1987 Scottish Cup Final

1987 Scottish Cup Final
Event	1986–87 Scottish Cup
	(a.e.t.)
Date	16 May 1987
Venue	Hampden Park, Glasgow
Referee	Kenny Hope
Attendance	51,782
	← 1986 1988 →

The 1987 Scottish Cup Final was played between St Mirren and Dundee United at Hampden Park on 16 May 1987.

Underdogs St Mirren won the game 1–0, with a goal by Ian Ferguson. It was their third Scottish Cup win in their then 110-year history.

This was the last year, as of 2022, that the Scottish Cup has been won by a team fully composed of Scottish players. Moreover, this was the last Scottish Cup final, as of 2022, where all players competing and both managers were Scottish.

Match

Summary

In his history of Scottish Cup finals, Forrest Robertson described the match as "one of the most disjointed, undistinguished Finals imaginable", while Jim Reynolds, writing in The Glasgow Herald stated it was "a feeble final, the day on which the Scottish Cup almost died of boredom" and a match where "men of many talents could not respond to the occasion".^[1]^[2] In their history of the Scottish Cup, David Potter and Phil H. Jones claim that "the first ninety minutes of the game was, in the opinion of most people, a dreadful game of football" and note that even the commentators on the television coverage of the match struggled "to keep their audience involved".^[3] The main action came in extra time. During this period Iain Ferguson seemed to have opened the scoring for Dundee United, but the goal was disallowed as the referee controversially ruled Kevin Gallacher to be in an offside position.^[1]^[2] Shortly after this, the similarly named Ian Ferguson scored what proved to be the only goal of the match to win the game for St Mirren, shooting with his left foot into the top left corner of the net from six yards out after running into the penalty area.^[1]

Details

16 May 1987

St Mirren	1 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Dundee United
Ian Ferguson 110'

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 51,782

Referee: Kenny Hope


ST MIRREN:
GK	Campbell Money
DF	Tommy Wilson
DF	Derek Hamilton
DF	Neil Cooper
DF	David Winnie
MF	Ian Ferguson
MF	Paul Lambert	?'
MF	Billy Abercrombie
MF	Brian Hamilton
FW	Kenny McDowall		?'
FW	Frank McGarvey
Substitutes:
MF	Tony Fitzpatrick	?'
MF	Ian Cameron		?'
Manager:
Alex Smith


DUNDEE UNITED:
GK	Billy Thomson
DF	John Holt
DF	John Clark
DF	David Narey
DF	Maurice Malpas
MF	Eamonn Bannon
MF	David Bowman
MF	Jim McInally
MF	Ian Redford	?'
FW	Iain Ferguson
FW	Paul Sturrock		?'
Substitutes:
DF	Paul Hegarty	?'
FW	Kevin Gallacher		?'
Manager:
Jim McLean

Aftermath

The night of the match 5000 people congregating in the grounds of Paisley Abbey opposite the town hall to watch the St Mirren's return to their home town. The following day 10,000 supporters watched the team display the cup in an open-decked bus in Paisley.^[4] Norman Buchan, the then Member of parliament for Paisley South, welcomed the victory and said it was "extra special when a single community carried off a cup".^[4]

Dundee United had to quickly regroup as the Scottish Cup Final had come in the middle of the two-legged UEFA Cup Final that they were contesting with IFK Gothenburg. 1-0 down from the first leg, United were due to play the second leg of the tie in Dundee just 5 days after their Hampden defeat. Ultimately that match finished 1-1, giving the Swedish side a 2-1 aggregate win and meaning that United had lost two cups in less than a week. Both Maurice Malpas and Jim McLean would later indicate that they felt that the disappointment of the defeat at Hampden contributed to United's failure to win the UEFA Cup.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Robertson, Forrest H. C. (2014). How The Cup Was Won. The Scottish Cup Finals Story. Kirkcaldy: PM Publications. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-9534682-7-0.
^ ^a ^b Reynolds, Jim (18 May 1987). "Ferguson's extra effort ends longest day". The Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
^ Potter, David; Jones, Phil H (2016). The History of the Scottish Cup the Story of every Season 1873-2016. Worthing: Pitch Publishing. p. 262. ISBN 978-1-78531-214-4.
^ ^a ^b Hunter, William (18 May 1987). "Town hails Paisley pattern". The Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
^ Watson, Mike (2014). Greatest Games Dundee United. Durrington: Pitch Publishing. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-1-90962-635-5.

[Robertson-1] Robertson, Forrest H. C. (2014). How The Cup Was Won. The Scottish Cup Finals Story. Kirkcaldy: PM Publications. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-9534682-7-0.

[GHsport18May1987-2] Reynolds, Jim (18 May 1987). "Ferguson's extra effort ends longest day". The Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 31 August 2018.

[PotterJones262-3] Potter, David; Jones, Phil H (2016). The History of the Scottish Cup the Story of every Season 1873-2016. Worthing: Pitch Publishing. p. 262. ISBN 978-1-78531-214-4.

[GH18051987-4] Hunter, William (18 May 1987). "Town hails Paisley pattern". The Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 23 June 2018.

[Watson-5] Watson, Mike (2014). Greatest Games Dundee United. Durrington: Pitch Publishing. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-1-90962-635-5.

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v t e Scottish Cup
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List of finals Winning managers Scottish Qualifying Cup

v t e Dundee United F.C. matches
Scottish Cup Finals	1974 1981 1985 1987 1988 1991 1994 2005 2010 2014
Scottish League Cup Finals	1979 (December) 1980 1981 1984 (October) 1997 2008 2015
Scottish Challenge Cup Finals	1995 2017
UEFA Cup Final	1987

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Scottish League Cup Finals	1955 2010 2013
Scottish Challenge Cup Finals	1993 2005 2017
Other	1919 Victory Cup

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