It was not until 1955 that Aberdeen first played Clyde in the Scottish Cup, some 52 years after Aberdeen FC were formed. Since then the two sides have met over six different seasons in the competition – and on three of those occasions one of the teams has gone on to win the cup – The Bully Wee in 1955 and the Dons in 1970 and 1984. Here is the story of Aberdeen v Clyde in the Scottish Cup …

 

Back in season 1954/55 under manager Dave Halliday, Aberdeen were going for a first ever league and cup double. In the closing weeks of the season the Dons closed in on a first ever championship but fell just short in the Scottish Cup. Aberdeen had been finalists in 1953 and 1954 and just failed to make it a third Scottish Cup Final after going down to Clyde in a semi-final replay. The first ever clash between the sides took place on 26 March 1955 at Easter Road.

Aberdeen were held by the Shawfield side – former Dons’ player and manager, Pat Travers, was boss of Clyde – in a tense semi-final. It was harsh on a Dons side who had been the better team for much of the game. Despite going behind early, two first half goals from Paddy Buckley had Aberdeen on the verge of another big Hampden date. Tragedy struck the Dons as ever-present Billy Smith broke his leg after a incident with a Clyde forward. Aberdeen had to try and see the task through with ten men. It took a last-minute goal from Tommy Ring to take the tie into a second game. The Aberdeen team that day was; Martin, Smith, Caldwell, Allister, Young. Glen, Leggat, Yorston, Buckley, Wishart, Hather.

The normal routine of having Sunday off was set aside as masseur Barney Alexander put in some extra shifts to prepare the players for the cup replay on the Monday night, again at Easter Road. Opponents Clyde had their sights firmly fixed on the cup; their side that lost 3-0 at Hearts was a weakened one. The Clyde replay was the Dons seventh game in 23 days, and it showed. Aberdeen never got to grips with the game after falling behind to an Archie Robertson penalty. Alec Young handled in the box as he was lying on the ground and despite throwing caution in the latter stages, the only real chance was a Paddy Buckley shot that came back off the post. It was a disappointing end to a fine cup run that had promised so much. On the Saturday the Dons looked irresistible against Rangers, winning 4-0 at Pittodrie, two days later they looked a tired and weary lot. This was one game too many in a schedule that had obviously taken a heavy toll.

How Aberdeen lined up in the replay: Martin, Mitchell, Caldwell, Allister, Young, Glen, Leggat, Yorston, Buckley, Wishart, Hather.

There was some speculation after the game that manager Halliday should have freshened up the side during that gruelling spell of games; but the Dons boss was adamant that he would put out his strongest side whenever possible. There was no easy solution, had Halliday changed the team and the Dons lost then he was wide open for criticism. From the elation following the Rangers win; the Dons suddenly had hit a low. This was no time to feel sorry for themselves as the league title was now within their grasp and the Dons would travel to play Clyde again on Saturday 09/04/1955. An Archie Glen penalty after 13 minutes was enough to see the league title won.

AFC Hall of Famer Graham Leggat recalled the cup defeat as the biggest disappointment of the season; ‘We were all hugely disappointed at losing to Clyde although we had an early chance to make up for that defeat the following Saturday. The Scottish Cup was the most glamorous trophy to win but the title was the most prestigious.’

later that season Clyde would famously go on and shock Celtic in the final after a replay again. As a footnote, the 1955 final was the first to be televised live, being broadcast by the BBC. Clyde v Aberdeen in the league cup at Shawfield on 3 September 1955 was also televised live by the BBC as an experiment. In 1958 a 1-0 win over Hibernian gave Clyde a second Scottish Cup in four seasons and third overall.

In February 1960 the Dons went down 0-2 at home to Clyde in a second-round tie.

The season before Aberdeen had lost in the Scottish Cup final to St Mirren, arguably one of the club’s most disappointing performances at Hampden. Although for the Saints, revenge for the League Cup final three years prior when the Paisley side were arguably the better side but lost.

So the Dons were very keen on another cup run, but during the 1959-60 season their priorities had changed. Quite simply, it was staying in the league as a relegation battle was on the horizon. A good attendance of 15,435 turned up in freezing conditions. After White opened the scoring in two minutes on the white pitch the Dons never looked like getting back into the tie and Robertson added a second after the break. The Dons side that day; Ogston, Cadenhead, Hogg, Baird, Clunie, Kinnell, Hather, Little, Davidson, Wishart, Mulhall.

In 1962 it was a new look Aberdeen side under Tommy Pearson, prone to inconsistency with several young players making the breakthrough. Against Clyde at Shawfield in a second round tie the Dons were up against a Clyde side that were heading for relegation. Despite taking a two goal lead the Dons were left hanging on at the end and had to rely on John Ogston saving a penalty to take the tie to a Pittodrie replay. That second game proved a goal fest as the Dons ran riot in a sensational 10-3 win. Not since the Dons record 13-0 win over Peterhead in 1923 had Pittodrie seen 13 goals scored in the cup. Aberdeen went in 4-1 ahead at half time and continued their goal spree with Cummings helping himself to five of the Dons goals. Aberdeen would exit the cup in the next round, in a replay against Rangers.

The early 1960s were a dark period down at Pittodrie. Aberdeen; Ogston, Bennett, Hogg, Burns, Kinnell, Fraser, Ewen, Little, Cummings, Cooke, Mulhall.

Eddie Turnbull had slowly transformed the club in the late 1960s and he was about to be rewarded for all his hard work, not that a trophy looked likely as the 60s became the 1970s.

Aberdeen began their successful 1970 Scottish Cup campaign with a home tie against Clyde. The Dons had been in a modest mid table position all season and flattered to deceive. However, it was the signing of Joe Harper from Morton that changed everything. Harper was at his clinical best as he and Davie Robb routed the Shawfield side in an impressive 4-0 win. Clyde had no answer to a slick Aberdeen sporting white shorts and socks to avoid clashing with the visitor’s colours. Harper and Robb had Aberdeen two goals ahead after 20 minutes and the 12,000 crowd were sent home happy as a brilliant run in the Scottish Cup was to follow. Aberdeen; McGarr, Boel, Kirkland, Petersen, McMillan, M Buchan, Hamilton, Robb, Forrest, Murray, Harper.

The sides did not meet again in the Scottish Cup until the mid 1980s.

It was 1984 in a fourth-round tie at Shawfield. The fortunes of both clubs had changed dramatically since their last meeting in 1970. Aberdeen were voted the number one side in Europe, they were Scottish Cup holders going for their third Scottish Cup win in a row, while Clyde were in the First Division being managed by Craig Brown.

Craig got his first managerial job as part-time manager of Clyde in 1977, where he spent ten seasons – winning the second division championship in his first season – whilst also working as a primary school head teacher then a lecturer in primary education at Craigie College, Ayr. He was in charge against his good friend Alex Ferguson for this game.

Craig will be in our thoughts on Friday and Clyde as a nice tribute have put the former Scotland manager on the cover of their programme which you can order here from Curtis Sport.

Unfortunately for a very well organised Clyde side and their noisy home support, Aberdeen eased through to the quarter final stages after a 2-0 win, the goals coming from a deflected Ian Angus shot and a Neale Cooper effort in the second half. The Dons side that day; Leighton, McKimmie, Rougvie, Cooper, McLeish, Miller, Strachan, Black, McGhee, Angus, Weir. Subs; McMaster, Hewitt.

The last occasion Aberdeen played Clyde in the Scottish Cup was a quarter final clash at Pittodrie on 12 March 1988. The highlight for the Dons was a hat-trick from Davie Dodds in a convincing 5-0 win. Willie Falconer and Keith Edwards were the other scorers as Aberdeen were looking at a return to Hampden.

Aberdeen; Leighton, Grant, Falconer, Simpson, Irvine, Miller, Dodds, Bett, Nicholas, Jones, Edwards.

Ian Porterfield’s side would eventually lose out to Dundee United after three epic games at the semi-final stage. The following season Alex Smith and Jocky Scott saw the Dons once again exit the cup to United, once again after two replays. But in 1989-90 Aberdeen got the better of the Tannadice side and went on to beat Celtic on penalties – our seventh and last victory in the Scottish Cup.

STATS 

Scottish Cup	P	W	D	L	F	A
v Clyde	8	4	2	2	25	10

 

1987-88
	Home	Score	Away	Attendance
12-Mar-88	Aberdeen	5-0	Clyde	12,000
1983-84
	Home	Score	Away	Attendance
18-Feb-84	Clyde	0-2	Aberdeen	5,800
1969-70
	Home	Score	Away	Attendance
24-Jan-70	Aberdeen	4-0	Clyde	12,000
1961-62
	Home	Score	Away	Attendance
31-Jan-62	Aberdeen	10-3	Clyde	16,376
27-Jan-62	Clyde	2-2	Aberdeen	10,000
1959-60
	Home	Score	Away	Attendance
13-Feb-60	Aberdeen	0-2	Clyde	15,435
1954-55
	Neutral	Score	Away	Attendance
04-Apr-55	Aberdeen	0-1	Clyde	28,304
26-Mar-55	Aberdeen	2-2	Clyde	32,590