celtic were reluctant
entrants. They felt it was a needless addition to the calendar and they had a
point. In In 72-73 the
four lower sides were again eliminated immediately but the competition was
still a success - a total of 67,000 watched the opening round. The Final was
scheduled for Hampden - probably in anticipation of an Old Firm clash - but
it was an all-green affair as Celtic bested Aberdeen 3-2 in front of 40,000
at Parkhead in the semis while Hibernian crushed a full-strength Rangers
(nine of the Cup-Winners Cup winning team plus Colin Jackson and Andy Penman)
3-0 before a crowd of 27,111. But the
competition had powerful detractors. None more so than Jock Stein who made
his view quite clear in the match programme for the This could be
construed as biting the hand that feeds you, except that Celtic, at that
time, were well-enough fed as it was! The Final was
a thrilling affair where Celtic came back from two down at the interval to
take the game to extra time before Hibernian triumphed 5-3. While the
attendance of 49,462 was nowhere near filling Hampden, it wasn't a bad figure
for the first week of August. At the start
of 1973-74 the four top division sides - all playing at home - won once
again, thhoough Raith Rovers came close to an upset by taking For the
second successive season the Final was a Hibernian-Celtic affair. This time
though it was a much poorer game as Hibernian retained the trophy in front of
49,204 thanks to the only goal of the game from Alan Gordon in extra time. In 1974-75 it
was as you were as the four top sides all won. And while there may have been
a falling away in support from the Old Firm, interest was still strong
elsewhere. This writer was one of the 13,272 in attendance at Easter Road to
watch Hibernian beat Once again
the nearest thing to an upset was The first Old
Firm final attracted 57,558 to Hampden to see an exciting encounter which
left the teams deadlocked 2-2 after 120 minutes. Celtic finally got their
hands on the trophy winning the penalty shoot-out 4-2. After that
the competition went into cold storage. Scottish football was restructured
into three divisions at the end of the season, meaning two more League matches
for the new Premier Division clubs. Coupled with the Old Firm's dislike it
looked like the end. But the
Drybrough Cup made a brief comeback at the end of the decade. In 1979-80 it
still held enough allure to encourage over 10,000 along to Rugby Park to see
Rangers beat Kilmarnock in the last four before going on to record their only
success in the tourney, defeating Celtic 3-1 in the Final in a match most
memorable for a Davie Cooper goal when he received the ball on his chest with
his back to goal, swivelled and flicked it past four Celtic defenders before
scoring. But this was
a competition whose time had come and gone. Fittingly, the first winners were
also the last as |
Winners
1971 1972 Hibernian 1973 Hibernian 1974 Celtic 1979 Rangers 1980 |
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1971-72 First
Round 31st
July 1971 Airdrieonians
2-1 Arbroath Celtic
5-2 Dumbarton East
Fife 0-3 St
Johnstone 2-1 Partick Thistle Semi-Final
4th
August 1971 Airdrieonians
1-4 Celtic
4-2 St Johnstone Final
at Pittodrie (att 25,000) 7th
August 1971 |
|
1972-73 First
Round 29th
July 1972 Celtic
2-1 Dumbarton Hibernian
4-0 Montrose Rangers
3-1 Stirling Semi-Final
2nd
August 1972 Celtic
3-2 Hibernian
3-0 Rangers Final
at 5th
August 1972 Hibernian
5-3 Celtic aet |
|
1973-74 First
Round 29th
July 1973 Celtic
6-1 Hibernian
2-1 St Mirren Rangers
3-0 Montrose Semi-Final
31st
July 1973 Celtic
4-0 1st
August 1973 Hibernian
2-1 Rangers aet Final
at 4th
August 1973 Hibernian
1-0 Celtic aet |
|
1974-75 First
Round 27th
July 1974 Airdrieonians
2-4 Celtic Hibernian
2-1 Queen
of the South 2-3 Stirling
Semi-Final
Wednesday
31st July 1974 Hibernian
2-3 Rangers Final
at 3rd
August 1974 Celtic
2-2 Rangers aet (Celtic
won on 4-2 penalties) |
|
1979-80 First
Round Celtic
5-0 Clydebank Dundee
United 3-0 Dunfermline Athletic Kilmarnock
1-0 Aberdeen Rangers
1-0 Berwick Rangers Semi-Final Celtic
3-2 Dundee United (aet, at Parkhead) Kilmarnock
1-3 Rangers Final Rangers
3-1 Celtic |
|
1980-81 First
Round St
Mirren 2-1 Aberdeen
4-1 Airdrieonians Morton
4-2 Albion Rovers Celtic
0-1 Ayr United Semi-Final St
Mirren 2-1 Morton
2-4 Aberdeen (aet) Final
at |
Many thanks to Robert Hosie for supplying the
results of the 1979 and 1980 tournaments.
Introduction by David Ross