1999 Scottish Challenge Cup final
Event | 1999–2000 Scottish Challenge Cup | ||||||
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| |||||||
After extra time Alloa Athletic won 5–4 on penalties | |||||||
Date | 21 November 1999 | ||||||
Venue | Excelsior Stadium, Airdrie | ||||||
Referee | Jim McCluskey (Stewarton) | ||||||
Attendance | 4,043 | ||||||
The 1999 Scottish Challenge Cup final, also known as the Bell's Challenge Cup final for sponsorship reasons, was a football match between Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Alloa Athletic on 21 November 1999 at Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie.[1] It was the ninth final of the Scottish Challenge Cup since it was first organised in 1990 to celebrate the centenary of the Scottish Football League.
Both teams progressed through four elimination rounds to reach the final. The match was Alloa Athletic's first national cup final in its 121-year history[2] whilst it was Inverness Caledonian Thistle's first since the club was founded five years beforehand in 1994.[3] The tournament was contested by clubs below the Scottish Premier League; Inverness Caledonian Thistle from the First Division and Alloa Athletic from the Second Division.
Alloa led the match 2–1 at half-time but only two minutes after the interval both teams scored to make it 3–2 by the 47th minute. Paul Sheerin scored a second penalty for Inverness in the 56th minute to make the score 3–3 which is how the scoreline remained after 90 minutes, which forced an additional 30 minutes of extra time to be played. Martin Cameron scored his second goal for Alloa in the 104th minute to take a 4–3 lead but was cancelled out when Sheerin completed a hat-trick of goals for Inverness to make it 4–4 and take the game to penalties. Alloa Athletic emerged victorious after winning the shoot-out 5–4.[4]
Route to the final
The competition is a knock-out tournament and in 1999 was contested by the 30 teams that played in the First, Second and Third Divisions of the Scottish Football League. 28 of the teams entered the first round and two received random byes into the second round to even the number of fixtures.[5] Teams were paired at random and the winner of each match progressed to the next round and the loser was eliminated. The tournament returned for the first time since 1997 after it was suspended for one season due to the absence of a sponsor.[6]
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Round | Opposition | Score |
---|---|---|
First round | St Mirren (h) | 1–0 |
Second round | Hamilton Academical (a) | 3–0 |
Quarter-final | Clydebank (h) | 2–0 |
Semi-final | Livingston (h) | 1–0 |
Newly promoted to the First Division as runners-up in the Second Division the previous season, Inverness entered the first round and faced fellow First Division club St. Mirren at Caledonian Stadium. Inverness won the match 1–0 with a late goal in the 88th minute from Mike Teasdale to progress to the second round.[7] The second round draw paired the club with Second Division club Hamilton Academical at Douglas Park. Inverness comfortably won the tie 3–0 with two goals from Iain Stewart and one from Scott McLean to advance to the quarter-finals.[8]
Inverness faced a home game against Clydebank in the quarter-finals. Goals in each half from Martin Glancy and
Alloa Athletic
Round | Opposition | Score |
---|---|---|
First round | Cowdenbeath (a) | 4–0 |
Second round | Airdrieonians (a) | 2–1 |
Quarter-final | Ross County (a) | 2–1 |
Semi-final | Stirling Albion (a) | 2–1 |
Alloa Athletic also entered the first round and were drawn against Third Division club Cowdenbeath away from home. Goals from Martin Cameron, David Beaton, Gregor McKechnie and an own goal from Scott Sneddon was enough for Alloa to comfortably win 4–0 at Central Park and advance to the next round.[11] The second round also saw Alloa drawn away from home; facing First Division club Airdrieonians at Excelsior Stadium. With Airdrie the favourites to win the match, Alloa took a shock 2–0 lead with goals from Mark Nelson and Gregor McKechnie. Airdrie scored a consolation goal in the last minute from Forbes Johnston to make it 2–1, but Alloa held on to win and progressed to the quarter-finals.[12]
In the quarter-finals, Alloa faced another away game, this time at fellow Second Division club Ross County.
Pre-match
Venue
The 1999 final marked the first time the event was hosted at Excelsior Stadium in Airdrie, the home of Airdrieonians. The venue opened only a year before the final in 1998 and was officially known as Shyberry Excelsior Stadium, after its sponsor. Alloa had previously played at the stadium during the same tournament having eliminated Airdrieonians 2–1 away from home in the second round. Inverness travelled around 180 miles (289.7 km) to the venue whereas Alloa had to travel only around 30 miles (48.3 km).[14]
Analysis
In order to reach the final, Alloa played all four matches in the preceding rounds away from home, keeping only one clean sheet and recording three successive 2–1 away wins. Inverness kept a clean sheet in all four matches, scoring seven goals without reply in the rounds before the final.[15]
Alloa were in good form before the match, losing only three of their previous 22 games in all competitions since the start of the season in late July.
Terry Christie, the Alloa manager, had won the Scottish Challenge Cup once before with Second Division club
Match
First half
Inverness played in a
Second half
Only one minute into the second half, Alloa player Derek Clark committed a
Extra time and penalties
Cameron had a chance to score for Alloa in the 92nd minute but his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Fridge.[2] However, he then scored his second goal of the game in the 103rd minute after a pass from Max Christie.[2] Ten minutes later, Sheerin then completed a hat-trick of goals for Inverness in the 112th minute,[2] becoming only the second player to score three goals in the final match of the competition after Billy Dodds in 1990.[14] With the score equal at 4–4 at the end of extra time, the game was decided by a penalty shoot-out.[2]
The shoot-out was a best-of-five and Willie Irvine took the first penalty for Alloa and scored.[22] Paul Sheerin took Inverness's first penalty and despite scoring three goals during the game, two of which were from penalty kicks, he missed.[2] David Beaton then struck the bar and missed for Alloa and Mark McCulloch levelled the score for Inverness to 2–2.[22] Both teams then scored their next three penalties to make it 4-all from five attempts so the shoot-out went to sudden death. Alloa goalkeeper Cairns took the penalty and scored; he then saved Teasdale's attempt to ensure Alloa won 5–4 in the shoot-out.[14][22]
Details
Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 4–4 (a.e.t.) | Alloa Athletic |
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Report | ||
Penalties | ||
Sheerin McCulloch Tokely Byers Wyness Teasdale |
4–5 [22] |
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
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Alloa Athletic
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|
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Match rules
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Post-match
The trophy was presented to Alloa captain Craig Valentine after the game by
Jim McCluskey, the referee of the game, retired a year after the final and when reflecting on his time as a referee, mentioned the game was one of the highlights of his career saying: "It was an unbelievable game of football between two teams who were appearing in their first major cup final and they both just went for it. I was proud to have refereed it."[3]
The two clubs were drawn against each other at the first possible opportunity in the first round of the 2000–01 tournament.[23] Inverness won the match 3–2 despite Alloa scoring the fastest goal in the history of the tournament to take a 1–0 lead after 54 seconds.[24]
Both clubs have made further appearances in the final of the tournament since the match; Alloa lost to Airdrieonians and
References
- ^ Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Traynor, John. "CAIRNS TAKES THE PLAUDITS AS WASPS WIN FIRST CUP IN 121 YEARS; Alloa taste success after feast of goals", The Herald (Glasgow), 22 November 1999. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ a b c Haggerty, Anthony. "I reffed Brazil and Inter but Alloa v Caley tops the lot", Daily Record (Glasgow), 27 May 2000. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
- ^ a b Bell's Cup, scottishfootballleague.com. Scottish Football League. 2 November 2005. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
- ^ "Bell's ringing again for SFL", The Herald (Glasgow), 13 July 1999. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ Wright, Angus. "BELL'S BACKS SFL WITH 2M POUND DEAL", The Scotsman, 13 July 1999. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ "Results – BELL'S SCOTTISH LEAGUE CHALLENGE CUP First round", The Guardian (London), 11 August 1999. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ Results & Matches on: Tue, 24 Aug 1999, soccerbase.com, Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ a b Results & Matches on: Tue, 14 Sep 1999, soccerbase.com, Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ a b Results & Matches on: Tue, 28 Sep 1999, soccerbase.com, Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ "BELL'S CHALLENGE CUP", The Herald (Glasgow), 11 August 1999. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- Aberdeen Press and Journal, 25 August 1999. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- Aberdeen Press and Journal, 28 September 1999. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hammond, Dave. "Sheerin hat-trick fails to halt Alloa", The Times (London), 22 November 1999. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ Scottish League Challenge Cup 1999/00, soccerbase.com, Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ^ Results for Alloa Athletic for 1999–2000, londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ Alloa Athletic 1999–2000 : Scottish Division Two Table on 20.11.1999, statto.com, Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ a b c Traynor, John. "Wasps show no fear of big boys", The Herald (Glasgow), 20 November 1999. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1999–2000 : Scottish Division One Table on 20.11.1999, statto.com, Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ Scottish Challenge Cup 1995–1996 : First Round, statto.com. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ^ Stenhousemuir 1995–96, wsc.co.uk. When Saturday Comes. March 2005. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Southwick, Andrew. GREATEST GAME: Alloa v Inverness CT Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, theawayend.net. The Away End. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ Challenge Cup draw made, news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 19 July 2000. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ Alloa 2–3 Inverness CT, news.bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 15 August 2000. Retrieved 30 May 2013.