The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
1990 as Dons took cup of cheer
Aberdeen will be hoping to paint the Granite City red on Saturday night by celebrating a first Scottish Cup final win in 27 years. It was May 12, 1990 when the Dons last lifted the trophy thanks to a 9-8 penalty shootout win against Celtic at Hampden. Much has changed since Aberdeen’s cup double winning season of 1989-90, but here’s what was happening back when the Dons humbled the Hoops at Hampden all those years ago:
Madonna’s Vogue was top of the charts as the Queen of Pop reigned supreme in Britain.
Across the Atlantic, Sinead O’Connor was top of the billboard chart with her cover version of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U.
In film and television John Travolta was top of the UK box office, largely thanks to the voice of Bruce Willis with the movie Look Who’s Talking having amassed £10milllion after six weeks of release.
In television, the nation was gripped by the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer in David Lynch’s murder mystery Twin Peaks.
In sport Rangers won the league championship for what would be title number two of their nine-in-a-row run. Stephen Hendry was the youngest world snooker champion in history, having won the title at the age of 21.
In rugby union, Scotland was still basking in the glory of winning the five nations championship, grand slam, triple crown and Calcutta Cup.
On the small screen and in the media supermodels dominated the headlines with the big five – Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista and Tatjana Patitz – covered everywhere they went.
Leggings and exercisewear were all the rage, while neon colours were hugely popular. Oh, and baggy jeans and bucket hats as well. It was the time of the Stone Roses, after all.
Stephen King was one of the most popular authors around and wrote two of the biggest selling books in 1990 in Four Past Midnight and The Stand.
A month after the Dons won the Scottish Cup Joanne Rowling got the idea for a book about a boy wizard while on a train from Manchester to London Euston railway station. She began writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone which was completed in 1995 and published in 1997. Let’s just say the adventures of the young fella did rather well.
Britain was ruled by a Conservative government with its leader, Margaret Thatcher, entering the final six months of her tenure as prime minister.
The Poll Tax was a divisive issue throughout the country and it was feared a recession was imminent.
Thatcher resigned in November that year and was succeeded by then Chancellor of the Exchequer John Major.
The Scottish regional elections had been the week before the cup final with the SNP receiving 21.8% of the vote nationally, a distant second behind Labour, who had taken 44%. In Grampian, Labour gained two seats to take its number to 19, but there was no overall gain of control from the Conservatives. Independents held the Highlands.
Come September, Alex Salmond would win the SNP leadership election, succeeding Gordon Wilson.