The semi-finals of the European Cup, Uefa Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup all featured a British team in 1983-84By Steven Pye for That 1980s Sports Blog of the Sport NetworkWhen the semi-finals for the European Cup, European Cup, Uefa Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup…
Ten-man Rangers clung on for a 2-1 victory over Aberdeen after Ryan Jack’s Pittodrie return ended in red card controversy.Ibrox caretaker boss Graeme Murty had backed the former Dons skipper to keep his cool as he ran out at his old stomping ground for…
Far more notable than Celtic reaching 61 games in succession without domestic defeat was the consummate ease with which they swatted aside a supposed threat. Celtic entered this fixture level with Aberdeen at the summit of Scotland’s top flight and dep…
• Winger treated for hypothermia after being pulled from water by firefighters
• Mackay-Steven believed to have been in nightclub after win at Partick Thistle
The Aberdeen winger Gary Mackay-Steven has thanked emergency services after he was rescued from a river.
Mackay-Steven was pulled from the River Kelvin in Glasgow by firefighters in the early hours of Sunday. The 26-year-old was on the bench for Aberdeen’s 4-3 victory over Partick Thistle on Saturday and is believed to have been at a nearby nightclub with a fellow player on Saturday before the river rescue. He was treated for hypothermia but is recovering well at home.
• Calvert-Lewin scores late winner in Slovakia to seal 2-0 aggregate victory
• Aberdeen beaten 2-0 by Apollon Limassol and are eliminated 3-2
Ronald Koeman believes Dominic Calvert-Lewin could thrive in a two‑man strike force after firing Everton to a 1-0 win against Ruzomberok. The England Under-20s forward scored the winner in Slovakia as Everton booked their place in the Europa League play-off round.
Related: Leighton Baines rescues Everton as Wayne Rooney makes slow start
When the season kicked off last August, a photographer and a writer visited Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline, Alloa, Falkirk, Gorgie and Perth in search of action
By Daniel Gray and Alan McCredie for Nutmeg, of the Guardian Sport Network
August has come again. Football is back. Such words sprinkle a Christmas Eve feeling upon us all. Interminable, domesticated Saturdays have departed and familiar, fixtured life can recommence. Resumed are our sacred routines – scarves sifted out and returned to necks, lucky routes taken, matchday pubs invaded for the first time since May, fortnightly acquaintances greeted again with quick enquiries of holidays and health, and engrossed conversations about players sold and signed.
Once more to the ground we go, inhaling sweet catering van scents as they hang in the air almost visible like the vapours in a Bisto advert. Back is the 50/50 draw and its faithful seller, and the neatly piled club shop with last season’s away shorts in a £5 bin. The new shirt, modelled by full-kit child and corpulent granddad in crumpled weekend jeans, looks wonderful or awful and never in-between. Short-sleeves are trusted by the kitted and the rest, for the first day is always sunny, is it not? Even an angry God couldn’t drop rain on our August day of hope.
Fifty years ago this week, the United Soccer Association title was decided in a 6-5 thriller. The teams in action were even more remarkable than the scoreline
It happened so suddenly that the Washington Whips goalkeeper Bobby Clark didn’t know what hit him. Los Angeles Wolves midfielder Bobby Thomson drove in a dangerous cross that deflected off a defender’s leg, past Clark and into the goal. And just like that, the first and only United Soccer Association championship game was over. “It was the first time I had ever been involved in a sudden-death finish to a game and the finality was numbing,” Clark says five decades later.
The Wolves celebrated their achievement while the Whips tried to figure out what happened in a wild game that ended 6-5 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Friday is the game’s 50th anniversary.
• 29-year-old Hayes joins on three-year deal for undisclosed fee
• Hayes worked under Brendan Rodgers as a Reading youth player
Celtic have signed Republic of Ireland winger Jonny Hayes for an undisclosed fee from Aberdeen.
Hayes, who has earned three caps for his country, joins Brendan Rodgers’ side on a three-year contract, with Ryan Christie moving the other way on a season-long loan.
• Aberdeen had granted Sunderland permission to speak to McInnes
• Black Cats without a manager since David Moyes resigned on 22 May
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes and his assistant, Tony Docherty, have decided to remain with the Scottish club following talks with Championship side Sunderland.
McInnes’ decision to turn down the move is a major setback for Sunderland, without a manager since David Moyes’ resignation almost one month ago. The club were expected to confirm McInnes’ appointment in the coming days after reportedly agreeing £1m compensation with Aberdeen on Wednesday.
• Former Bristol City manager set to replace David Moyes at Stadium of Light
• Sunderland agree to meet Aberdeen’s demand for £1m in compensation
Aberdeen have announced that they have “reluctantly” granted permission to Sunderland to speak to their manager Derek McInnes.
Sunderland have been targeting McInnes as a replacement for David Moyes, who left in the wake of their relegation to the Championship last season, for some time and finally appear to have got their man.
• Former Bristol City manager set to replace David Moyes at Stadium of Light
• Sunderland agree to meet Aberdeen’s demand for £1m in compensation
Aberdeen have announced that they have “reluctantly” granted permission to Sunderland to speak to their manager Derek McInnes.
Sunderland have been targeting McInnes as a replacement for David Moyes, who left in the wake of their relegation to the Championship last season, for some time and finally appear to have got their man.
• Manager warns ’We’re 10 times behind budget-wise. You have to be realistic’
• Rodgers wants to be in European competition in second half of season
No sooner had Celtic completed their domestic treble by defeating Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final than discussion moved towards what exactly Brendan Rodgers can do next. Celtic are believed to be keen on four players – a centre-back, midfielder, winger and striker – as they plan for the new campaign.
Rodgers, who has seen his career rejuvenated in Glasgow, presided over a Celtic team that did not lose a domestic game all season; Saturday’s 2-1 triumph at Hampden, where Tom Rogic scored an injury-time winner, proved their toughest test. Rodgers speaks routinely about continuing improvement, with European football surely the true barometer of that. As the dust settled on Saturday’s win, Celtic’s manager warned competing with the Champions League’s elite is still a formidable challenge.
Brendan Rodgers and Celtic are history makers. When anyone claims winning trophies in Scotland is akin to defeating a hamster at chess, this Scottish Cup final should be used as the perfect counter-point. Not that it mattered as Celtic celebrations got underway; an indelible mark as been entered into Scottish football’s record books.
It took a titanic battle with Aberdeen for Celtic to complete a clean sweep of domestic trophies. This is unprecedented territory for Celtic, with Rodgers only the third manager in the club’s illustrious history to win a treble. It was, though, impossible not to feel sorry for Derek McInnes and Aberdeen, who contributed so much to this final before quality – and fitness – told.
2.59pm BST
The Aberdeen fans have a huge red and white tifo reading ‘STAND FREE’. There is pyro. There is smoke. You can tell they’re up for this!
2.58pm BST
The teams are in the tunnel. Handshakes between the managers. Cracking atmosphere out there. Will Celtic do this? Can Aberdeen? Out they come …
• Aberdeen’s Derek McInnes tipped for Sunderland job
• Celtic out to complete unbeaten season with win in Scottish Cup final
As he stands on the verge of history, Brendan Rodgers has urged Sunderland to move for Derek McInnes, the key figure standing between Celtic and that unprecedented achievement.
Should Celtic see off Aberdeen in Saturday’s Scottish Cup final, they would complete an unbeaten domestic season and trophy treble. Intriguingly, Rodgers used his pre-match media duties to speak effusively of McInnes, the Aberdeen manager who features on the list of candidates to replace David Moyes at the Stadium of Light. A historic connection to the Sunderland chief executive, Martin Bain, is pertinent with regards to McInnes, as is a relatively paltry compensation payment in the region of £500,000.
• Aberdeen’s Derek McInnes tipped for Sunderland job
• Celtic out to complete unbeaten season with win in Scottish Cup final
As he stands on the verge of history, Brendan Rodgers has urged Sunderland to move for Derek McInnes, the key figure standing between Celtic and that unprecedented achievement.
Should Celtic see off Aberdeen in Saturday’s Scottish Cup final, they would complete an unbeaten domestic season and trophy treble. Intriguingly, Rodgers used his pre-match media duties to speak effusively of McInnes, the Aberdeen manager who features on the list of candidates to replace David Moyes at the Stadium of Light. A historic connection to the Sunderland chief executive, Martin Bain, is pertinent with regards to McInnes, as is a relatively paltry compensation payment in the region of £500,000.
The only disappointment was that such a freak moment determined the outcome of an epic cup tie. Jonny Hayes’s long range shot, which would have carried no danger whatsoever for the Hibernian goalkeeper Ofir Marciano, benefitted from a wicked deflection off Darren McGregor before bouncing into the net.
Aberdeen thereby progressed to the Scottish Cup final by the odd goal in five but Hibs, last year’s winners and architects of a stirring recovery from 2-0 down here, emerge with great credit. The swell of support afforded to the Hibs players by those fans in green and white at full-time, and despite defeat, illustrated that much.
• Charlie Christie seals Dons a Europa place
• Inverness five points adrift after loss
Goals from Kenny Miller and Jon Toral either side of half-time earned Rangers a 2-0 win over Partick Thistle.
The home side opened the scoring six minutes before the interval when Kenny Miller headed in from a centre by James Tavernier and Jon Toral doubled the Rangers lead early in the second half from a pass by Emerson Hyndman to seal the three points. Rangers are now five games unbeaten under Pedro Caixinha’s stewardship ahead of next Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic.
