40 years on, and Kennedy sees a chance to break the mould again
THIS was the classic cup final setback for the underdog against a powerful Old Firm side, the type from which recovery has so rarely been achievable. Aberdeen, without a League Cup success in 21 years, fell behind to a Kenny Dalglish penalty for Celtic after 12 minutes.
‘They call it simulation now and (Dalglish) took it to a new level,’ recalls Stuart Kennedy, right-back for the Dons that Hampden afternoon in November 1976. ‘Drew Jarvie won the ball but Kenny looked as if he was going to dive into the Celtic end.
‘To be fair, he struck a great penalty. They were up 1-0, favourites winning in Glasgow and everything going according to plan for them. That would normally finish off most teams. Then what happens after the game is you get patted on the head, get told you were unlucky, do well and maybe get beat 2-1.’
Yet the typical sob story did not play out. Instead, the response from Ally MacLeod’s Dons to ensure that a surprising script was written that day sowed the seeds for an era that ripped up the established order in Scottish football.
For that 2-1 comeback victory had followed a 5-1 demolition of Rangers in the semi-final, back-toback defeats of the west coast giants in Mount Florida that created a mindset for future silverware raids to Glasgow under the management of Alex Ferguson.
Rewinding 40 years to the day Aberdeen broke the mould, Kennedy cannot underplay the significance of lifting that League Cup trophy after extra time thanks to goals from Jarvie and Davie Robb.
‘In my mind, that set the tone,’ he said. ‘Certainly with Willie Miller, Bobby Clark, Drew Jarvie, Willie Garner — all those lasting through to winning the title in 1980. We were strong-thinking people who became stronger.
‘That semi-final win over Rangers, beating Celtic in the Final — that was the start of it for a lot of us, especially when you’ve only just escaped relegation the year before. It was a momentous jump. 1976 was the taste of success. The players knew they were up to it. That League Cup was the platform for us to build on.
‘Ally got the Scotland job, Billy McNeill came in and we really pushed on. Then the rest, with Fergie, is history.’
MacLeod had kept Aberdeen in the top flight on goal difference in May 1976, having taken charge from Jimmy Bonthrone in November. In came Kennedy from part-time football with Falkirk, Dom Sullivan from Clyde and the return of Joe Harper for a heroic second spell at Pittodrie.
They emerged from a League Cup section featuring St Mirren, Ayr United and Kilmarnock to eliminate Alex Smith’s Stirling Albion and set up a semi-final against the Treble winners of Rangers.
‘I played in a lot of big Aberdeen games after that but I always look to that 5-1 win over Rangers and think of the standard of football,’ said Kennedy. ‘We played perfect football, the type you associate with Arsenal now.
‘Maybe Arsene Wenger, as a young coach, sneaked into the stand somewhere and used that as his template for the future. Ally was a very enthusiastic, attack-minded guy. It could have been 8-3.
‘So we never felt like underdogs going into the Final after beating Celtic’s rivals 5-1 at Hampden. We went into that game with a lot of confidence.’
The ever-animated MacLeod took that confidence then mischievously raised it to sky-high levels as they set out on the journey to the national stadium to face Celtic.
‘We were at Eastwood Toll, leaving our hotel, and Ally knew the Celtic team bus must have been coming up from Seamill,’ explained Kennedy.
‘Our driver went to the roundabout as Celtic approached, and Ally was egging the boy on saying the Celtic bus was coming.
‘He got in before them to get ahead of Celtic and Ally shouted: “1-0! That’s us up already, lads”. He kept shouting: “That’s an omen”. Those were his psychological tactics.’
The mentality stayed sturdy to offer a response to Dalglish’s spot-kick and survive an onslaught from Celtic deep into extra time as ‘the fitter, stronger team’ — according to Kennedy — prevailed.
Jock Stein had thrown a few of his finest talents at Kennedy and company yet couldn’t beat goalkeeper Bobby Clark from open play.
‘Hampden suited us as superbly fit athletes,’ stated Kennedy (right). ‘Tommy Burns would have been a teenager, I was only 23 myself. Tommy started off against me. Never happened for him. Paul Wilson also had a wee spell against me. Not bothered. ‘They took off Burns and I’d been up and down that park all day only for Bobby Lennox, as a real buzzbomb type, to come on. ‘But he never caused me a second of bother. My specialist subject was wingers. My strength was defending. ‘I go forward because of my athletic ability but never got out to play up the wing unless my homework was done. ‘I’d attack when it was time to attack, shove wingers into their own half. With Dom in front of me, we didn’t struggle in that area.’ Since wingers are Kennedy’s specialist subject, the jet-fast threat of Jonny Hayes is one that excites him ahead of today’s encounter at Hampden. The 63-year-old, who went on to become a publican in Falkirk and now runs a guest house in Grangemouth, just hopes today’s vintage have what it takes between the ears to overcome the setbacks slung their way. ‘I was at Pittodrie for the game Celtic won 1-0 a few weeks ago and I think the manager (McInnes) reckoned Aberdeen deserved something out of the game,’ he added. ‘He’s maybe saying that to boost his team for the final because Celtic were worthy winners. ‘Some players don’t turn up in finals. Let’s hope all the Aberdeen players do and some of the Celtic players don’t. ‘I don’t know the Aberdeen boys individually but I can only hope they’ve got some of the mentality we had in our team. I hope they think they can win it.’
We played perfect football. Maybe a young Arsene Wenger used that as his future template