Aberdeen's big Scottish Cup parade: 'Carnage' journey home, free drinks and traffic-light climbers

A gaggle of pressmen and camera crews assembled outside this famous stadium. Taxis started to filter into the car park. Heroes emerged – some sprightly, some a little worse for wear.

Defender Mats Knoester, the man of the match in Aberdeen’s Scottish Cup triumph over Celtic, was one of the first to arrive. He was met by a couple of adoring fans desperate for a photo. The rest soon followed. Striker Kevin Nisbet was asked to describe his night. “Amazing,” he smiled through sunglasses. It would be fair to surmise a few beverages had been consumed.

Manager Jimmy Thelin stopped for a quick chat. “That was quite good,” said the suave yet stoic Swede, who still looked pretty pristine in his suit. He reported that his own celebrations had been mellow – certainly compared to some of his players. Nicky Devlin arrived with his family, a scarf wrapped around his head like a bandana, before now two Aberdeen legends – captain Graeme Shinnie and penalty-saving goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov – pulled up together.

“The night was as good as expected – my voice proves that,” a hoarse Shinnie said. “I didn’t have to buy a drink all night – and that keeps an Aberdonian happy! The scenes in the city were incredible, these were the moments I told the players we could enjoy. The city was bouncing, everything I thought it would be. The Scottish Cup hasn’t been in Aberdeen for so long, it means so much to the punters and everyone who backs us. These are memories which will last a lifetime.”

Bacon rolls after ‘crazy’ journey home

The Aberdeen squad convened inside Pittodrie before boarding the team bus. Bacon rolls were on offer for those in need of nourishment. “Crazy,” was the word the coach driver used to describe the journey back to the north-east from Hampden on Saturday evening. “Carnage, as you would expect,” smiled Shinnie. “There was a lot of singing, champagne everywhere. I felt bad for the driver.”

Their celebratory chauffeur reported it took an hour-and-a-half to clean it – the players needed a little longer to win the Scottish Cup. After 120 minutes of football and penalties, Aberdeen had their hands on the trophy. The Red Army exploded, a joyous sea of emotion cascading towards the players. This is the first time a generation of Dandies have witnessed the Scottish Cup with red-and-white ribbons on it.

The Aberdeen players and their families emerged from the stadium to be transported to the top of Union Street for their parade. Thousands of Dons supporters lined the streets to greet them. “Shady Mo, Shady Mo, Shady MO MO MO,” rang out as the revelry began. Morris was the one whose cross-shot forced Celtic keeper Kasper Schmeichel to put the ball through his own net and level the score at 1-1. The winger has become a firm favourite with the fans.

The open-top bus meandered from the Albyn Place end of Union Street down to Broad Street, supporters of all ages bedecked in red and white cheering them. Shinnie was front and centre, as he rightly should be. The skipper has experienced some heartache with Aberdeen in previous finals but his talismanic performance drove Aberdeen on as they chased down Celtic.

Chairman’s confidence

Chairman Dave Cormack and chief executive Alan Burrows were at the Town House to greet the players before their civic reception. This was an emotional day for Cormack, who has ploughed so much money and effort into Aberdeen.

“I was confident during the week,” said Cormack. “I had a feeling during the week that if we could put things together for 90 or 120 minutes, we’d do it. If we’d lost the penalty shootout, we’d come back and dust ourselves off then get ready for next season. As soon as the first one is saved, you think ‘oh, here we go’ and that’s the way it turned out. Fantastic.

“The way I’m wired, I’ll enjoy this for a day then start looking to the future. Life doesn’t promise you a bed of roses, you have to work hard and be strong-willed. It’s not about me, I want to be an ambassador for the city and the football club. It’s special, it’s been such a long time. I’m delighted for the city and our supporters worldwide, you can see what it means to people. The fans were unbelievable on Saturday. When the SFA said they’d give us 15,000 tickets or whatever it was, or buy 20,000 we had no hesitation. It showed you what it meant to them yesterday and the fans played their part.”

The Aberdeen players, replenished by beer and bubbly, disembarked the bus to more salutes. Supporters scaled traffic lights to catch a glimpse of them. It is not just the Scottish Cup Aberdeen have secured – they are guaranteed at the very least main-phase Conference League football next season. 

“What we’ve done will sink in,” said Shinnie. “It still feels a bit surreal to say I’ve won the Scottish Cup with Aberdeen to be honest. But when it does start sinking in, we’ll think about Europe because that’s a massive thing for this club as well. European group stage football is where we want to be and we have that to look forward to now.

“The last time, we had great games like Eintracht Frankfurt away and PAOK away, which were brilliant games to be involved in. The fans love those trips and I’m sure they’ll be ready to travel in big numbers with us again like they always do.”

The Dons stood free at Hampden and then through the streets of Aberdeen. In a season of extreme high and lows for Thelin and Co, they finish with the ultimate prize. Shinnie and his team-mates won’t need to buy a drink in the Granite City ever again.