Could it have been a Montrose versus Rangers Scottish Cup Final back in 1976?

[mdingwall]

Could it have been a Montrose versus Rangers Scottish Cup Final back in 1976? The part-time club have been looking back at how close they came to playing Rangers twice at Hampden during that season - and how they might have made Europe! Were @MontroseFC just 90 seconds away from qualifying for Europe back in 1976? Club historian Steve Doyle and Ian Stewart look back at what might have been.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/nostalgia/2020708/links-park-to-leipzig-how-montrose-fc-almost-made-europe/

 

[dh1963]

I was the the league cup semi final against them. Very nervy for a long time.

 

[wee bud's pit boots]

What a lovely and romantic story.

What we should remember about the actual cup final is that it was the last 100,000 + attendance for a sporting event in Scotland.

The official attendance was given as 85,250 (some will read as different)

But we know different.

 

[dh1963]

What a lovely and romantic story.

What we should remember about the actual cup final is that it was the last 100,000 + attendance for a sporting event in Scotland.

The official attendance was given as 85,250 (some will read as different)

But we know different.

You're right, it was pandemonium that day.

What was the official last 100,000 crowd?
Was it a Scotland rugby game?

 

[adastra]

Not sure how the semi final would have gone against Dumbarton, despite the earlier league score. Being local, I went with my old man to support the Sons in both games against Hearts.

Dumbarton had a good team back then and should have won the first game on the Saturday. I have a memory of Ian Wallace smacking the bar late on and he eventually became the first £1million Scottish player when moving from Coventry to Forest.

least said about Sir Walter’s replay performance the better.

 

[HandsomeHead]

Good read that.

You’d have fancied their chances against Dumbarton in the semis if it hadn’t been for that last gasp goal for Hearts.

All the same, a great season for them.

 

[wee bud's pit boots]

You're right, it was pandemonium that day.

What was the official last 100,000 crowd?
Was it a Scotland rugby game?

We had 122,000 in the Royal Cup final in 73.

I think 104,000 crammed into Murrayfield for Scotland v Wales? in 74.

The clue to look for in 76 is the lack of ailses on the terracings.

 

[mdingwall]

I remember going to the 76 Cup Final.

As I recall, the night before there was an item on the late news which said Hearts hadn't sold all their tickets so there would be pay at the gate!

My dad, Billy Cook's dad, big Willie fae Shafton and couple of other dads and kids set off early for Hampden.

When we got there the crowds were already busy all the way from the Celtic End up to Cathcart Road.

It got so dangerous we kids got lifted up onto walls opposite the turnstiles and then the men climbed up and joined us.

I saw no police outside the ground - they only appeared when a few break-ins occurred and people forced open the big exit gates. Otherwise people were popping over in ones and twos having climbed the walls - I remember watching one guy use a loose strand of barbed wire like a climbing rope.

The match kicked off and we saw from the people inside waving that Rangers had scored - DJ within the first minute.

The crowds outside quickly dispersed after the game kicked off - we came down from the garden walls and tried a few turnstiles in the North Stand but they weren't wearing it and we headed home - what a day!

 

[bilkobear]

What a lovely and romantic story.

What we should remember about the actual cup final is that it was the last 100,000 + attendance for a sporting event in Scotland.

The official attendance was given as 85,250 (some will read as different)

But we know different.

Back in the day and on that occasion in particular there was other ways to get into the ground without using a turnstile and an awful lot of Bears used that route.

 

[dublinbluenose]

Not sure how the semi final would have gone against Dumbarton, despite the earlier league score. Being local, I went with my old man to support the Sons in both games against Hearts.

Dumbarton had a good team back then and should have won the first game on the Saturday. I have a memory of Ian Wallace smacking the bar late on and he eventually became the first £1million Scottish player when moving from Coventry to Forest.

least said about Sir Walter’s replay performance the better.

Montrose would have beat dumbarton imho .they were also pretty close to getting into the premier league that season.hearts were a piss poor side and Montrose should have beat them at links park.they battered hearts in the second half

 

[dublinbluenose]

What a lovely and romantic story.

What we should remember about the actual cup final is that it was the last 100,000 + attendance for a sporting event in Scotland.

The official attendance was given as 85,250 (some will read as different)

But we know different.

I was at links park for the Montrose v Hearts game with my old man,grandad and uncle who were all Montrose fans, although my uncle was more of a rangers man.i have had a dislike of the hearts support ever since especially after one spat on my Montrose scarf when I was leaving the ground,bearing in mind I was ten years old at the time.it was really my first experience of a big game atmosphere and I followed that up going to tannadice to see Rangers win the title a few weeks later.

 

[NYC Davie]

I remember going to the 76 Cup Final.

As I recall, the night before there was an item on the late news which said Hearts hadn't sold all their tickets so there would be pay at the gate!

My dad, Billy Cook's dad, big Willie fae Shafton and couple of other dads and kids set off early for Hampden.

When we got there the crowds were already busy all the way from the Celtic End up to Cathcart Road.

It got so dangerous we kids got lifted up onto walls opposite the turnstiles and then the men climbed up and joined us.

I saw no police outside the ground - they only appeared when a few break-ins occurred and people forced open the big exit gates. Otherwise people were popping over in ones and twos having climbed the walls - I remember watching one guy use a loose strand of barbed wire like a climbing rope.

The match kicked off and we saw from the people inside waving that Rangers had scored - DJ within the first minute.

The crowds outside quickly dispersed after the game kicked off - we came down from the garden walls and tried a few turnstiles in the North Stand but they weren't wearing it and we headed home - what a day!

The final v Hearts was indeed a wonderful occasion Mark and I think the crowd was a lot more than the official 85,000. Big Derek actually scored before the kick off in the final. Referee blew at one minute to 3 and DJ scored in 41 seconds! The week before I was also at Tannadice when he score in something like 22 seconds to win us the league. Happy days

 

[adastra]

Montrose would have beat dumbarton imho .they were also pretty close to getting into the premier league that season.hearts were a piss poor side and Montrose should have beat them at links park.they battered hearts in the second half

Always a great “what might have been” football debate. At the end of the season there was only 2 points between Montrose in 3rd and Dumbarton in 4th and the Sons also had the joint top goal scorer in John Burke.

I well remember Dumbarton knocking out Kilmarnock in the quarter final at a packed old Boghead. Kilmarnock were promoted that season with Thistle winning the league.

 

[pelem]

I remember going to the 76 Cup Final.

As I recall, the night before there was an item on the late news which said Hearts hadn't sold all their tickets so there would be pay at the gate!

My dad, Billy Cook's dad, big Willie fae Shafton and couple of other dads and kids set off early for Hampden.

When we got there the crowds were already busy all the way from the Celtic End up to Cathcart Road.

It got so dangerous we kids got lifted up onto walls opposite the turnstiles and then the men climbed up and joined us.

I saw no police outside the ground - they only appeared when a few break-ins occurred and people forced open the big exit gates. Otherwise people were popping over in ones and twos having climbed the walls - I remember watching one guy use a loose strand of barbed wire like a climbing rope.

The match kicked off and we saw from the people inside waving that Rangers had scored - DJ within the first minute.

The crowds outside quickly dispersed after the game kicked off - we came down from the garden walls and tried a few turnstiles in the North Stand but they weren't wearing it and we headed home - what a day!

DJ scored in 42 seconds.

 

[John MacKenzie]

I was there on a strange day for me,we moved furniture into a flat we got in Cumbernauld then I made my way to Partick to meet my mate to go to final.He didn't turn up so made my way to Hampden and went to join a queue to find out it was ticket only(bugger).
Then I noticed some body slipping money to the turnstile operator so obviously I then done the same thing,and got onto terracing/enclosure just in time to see goal.Celebrated wildly and had a can of beer thrust into my hand.I said to the guy I wouldn't be able to give him one back as I hadn't had time to get some.
To cut the rest of the story short I came away from the game happy and p***ed because of that guy and his mates.
Therefor any official number for fans would have been wrong as I am sure many would have got in as I did.

 

[Libertonchaz]

Could it have been a Montrose versus Rangers Scottish Cup Final back in 1976? The part-time club have been looking back at how close they came to playing Rangers twice at Hampden during that season - and how they might have made Europe! Were @MontroseFC just 90 seconds away from qualifying for Europe back in 1976? Club historian Steve Doyle and Ian Stewart look back at what might have been.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/nostalgia/2020708/links-park-to-leipzig-how-montrose-fc-almost-made-europe/

Enjoyed that. Good read

 

[dublinbluenose]

Not sure how the semi final would have gone against Dumbarton, despite the earlier league score. Being local, I went with my old man to support the Sons in both games against Hearts.

Dumbarton had a good team back then and should have won the first game on the Saturday. I have a memory of Ian Wallace smacking the bar late on and he eventually became the first £1million Scottish player when moving from Coventry to Forest.

least said about Sir Walter’s replay perfe

Always a great “what might have been” football debate. At the end of the season there was only 2 points between Montrose in 3rd and Dumbarton in 4th and the Sons also had the joint top goal scorer in John Burke.

I well remember Dumbarton knocking out Kilmarnock in the quarter final at a packed old Boghead. Kilmarnock were promoted that season with Thistle winning the league.

Iirc Montrose blew the chance of promotion in the closing stages.that same season they had beat hibs 3-1 at links park in the quarter final of the league cup.one funny memory I have about that hearts game at links park.the day before my brother and I were having a kick a bout and the scheme we lived in parts of it were still being built so there were loads of builders around and a squad of joiners joined us in the kick a bout and one of them was a guy called chick Guthrie.imagine my surprise when he came on as a sub at half-time for Montrose and proceeded to rip hearts apart as a winger

 

[Remo-town]

Was my first cup final. The old man took me and two mates. Paid at the gate, into the celtic end. He had his work cut out looking after us that day.

 

[Blue Star]

Was my first cup final. The old man took me and two mates. Paid at the gate, into the celtic end. He had his work cut out looking after us that day.

My first cup final as well. Seven years old, my dad took me to the main stand. Absolutely loved it.

 

[cadge_1959]

The final v Hearts was indeed a wonderful occasion Mark and I think the crowd was a lot more than the official 85,000. Big Derek actually scored before the kick off in the final. Referee blew at one minute to 3 and DJ scored in 41 seconds! The week before I was also at Tannadice when he score in something like 22 seconds to win us the league. Happy days

I was at both of these games, and missed both goals, I had been at every domestic game and not missed a goal!! On both occasions, I was walking up the stairs to the terracing, wish now I hadn't faffed about before getting in.

 

[Pigeon from Hell]

I remember going to the 76 Cup Final.

As I recall, the night before there was an item on the late news which said Hearts hadn't sold all their tickets so there would be pay at the gate!

My dad, Billy Cook's dad, big Willie fae Shafton and couple of other dads and kids set off early for Hampden.

When we got there the crowds were already busy all the way from the Celtic End up to Cathcart Road.

It got so dangerous we kids got lifted up onto walls opposite the turnstiles and then the men climbed up and joined us.

I saw no police outside the ground - they only appeared when a few break-ins occurred and people forced open the big exit gates. Otherwise people were popping over in ones and twos having climbed the walls - I remember watching one guy use a loose strand of barbed wire like a climbing rope.

The match kicked off and we saw from the people inside waving that Rangers had scored - DJ within the first minute.

The crowds outside quickly dispersed after the game kicked off - we came down from the garden walls and tried a few turnstiles in the North Stand but they weren't wearing it and we headed home - what a day!

I got carried in by the crowd through that collapsed exit gate, feet completely off the ground. Quite a scary experience when you’re 11. Then it was carnage inside the gate with several guys flat out and getting first aid. I had a ticket for the game as well, but the crowd just took you where it liked.

 

[davyloyal]

As a hard drinking 14-year old, I got smacked straight in the middle of the forehead by a Pomagne cork. The fuukin mark of it was there for days.

 

[Delboy1962]

What a lovely and romantic story.

What we should remember about the actual cup final is that it was the last 100,000 + attendance for a sporting event in Scotland.

The official attendance was given as 85,250 (some will read as different)

But we know different.

My first Scottish Cup Final,there was definitely over 100,000 as there were gates etc smashed open and anyone was getting in.
I was in the Rangers end and it was terrifying, I was only 14 and was scared shitless ..especially when a goal was scored as it was bedlam.
Incredible memories though,wouldn't swap them.

 

[Sancus]

I got carried in by the crowd through that collapsed exit gate, feet completely off the ground. Quite a scary experience when you’re 11. Then it was carnage inside the gate with several guys flat out and getting first aid. I had a ticket for the game as well, but the crowd just took you where it liked.

I was younger than that and that’s how me and my pals got in. Just sucked in among the bodies pouring through the gate. Big adventure back then but it could have been so different. Never saw the game, too wee and once you were in you just had to stand where you were because the crowd was solid. Followed the game by the crowd reactions.

 

[Bluegeo64]

Could it have been a Montrose versus Rangers Scottish Cup Final back in 1976? The part-time club have been looking back at how close they came to playing Rangers twice at Hampden during that season - and how they might have made Europe! Were @MontroseFC just 90 seconds away from qualifying for Europe back in 1976? Club historian Steve Doyle and Ian Stewart look back at what might have been.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/nostalgia/2020708/links-park-to-leipzig-how-montrose-fc-almost-made-europe/

Great wee article- love reading stories like that. I remember the 5-1 game against them which iirc was closer than you would have thought. Forfar were a team who made it difficult for us as well later on in Cup competition

 

[Bannerman]

Didn’t realise Dumbarton finished beneath Montrose in the league that season and yet reached the Scottish cup semi-finals - even taking Hearts to a replay as mentioned by others. Ninety minutes from European football as Rangers won the league and in those days the cup runners up qualified for Europe. I’m awaiting the Dumbarton article on almost achieving European glory!

As for our own semi-final, at one stage we were thinking it would be a Motherwell v Hearts/Dumbarton final.

 

[rangeral]

What a lovely and romantic story.

What we should remember about the actual cup final is that it was the last 100,000 + attendance for a sporting event in Scotland.

The official attendance was given as 85,250 (some will read as different)

But we know different.

When you look at what Montrose done it was a cracking story

The capacity for the game was set at 85,000 reading the Evening Times the day before the game

 

[govantrueblue]

We had a decent team in that era, however for whatever reason we always made it hard for ourselves at Hampden.
As mentioned Montrose was a bit of a toil, we were 2 down to Motherwell(albeit a cracking Motherwell team) took 3 games to beat Hibs in the final and who can forget the Semi Final struggle with Forfar.
Strange but wonderful times.

 

[mdingwall]

I phoned Robert McElroy yesterday, the editor of the Rangers Historian, about the match. He said that because the attendance at the two previous cup finals was not great the decision had been made to sell stand tickets and the Rangers End only but leave the rest of the ground pay at the gate.

 

[wee bud's pit boots]

I remember going to the 76 Cup Final.

As I recall, the night before there was an item on the late news which said Hearts hadn't sold all their tickets so there would be pay at the gate!

My dad, Billy Cook's dad, big Willie fae Shafton and couple of other dads and kids set off early for Hampden.

When we got there the crowds were already busy all the way from the Celtic End up to Cathcart Road.

It got so dangerous we kids got lifted up onto walls opposite the turnstiles and then the men climbed up and joined us.

I saw no police outside the ground - they only appeared when a few break-ins occurred and people forced open the big exit gates. Otherwise people were popping over in ones and twos having climbed the walls - I remember watching one guy use a loose strand of barbed wire like a climbing rope.

The match kicked off and we saw from the people inside waving that Rangers had scored - DJ within the first minute.

The crowds outside quickly dispersed after the game kicked off - we came down from the garden walls and tried a few turnstiles in the North Stand but they weren't wearing it and we headed home - what a da

When you look at what Montrose done it was a cracking story

The capacity for the game was set at 85,000 reading the Evening Times the day before the game

It was and I distinctly remember the crowd being given as 85,250 in either (or both) The Sunday Mail and/or The Sunday Post the following day.

The attendance for the Scotland v England a few weeks later was given as the set 85,000. That was the Tam Forsyth tackle game.

I think the attendance for the European Cup final between Bayern and St Etienne, again in that month of May 76 was around the 56,000 mark.

Certainly a big drop from the near 130,000 between R. Madrid and Eintrachact Frankfurt 16 years earlier.

 

[davyloyal]

I phoned Robert McElroy yesterday, the editor of the Rangers Historian, about the match. He said that because the attendance at the two previous cup finals was not great the decision had been made to sell stand tickets and the Rangers End only but leave the rest of the ground pay at the gate.

Common denominator in the previous two finals? No Rangers, but Sellik were in both.

 

[rangeral]

It was and I distinctly remember the crowd being given as 85,250 in either (or both) The Sunday Mail and/or The Sunday Post the following day.

The attendance for the Scotland v England a few weeks later was given as the set 85,000. That was the Tam Forsyth tackle game.

I think the attendance for the European Cup final between Bayern and St Etienne, again in that month of May 76 was around the 56,000 mark.

Certainly a big drop from the near 130,000 between R. Madrid and Eintrachact Frankfurt 16 years earlier.

Yeah not doubting you, before my time mind you

Have to remember that is when the 1975 Sport Grounds Safety act came into force so it meant some official authority on capacity limits

Of course still the fact that people were used to other methods in getting in despite the limitations

 

[wee bud's pit boots]

Yeah not doubting you, before my time mind you

Have to remember that is when the 1975 Sport Grounds Safety act came into force so it meant some official authority on capacity limits

Of course still the fact that people were used to other methods in getting in despite the limitations

Robert McElroy, whose judgement I very much trust when it comes to Rangers is adamant that there was well in excess of 100,000 that day.

So for me it is the last sporting occasion when there was such a crowd in Scotland.

 

[BlueDragon99]

What a lovely and romantic story.

What we should remember about the actual cup final is that it was the last 100,000 + attendance for a sporting event in Scotland.

The official attendance was given as 85,250 (some will read as different)

But we know different.

This was a great Montrose team, who nearly made it into the Premier League that season. I watched the SF highlights on TV and saw Montrose in the flesh against Thistle in the last game of the season.

And I agree that there must have been around 100,000 at the final against Hearts, the biggest crowd I've ever seen at Hampden. I noted the attendance of 85,350 from the papers, which was the official capacity. A senior police officer later estimated the crowd at at least 100,000.