The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Time for Dons to banish 27 years of cup letdowns
Defender Irvine was on spot for Aberdeen and seeks 2017 final repeat
Brian Irvine scored the winning penalty when Aberdeen last won the Scottish Cup and is surprised the Dons have waited so long to lift the trophy again.
It may not quite be 30 years of hurt, but 27 years is far too long for a club of its standing to win Scotland’s most prestigious cup.
Seven non-Old Firm clubs have enjoyed Scottish Cup success since the Dons defeated Celtic 9-8 in a penalty shootout in 1990 with Hibernian, Inverness Caley Thistle and St Johnstone the most recent winners of the competition.
Irvine hopes this could be the year the Dons finally end the wait with Derek McInnes’ side starting the campaign at home against Stranraer in the fourth round of the competition today.
He said: “I know it has been a long time since Aberdeen last won the Scottish Cup, but no team has the right to win the competition regularly.
“There was a great run in the 1980s during Alex Ferguson’s time in charge, winning four times in five seasons between 1982 and 1986, but before that the only Scottish Cup successes were in 1970 and 1947.
“With Celtic being so strong, it has made it difficult for Aberdeen to get the win in recent years.
“And cup football can be very unpredictable because any team can get a favourable run on the route to the final or catch one of the leading teams on a bad day.
“Aberdeen enjoyed a favourable draw in this season’s Betfred Cup. They only faced one top flight team – St Johnstone at home – which was a bonus. But teams still have to take care of the games on the way to final.
“Unfortunately they didn’t manage to get the job done in the final against Celtic but it shows they are capable of getting to a final.
“The main thing for the supporters is to get to the latter stages of the tournament, but the icing on the cake would be to win the trophy.”
If the Dons fall short of Scottish Cup success this season, Irvine believes supporters should take comfort from seeing their team as serious contenders to win the trophy.
He said: “The Scottish Cup has been elusive, but people have to be realistic.
“Aberdeen have shown great consistency in the league with successive second-place finishes.
“A few years ago that would have been looked on as massive progress.
“It wasn’t so long ago that Aberdeen were a bottom six team and now they are near the top of the league and challenging for cups.”
Former Elgin City manager Irvine, who has recently started work as a police officer following coaching jobs in South Korea and America, fears it would be a major loss if midfielder Jonny Hayes was to depart Aberdeen for Championship club Cardiff City during the transfer window.
He added: “He is a quality player who brings so much flair to the team.
“He would be a big loss if he was to go. If he is to go then I think it would be better for it to happen sooner rather than later so the Dons can look for a replacement.
“I’m not sure what a fair valuation would be for Jonny, but the £500,000 figure sounds below what would be a reasonable price.”
“With Celtic being so strong, it has made it difficult for Aberdeen to get the win”