The 2021 Scottish Cup Final was the 136th final of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2020–21 Scottish Cup, the most prestigious knockout football competition in Scotland. The match was played on 22 May 2021 at Hampden Park, Glasgow. St Johnstone completed the historic cup double by winning it.

Route to the final

St Johnstone

As a Premiership club, St Johnstone entered the competition in the third round (last 32). Their first opponent was a

Tayside derby The Tayside derby is a football rivalry based in Tayside. The matches are contested by the three professional clubs in the region: Dundee, Dundee United and St Johnstone. A match between Dundee and Dundee United, whose grounds are in the same s ...

Dens Park Dens Park, officially known as Kilmac Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland, which is the home of club Dundee F.C. and has a capacity of . Tannadice Park, the home of rivals Dundee United, is just 200 yard ...

against

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side Dundee. An early goal from Guy Melamed and Zander Clark saving a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

gave Saints a 1-0 win. In the fourth round they were drawn against

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

at home. Early goals from Melamed and Michael O'Halloran gave Saints a comfortable 2–0 win. The quarter-final saw the team travel to

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox, Glasgow, Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers F.C., Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest List of foot ...

for a match against league champions Rangers. A goalless 90 minutes forced the match into extra-time.

James Tavernier James Henry Tavernier (; born 31 October 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Scottish Premiership club Rangers, where he is club captain. After starting at the Leeds United Academy, he began his professi ...

appeared to have won the tie for Rangers with a goal late in the second half of extra time, but St Johnstone forced a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

by equalising during added-on time at the end of extra time. Their goal was scored after a header by

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Clark, who had come forward for a corner kick, was redirected into the goal by striker Chris Kane. Clark then saved two Rangers penalties in the shootout, which Saints won 4–2. St Johnstone were then paired with Premiership club St Mirren in the semi-finals. After a goalless first half, Chris Kane and a Glenn Middleton free-kick gave the Perth side a 2–0 lead midway through the second half. Despite a header from

Conor McCarthy Conor McCarthy may refer to: * Conor McCarthy (Cork Gaelic footballer) (born 1981) * Conor McCarthy (Monaghan Gaelic footballer) (born 1995) * Conor McCarthy (association footballer) (born 1998) {{hndis, McCarthy, Conor ...

pulling a goal back for the Paisley side, St Johnstone held on to win 2–1.

Hibernian

As another Premiership side, Hibernian started in the third round of the Scottish Cup. In that round they played at

side Queen of the South. Goals from Christian Doidge (2) and

Martin Boyle Martin Callie Boyle (born 25 April 1993) is a professional footballer who plays for Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership. Born in Scotland, he represents the Australia national team. He is a right sided winger who is also capable of playin ...

gave Hibs a 3–1 victory, with James Maxwell scoring a consolation goal for Queens. Hibs were drawn away again in the fourth round, against

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side Stranraer. Goals from Doidge,

Kevin Nisbet Kevin Michael Nisbet (born 8 March 1997) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a centre-forward for Scottish Premiership club Hibernian and the Scotland national team. He has previously played for Partick Thistle, Raith Rovers ...

and Boyle (2) gave Hibs a 4–0 victory The quarter finals had Hibernian drawn at home (

Easter Road Easter Road is a association football, football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian F.C., Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity ...

) with Premiership side Motherwell. Second half goals from Doidge and

Jackson Irvine Jackson Alexander Irvine (born 7 March 1993) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for 2. Bundesliga club FC St. Pauli. He has previously played for Celtic, Kilmarnock, Ross County, Burton Albion, Hull City and ...

gave Hibs a 2–0 lead, but late goals by Ricki Lamie and Tony Watt forced extra time. The additional period finished goalless, forcing a penalty shootout that Hibs won 4–2. This meant they took on

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

in the semi-final at Hampden Park. Goals from Nisbet and Doidge, the latter of which was scored from an offside position, gave Hibs a 2–0 win.

Background

Hosting

The final had been originally scheduled for 8 May 2021, but was delayed to 22 May due to rescheduling of earlier rounds caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The pandemic and building works ahead of the

Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

tournament led to the

Scottish FA The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for ...

initially stating that spectators would not be allowed into Hampden, control of which is being passed to

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

on 14 May for Euro 2020.

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

chairman Dave Cormack told BBC Scotland on 10 May that he would make their

Pittodrie Stadium Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen F.C. since they w ...

available for the final, as it could admit at least 500 fans. Rangers,

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, Hearts and the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

had earlier rejected approaches from the Scottish FA for the use of their stadiums. On 11 May it was reported that UEFA had accepted a request from the Scottish FA to admit fans to Hampden. Scottish Government rules regarding the pandemic for areas in Level 2 mean that permission would be needed for any crowd in excess of 500. 600 fans were initially permitted, but this decision was reversed after the government decided to keep Glasgow in Level 3.

European place

St Johnstone entered the third qualifying round of the

2021–22 UEFA Europa League The 2021–22 UEFA Europa League was the 51st season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 13th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Eintracht Frankfurt defeated Rangers ...

Previous appearances

Going into the 2021 final, St Johnstone had won the Scottish Cup once in their only previous appearance in a final (

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

). Hibernian had won the Scottish Cup three times from 14 appearances in the final. Their most recent victory and appearance in the final was in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

. It was the first meeting of the clubs in a Scottish Cup Final.

Match

Summary

In the 32nd minute David Wotherspoon crossed from the left to the far post where

Shaun Rooney Shaun Antony Rooney (born 26 July 1996) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Fleetwood Town. He has previously played for Queen's Park, Dunfermline Athletic, York City, Queen of the South, Inverness Caledonian T ...

headed to the left corner of the net from five yards out for the only goal of the match. With fifteen minutes to go Hibernian's

Paul McGinn Paul McGinn (born 22 October 1990) is a Scottish footballer, who plays as a defender for Scottish Premiership club Motherwell and the Scottish national team. He has previously played for Queen's Park, Dumbarton, Dundee, Chesterfield, Partic ...

brought down Chris Kane in the penalty area, but goalkeeper Matt Macey saved the penalty from Glenn Middleton and the follow up from Chris Kane.

Details

Match rules * 90 minutes * 30 minutes of extra time if necessary * Penalty shoot-out if scores still level * Nine named substitutes * Maximum of five substitutions in normal time (a sixth substitute is permitted in extra time)

Media coverage

BBC Scotland and

Premier Sports Viaplay Sports and Premier Sports are a group of pay television sports channels owned by Viaplay Group. Viaplay Sports holds exclusive live UK and Republic of Ireland TV rights to La Liga, Scottish League Cup, Elite Ice Hockey League, NHL an ...

obtained the rights to broadcast the final, in what is the third season of a six-year deal in the United Kingdom to broadcast Scottish Cup matches.

References

{{St Johnstone F.C. matches 2020–21 in Scottish football cups Scottish Cup Finals Sports competitions in Glasgow

Scottish Cup Final The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is a knockout cup competition in Scottish football. Organised by the Scottish Football Association, it is the third oldest existing football competition in the w ...

Scottish Cup Final 2021 Scottish Cup Final 2021 2020s in Glasgow