| Event | 2008–09 Scottish Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 30 May 2009 | ||||||
| Venue | Hampden Park,Glasgow | ||||||
| Man of the Match | David Weir | ||||||
| Referee | Craig Thomson | ||||||
| Attendance | 50,956 | ||||||
←2008 2010 → | |||||||
The2009 Scottish Cup Final was the final of the 124th season of the main domesticfootball cup competition in Scotland, theScottish Cup. The final was played atHampden Park in Glasgow on 30 May 2009. The match was contested byRangers, who were defending the trophy having won the2008 final,[1] andFalkirk who last won the Cup in 1957.[2]
Falkirk were contesting a Scottish Cup final for only the fourth time in their history, while it was Rangers' 51st appearance (winning 32 times and losing 17, with one final (1909) resulting in the cup being withheld).[3] It was Rangers' second cup final of the season, having lost toCeltic in theLeague Cup Final on 15 March 2009.[4]
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Fourth round | St Johnstone (a) | 0–2 |
| Fifth round | Forfar Athletic (a) | 0–4 |
| Quarter-final | Hamilton Academical (h) | 5–1 |
| Semi-final | St Mirren (n) | 3–0 |
Rangers first match of the 2008–09Scottish Cup was away toScottish First Division leadersSt Johnstone. The match atMcDiarmid Park was played on a Tuesday night due toBBC Sport Scotland's live coverage.[5] Anown goal from Saints defenderStuart McCaffrey gave Rangers the lead just before half-time and a lateNacho Novo strike with ten minutes left made the game safe.[6]
The match againstScottish Third Division sideForfar Athletic was to be shown onSky Sports[7] and was therefore originally planned as a lunchtime kick-off on Sunday 8 February but was postponed due to a frozen pitch,[8] the game was rescheduled and played on Wednesday 18 February. Rangers took an early lead in the match thanks to aSaša Papac goal after only eight minutes but the team could not add to their advantage until after half-time. AKenny Miller double andAarón Ñíguez's first Rangers goal ensured the team's progress in a 4–0 win.[9]
The quarter-final was the first tie played atIbrox by Rangers in the Scottish cup that season. The game ended in a convincing 5–1 win overScottish Premier League sideHamilton Academical. The scoring was opened bySteven Whittaker before Hamilton'sRocco Quinn equalised. Rangers again took the lead throughKyle Lafferty before Aarón Ñíguez netted a retakenpenalty as half time approached. Hamilton played most of the second half with 10 men due to injuries, goals after the break fromSteven Davis and another from Kyle Lafferty completed the win.[10]
The semi-final atHampden Park was played against fellow Scottish Premier League sideSt Mirren. After just 75 seconds of the match Rangers were ahead through anAndrius Velička goal.Kris Boyd's 100th Rangers goal after 66 minutes made it 2–0 and a Kenny Miller goal twenty minutes from time saw Rangers through to their second successive final.[11]
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Fourth round | Queen of the South (h) | 4–2 |
| Fifth round | Heart of Midlothian (a) | 0–1 |
| Quarter-final | Inverness CT (a) | 0–1 |
| Semi-final | Dunfermline Athletic (n) | 2–0 |
Falkirk's first Scottish Cup match of the season was against the runners-up from the previous season,Queen of the South. Falkirk took the lead afterCraig Barr fouledGraham Barrett,Scott Arfield converted the penalty. Queen's equalised five minutes later through a deflectedBarry Wilson strike to leave the score level at half-time. Despite a superb free kick byBob Harris to give Queen of the South a 2–1 lead, Falkirk went on to score a further three goals to win 4–2. AGraham Barrett double and a second from Arfield.[12]
The Bairns faced Scottish Premier League opposition in the next round in the shape ofHeart of Midlothian. ASteve Lovell header after 59 minutes sent Hearts out of the Cup in a game which saw twored cards, one for each side. Heart'sMarius Žaliūkas was sent-off after wrestlingCarl Finnigan to the ground and Falkirk's Arfield was shown red for a second bookable offence.[13]
A trip to theHighlands ensued for the quarter-final after Falkirk were drawn away toInverness Caledonian Thistle. A victory was secured by a Carl Finnigan penalty after 31 minutes whenLionel Djebi-Zadi was sent off for grappling with the striker inside the penalty box.[14]
The semi-final match againstDunfermline Athletic was played at Hampden Park despite theScottish Football Association offering to change the match to a different venue.[15]Tam Scobbie opened the scoring when he knocked aNeil McCann free kick into the Pars goal with his shoulder early in the second half. The win was assured after Scott Arfield converted a penalty in the 89th minute, McCann had won the spot kick after being brought down by Dunfermline'sGreg Ross.[16]
Rangers went into the match as 32-time winners of the competition; they were the defending champions having won in2008,[17] this was their 50th final overall. Falkirk won the cup in 1913[18] and 1957;[19] they reached the final in 1997 but lost.[20]
Rangers had just won theScottish Premier League to becomeScottish champions[21] and Falkirk had narrowly avoided relegation from the SPL;[22] both had done so in the last match of their respective league seasons. The two teams had met each other four times that season three league meetings which were all won by Rangers[23][24][25] and aScottish League Cup Semi-final which Rangers also won.[26] Falkirk had not beaten Rangers in any competition since an SPL meeting in December 2006,[27] They had last met Rangers in the Scottish Cup in a1998–99 Quarter-final which Rangers won 2–1, The last time they beat Rangers in a cup competition was in the1994–95 League Cup, They had never previously met in a Cup Final.
Rangers were allocated 24,890 tickets for the final, while Falkirk received 11,740 tickets with another 3,200 available if needed. Falkirk had originally wanted an allocation similar to Rangers. All Falkirk season ticket holders were guaranteed a seat for the final. SFA spokesman Rob Shorthouse toldBBC Scotland at the end of April that it would be fair to both clubs and wanted to avoid unsold tickets being returned. Both semi-finals at Hampden were well below the 52,000 stadium capacity, with only 32,341 supporters watching Rangers beatSt Mirren 3–0 in the first semi-final at Hampden, while 17,124 watched Falkirk's victory overDunfermline 24 hours later.[28][29]
On 27 May 2009, it was reported that Falkirk had failed to sell its originally allocation of tickets, only 12,200 to date, this meant that the club would be limited to 13,000 tickets in total. Meanwhile, Rangers were given an additional 3,000 tickets on top of there allocation which would now mean that theGlasgow club had a total of 28,000 for the final.[30][31]Despite this, Falkirk supporters turned up in their droves to support their club, the official match attendance being recorded at 50,956.
As a mark of respect for a formerFalkirk youth team player, Craig Gowans, who died in a tragic accident at the club's old training ground in July 2005,[32] Bairns managerJohn Hughes asked Gowans' father, John, to lead out the team atHampden Park.[33]
Rangers were missing midfielderKevin Thomson, who was ruled out until the following season after knee ligament damage sustained in November 2008, and defenderKirk Broadfoot due to a foot injury. There were fitness concerns overPedro Mendes andMaurice Edu who were both suffering from thigh injuries.
Falkirk were without on-loan midfielderArnau Riera due to a suspension he picked up in the semi-final againstDunfermline Athletic, he since returned to parent clubSunderland only to be released on 28 May 2009.[34] Ex-Rangers playersSteven Pressley andNeil McCann returned from suspension and injury respectively. Both players were missing from the finalScottish Premier League match of the season
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       Rangers |    Falkirk |
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MATCH OFFICIALS
| MATCH RULES
|
| Statistic | Rangers | Falkirk |
|---|---|---|
| Goals scored | 1 | 0 |
| Total shots | 7 | 12 |
| Shots on target | 4 | 1 |
| Ball possession | 45% | 55% |
| Fouls committed | 16 | 10 |
| Offsides | 1 | 7 |
| Yellow cards | 3 | 3 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
Source:BBC Sport,The Guardian
In the UK the 2009 Scottish Cup Final was shown live onBBC One Scotland,Sky Sports 2 andSky Sports HD2. In Australia it was shown live onSetanta Sports. A highlights package of the Scottish Cup final was shown on BBC One Scotland at 2200 BST on the day of the match.
