Tommy missed the Final but made it to the party
There were a few sore heads in Aberdeen 50 years ago today.
Dons supporters were recovering from their celebrations after their favourites had won the Scottish Cup with a famous 3- 1 victory over Celtic the previous afternoon.
Two goals from Derek “Cup-tie” Mckay and a penalty-kick, converted by Joe Harper, saw the famous old trophy head to Pittodrie for the first time since 1947.
Everyone wanted a piece of the party – even players no longer at the club.
Former Dons inside-forward Tommy Wilson was a member of the 16- man squad that travelled to Hampden Park.
He watched from the stand, however, as his team-mates beat a Celtic side that would reach the European Cup Final just four days later. Tommy recalled: “It would have been great to make the bench for the Final, but I didn’t really think I had much chance.
“Earlier in the Cup run, a flu bug had swept through the squad.
“I got a right dose of it and was in bed for a week. It took me a fortnight to recover.
“We were all sure that Jim Hamilton was a cert to get the one spot as substitute. “He’d played a big part in helping win the semi-final against Kilmarnock.
“I felt he deserved it a lot more than me. We were all surprised when Eddie Turnbull announced that George Buchan was 12th man.
“Jim Hermiston did really well to keep Bobby
Murdoch quiet during the game – not an easy thing to do.
“I think Celtic thought they just had to turn up to win, but we played really well.
“We headed for Gleneagles afterwards and Tommy Craig, who’d been sold to Sheffield Wednesday a year before, appeared to congratulate us.
“Eddie shouted on him to join us on the bus and off we went for the celebration.
“It was quite a night. None of us were used to drinking much.
“I was sharing a room with Arthur Graham but we ended up with another room- mate when we had to find Tommy and put him to bed at the end of the night!”
Men like Arthur Graham and Derek Mckay came from nowhere to play their part.
Graham was making only his fourth start for the Dons and Mckay – a free transfer from Dundee – only got his chance in the quarterfinal because of the flu outbreak.
His four goals for the club all came in the Cup. At the start of the season, Tommy was the young player breaking through. Goalkeeper Bobby Clark had recommended the teenager from Glasgow to the Dons. An early hat- trick against Clyde went down well with the fans, during a run of 16 consecutive appearances.
Tommy went on: “I don’t think I had enough pace but I loved being an Aberdeen player.
“Eddie Turnbull could be ruthless, but he was a brilliant manager.
“To get new boots, you had to show him the old ones and get a slip to take to a sports shop. “I remember asking Eddie for a new pair. He went under the desk and gave me his old ones. “He laughed and said to me: ‘ Those boots pass the ball themselves’
“I got back in the team after he left and Jimmy Bonthrone took over.
“We went on a foreign tour where we started in Bermuda and then went all over America. “One game was against Montreal Olympique, where Graeme Souness was on loan from Spurs.
“Afterwards, he invited us to a party in a soundproofed basement!”
After five seasons with Aberdeen, Tommy, now 69, spent 10 years with Elgin City.
He said: “Ron Yeats took me on trial at Tranmere and there were clubs like Arbroath and Brechin City keen on me.
“But Elgin offered me three times the signing-on fee.”