1997 Scottish Cup final

1997 Scottish Cup Final
Event	1996–97 Scottish Cup
Date	24 May 1997
Venue	Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow
Man of the Match	Andy Gray
Referee	Hugh Dallas
Attendance	48,953
	← 1996 1998 →

The 1997 Scottish Cup Final was the 112th final of the Scottish Cup, Scottish football's most prestigious knockout association football competition. The match took place at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow on 24 May 1997 and was contested by Scottish Premier Division club Kilmarnock and Scottish Division One club Falkirk. It was Kilmarnock's eighth Scottish Cup Final and Falkirk's third. The match was the first Scottish Cup final in forty years not to feature a club from one of Scotland's cities, Falkirk and Kilmarnock being towns, the last coming when the same clubs previously met in the 1957 final.^[1]

As Premier and Division One clubs, both Kilmarnock and Falkirk entered the competition in the third round. Neither club won all four of their ties at the first attempt. Kilmarnock defeated three teams from the three tiers below the Premier Division before needing a replay to defeat Dundee United in the semi-finals. Falkirk required two replays to reach the final. They defeated three Premier Division clubs and needed a replay to see off Division Two club Berwick Rangers as well as Celtic in the semi-finals.

The match was Kilmarnock's eighth appearance in the final and Falkirk's third. Kilmarnock had previously won the final twice whilst Falkirk had won both of its previous final appearances. Falkirk's last appearance was in 1957 in a victory over Kilmarnock, whilst it was their first appearance in the final since 1960.

Kilmarnock won the match 1–0, the only goal coming from Paul Wright in the 20th minute of the first half. With an assist from Kevin McGowne

Route to the final

Kilmarnock

Round	Opposition	Score
Third round	East Stirlingshire	2–0
Fourth round	Clyde	1–0
Quarter-final	Greenock Morton	5–2
Semi-final	Dundee United	0–0
Semi-final replay	Dundee United	1–0

As a Premier Division club, Kilmarnock entered the competition in the third round and were drawn against Division Three club East Stirlingshire who started in the second round. Kilmarnock won the tie 2–0 at Rugby Park. In the fourth round the club was drawn away to Clyde and produced a narrow 1–0 victory to progress to the quarter-finals. Morton was the opposition provided and Kilmarnock triumphed in a 7-goal thriller at Cappielow, winning 5–2. In the semi-finals, Kilmarnock was drawn against Dundee United with the match played at the neutral venue of Easter Road in Edinburgh. The match ended 0–0 with the replay a week later ending in a 1–0 victory for the Ayrshire club. Kilmarnock reached the final for the first time since 1960 when they were defeated by Rangers.

Falkirk

Round	Opposition	Score
Third round	Berwick Rangers	1–1
Third round replay	Berwick Rangers	2–1
Fourth round	Dunfermline Athletic	2–1
Quarter-final	Raith Rovers	2–0
Semi-final	Celtic	1–1
Semi-final replay	Celtic	1–0

Along with Kilmarnock, Falkirk started the competition in the third round and were drawn against Berwick Rangers at home. The clubs played out a 1–1 draw with the replay a week later resulting in a 2–1 victory for Falkirk to enter the next round. The club faced rivals Dunfermline Athletic at Brockville Park with the club winning 2–1. The quarter-final draw paired Falkirk with other Fife club, Raith Rovers. Falkirk won the tie to set up a semi-final clash with Celtic. The first tie was played at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow and ended in a 1–1 draw resulting in a replay. Falkirk emerged 1–0 winners in the replay at Ibrox, progressing to their first in forty years since defeating Kilmarnock in a repeat of the fixture in the 1957 competition.

Match details

24 May 1997

15:00 BST^[2]

Kilmarnock	1–0	Falkirk
Wright 20'	Report

Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow

Attendance: 48,953

Referee: Hugh Dallas^[2]

Kilmarnock

Falkirk


GK	Dragoje Leković
DF	Gus MacPherson
DF	Dylan Kerr
DF	Ray Montgomerie (c)
DF	Kevin McGowne
MF	Mark Reilly
MF	David Bagan	85'
MF	Alex Burke
MF	Gary Holt
FW	Jim McIntyre	82'
FW	Paul Wright	77'
Substitutes:
MF	Ally Mitchell	85'
MF	John Henry	77'
FW	Tom Brown	82'
Manager:
Bobby Williamson


GK		Craig Nelson
DF		Jamie McGowan (c)
DF		Andy Seaton
DF		Neil Oliver
DF		Kevin James
DF		Andy Gray
MF		Scott MacKenzie
MF		David Hagen
FW		Kevin McAllister
FW		Scott Crabbe
FW		Paul McGrillen
Substitutes:
GK		Paul Mathers
MF		Albert Craig
FW		Gerhard Fellner
Manager:
Alex Totten

Match officials

Assistant referees:
Fourth official:

Match rules

90 minutes.
30 minutes of extra-time if necessary.
Penalty shoot-out if scores still level.
Five named substitutes.
Maximum of three substitutions.

References

^ The 1997 Scottish Cup Final Revisited Archived 13 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine, killiefc.com. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
^ ^a ^b Scottish Cup - Fixtures And Results - Kilmarnock F.C. v Falkirk F.C., Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 11 July 2012.

External links

1997 Final

[Kille_final-1] The 1997 Scottish Cup Final Revisited Archived 13 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine, killiefc.com. Retrieved 12 July 2012.

[SFA_Final-2] Scottish Cup - Fixtures And Results - Kilmarnock F.C. v Falkirk F.C., Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 11 July 2012.

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[2]

v t e Scottish Cup
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List of finals Winning managers Scottish Qualifying Cup

v t e 1996–97 in Scottish football
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v t e Falkirk F.C. matches
Scottish Cup Finals	1913 1957 1997 2009 2015
Scottish League Cup Finals	1947 (October)
Scottish Challenge Cup Finals	1993 1997 2004 2012

v t e Kilmarnock F.C. matches
Scottish Cup Finals	1898 1920 1929 1932 1938 1957 1960 1997
Scottish League Cup Finals	1952 1960 1962 2001 2007 2012
Other	Kilmarnock 5–1 Eintracht Frankfurt (1964)