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Detail
Name: Victory Cup
Year: 1946
Era: World War Two
Background
The 1946 Victory Cup Final, played on 15 June 1946 was said to be the last of the makeshift football tournaments designed for the abnormal conditions of the Second World War. The Victory Cup was gifted by the Scottish Football Association to the Scottish League for competition during the war – the Scottish League Cup. Aberdeen had won the trophy, then called the Southern League Cup, one month before by defeating Rangers.
However, the Scottish F.A. decided that Aberdeen should hand the trophy back and that the winners of Rangers or Hibs should retain the trophy for good. On the way to the Final, Rangers defeated Stenhousemuir, Airdrie, Falkirk and then Celtic by 2-0 in the semi-final. Hibs defeated Dundee, Hearts, Partick Thistle and Clyde in the semi-final. Rangers went on to win the final by a score of 3-1.
Note: this is a different tournament to the one-off “Victory in Europe Cup” in 1945.
Very controversial in Celtic circles, and a clear example of bias against Celtic from authorities.
The replayed semi-final which Celtic lost was referred by a Rangers biased & tipsy/drunk referee, but it led to a disgraceful heavy punishment for Celtic’s George Paterson (see matchpage):
“The most unfair punishment ever meted out by the referees committee was to George Paterson. The cruelty of his sentence was shattering to both player and club.“
Celtic Chairman Robert Kelly
Matches (with Celtic involved)
April
20th St Johnstone 2-8 Celtic, Scottish Victory Cup
24th Celtic 5-0 St Johnstone, Scottish Victory Cup
May
4th Celtic 3-0 Queen of the South, Scottish Victory Cup
18th Raith Rovers 0-2 Celtic, Scottish Victory Cup
June
1st Celtic 0-0 Rangers, Scottish Victory Cup Semi-Final
5th Celtic 0-2 Rangers, Scottish Victory Cup Semi-Final Replay