:1980 Scottish Cup final

The match represented a last chance of success in the 1979–80 season for the traditionally dominant Old Firm, as Aberdeen had won the Scottish league championship.{{cite news|url=http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/rangersfc/Tom-English-looks-back-at.6282400.jp|title=Tom English looks back at the 1980 Scottish Cup final riot between Rangers and Celtic fans and asks: Who was to blame?|work=Scotland On Sunday|date=9 May 2010|access-date=18 April 2011|first=Tom|last=English|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100924041739/http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/rangersfc/Tom-English-looks-back-at.6282400.jp|archive-date=24 September 2010|url-status=dead}} Celtic had finished above Rangers in the league, but Rangers went into the match as bookmakers' favourites because Celtic were missing Tom McAdam, Roddie MacDonald and Jim Casey from their lineup due to injury.

Roy Aitken and Mike Conroy were drafted into the Celtic team as makeshift central defenders, but they were effective in nullifying the Rangers attack.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scottish_cup/1962848.stm|title=Old Firm cup final memories|date=1 May 2002|access-date=18 April 2011|publisher=BBC Sport}} There was not much incident in the game, which finished goalless after the regulation 90 minutes. This necessitated an extra time period of 30 minutes, during which Celtic scored the only and therefore winning goal of the match. Danny McGrain took a shot that looked to be heading wide, but George McCluskey redirected the ball past Peter McCloy and into the goal.

{{football box

|date = 10 May 1980

|team1 = Celtic

|score = 1 – 0

|aet = yes

|team2 = Rangers

|report = [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19800512&printsec=frontpage&hl=en Report (page 20)]

|goals1 = McCluskey {{goal|107}}

|goals2 =

|stadium = Hampden Park, Glasgow

|referee = George Smith

|attendance = 70,303

}}

|valign="top" width="50%"|

|}

The match is also remembered for a riot that followed its conclusion, which BBC News described in 2011 as the "most infamous case of disorder" in an Old Firm match.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-12664550|title='Old Firm' faultline is once again a political football|work=BBC News|date=8 March 2011|first=Brian|last=Ponsonby|access-date=16 April 2011}} Rival fans battled on the Hampden Park pitch and mounted police attempted to defuse the trouble, which was largely attributed to the excessive consumption of alcohol.

After winning the match, the Celtic players went to celebrate with their supporters, as was the normal practice. The SFA had given both teams permission to parade the Scottish Cup trophy on the pitch after the match, as they had recently installed a 10-foot-high perimeter fence around Hampden. Some of the Celtic supporters climbed over the perimeter fences and joined the players on the pitch. An investigation by the SFA executive committee found that this initial invasion of the pitch was "a spontaneous, if misguided, expression of joy."{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/when-two-tribes-go-to-war-1.737582|title=When Two Tribes Go To War|work=The Herald|date=16 October 1993|access-date=24 September 2011|first=Russell|last=Galbraith}}Murray, Bill (2000) The Old Firm: Sectarianism, Sport and Society in Scotland, p. 196. John Donald Publisher, Edinburgh.

Some of the Rangers fans had stayed behind, despite their team's defeat. One of the Celtic fans ran to the end of the stadium inhabited by the Rangers fans, and kicked a ball into the goal at that end. In response to this, some Rangers fans invaded the pitch to charge at the Celtic fans, who in turn confronted their rivals. Bricks, bottles and cans were soon being thrown along with fans using iron bars and wooden staves from terracing frames as weapons. The police had insufficient manpower inside the stadium to quell the disorder. Match commentator Archie MacPherson described the riot as follows:

{{blockquote|This is like a scene now out of Apocalypse Now ... We've got the equivalent of Passchendaele and that says nothing for Scottish football. At the end of the day, let's not kid ourselves. These supporters hate each other.}}

Both clubs were fined £20,000 after the events and more than 200 arrests were made in the Hampden area. Celtic blamed Strathclyde Police for their handling of the riot. The vast majority of the police officers on duty were outside the ground after the match, to prevent any trouble in the streets surrounding Hampden Park. The police and the SFA had assumed that the perimeter fences would prevent fans from invading the pitch, but they were later described as being completely inadequate. The police blamed Celtic fans for the disorder, a position Rangers concurred with. In response, Celtic cited the underlying hostility between the two sets of fans, caused by the sectarianism in Glasgow. Celtic chairman Desmond White also cited the fact that Celtic fielded a mixture of Catholics and Protestants in their team, implying that the problem was not caused by his club.

George Younger, the Secretary of State for Scotland, blamed alcohol and the actions of the Celtic players for the riot. An Act of Parliament was passed that banned the sale of alcoholic beverages within Scottish sports grounds.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/6732309.stm|title=Murrayfield alcohol ban removed |work=BBC News|access-date=16 April 2011|date=8 June 2007}} The ban was partially lifted in 2007 by Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny MacAskill, to allow the sale of alcohol at international rugby union matches played at Murrayfield Stadium.{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/alcohol-ban-is-lifted-for-rugby-matches-at-murrayfield-1.859438|work=The Herald|date=9 June 2007 |access-date=18 April 2011|title=Alcohol ban is lifted for rugby matches at Murrayfield|first=Rob|last=Robertson}} The Scottish Rugby Union had lobbied the Scottish Parliament for the law to be changed, as they believed that they had lost out on the right to host the 2003 Challenge Cup Final due to it.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2999002.stm|title=Call to scrap rugby alcohol ban|work=BBC News|date=18 June 2003 |access-date=18 April 2011}} Subsequent to the easing of the ban, Motherwell chairman John Boyle called for it to be lifted entirely.{{cn|date=July 2020}} Ahead of the 2011 Scottish League Cup Final, it was reported by the Scotland On Sunday that VIP hospitality packages could be purchased allowing "unlimited" consumption of alcohol at bars within Hampden Park. These transactions do not contravene the legislation because the sale of alcohol is still permitted in hospitality areas with no direct sight of the pitch.{{cite news|url=http://sport.scotsman.com/theoldfirm/Unlimited-drink-for-Old-Firm.6733076.jp|work=Scotland On Sunday|title=Unlimited drink for Old Firm game VIPs|first=Marc|last=Horne|date=13 March 2011|access-date=16 April 2011}}

• Sectarianism in Glasgow

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_cup_fixture_details.cfm?page=1283&matchID=91390 Celtic F.C. v Rangers F.C.], Scottish Football Association
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daEMvQsWys8 ITV match coverage]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5hL6UbstyE Archie MacPherson commentory]

{{Scottish Cup seasons}}

{{1979–80 in Scottish football}}

{{Celtic F.C. matches}}

{{Rangers F.C. matches}}

{{Portal bar|Association football|Scotland}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scottish Cup Final 1980}}

1980

Final

Category:Rangers F.C. matches

Category:Celtic F.C. matches

Category:1980 riots

Category:Football hooliganism in the United Kingdom

Category:Association football riots

Category:Riots and civil disorder in Scotland

Category:1980s in Glasgow

Category:Sports scandals in Scotland

Category:May 1980 sports events in the United Kingdom

Category:Old Firm matches