The Saint Mungo Cup was a one-off

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

tournament held in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, to celebrate the 1951

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

. The competition was contested by fourteen 'Scottish Division A' clubs together with

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

and Queens Park from 'Division B'.

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

defeated

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

3–2 in the final in front of a crowd of 81,000 at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

Original format

The original format of the competition was to include the six Glasgow clubs, with the addition of Hibernian, Hearts,

and

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. Following protests on the behalf of club's that would excluded from the competition at a

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...

meeting, the proposed format was abandoned and the tournament format would be reconsidered.

Summary

On their road to the final, Celtic had beaten Heart of Midlothian 2–1,

4–2 in a replay the day after a 4–4 draw in the quarter-finals, and

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...

3–1 in the semi-finals. In the final, Aberdeen (who had eliminated Rangers, St Mirren and Hibernian) went two goals ahead with goals from

Harry Yorston Henry Bowmaker Yorston (9 June 1929 – 17 May 1992) was a Scottish professional football player, who played for Aberdeen, and represented Scotland once. Yorston made over 200 league appearances for Aberdeen, scoring 98 goals. His uncle Benny ...

in 14 minutes (Celtic goalkeeper George Hunter was injured in the process, with Bobby Evans taking over between the posts for the next 12 minutes) and Tommy Bogan on 35 minutes after Hunter returned to the field.

Charlie Tully Charles Patrick Tully (11 July 1924 – 27 July 1971) was a Northern Irish football player and manager who played for Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peo ...

changed the game in Celtic's favour in the second half, setting up two Sean Fallon goals and the winner, scored by Jimmy Walsh. The

Glasgow Corporation The politics of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city by population, are expressed in the deliberations and decisions of Glasgow City Council, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament. Local government As one of ...

, who had organised the tournament along with the Glasgow Football Association and provided the cup (named after Glasgow's patron saint) as their donation to the Festival of Britain, were left red-faced when the triumphant players and manager

Jimmy McGrory James Edward McGrory (26 April 1904 – 20 October 1982) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic and Clydebank as a forward and then went on to manage Kilmarnock before returning to Celtic as manager after the end of the Second World Wa ...

examined the trophy and discovered that it was decorated with ornate life belts and

mermaid In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes asso ...

s. It was revealed that the trophy was not in fact new but third-hand, having been made in 1894 as a

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trophy, then been altered for a football competition in 1912 between

Provan Gas Works Provan Gas Works is an industrial gas holding plant in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The plant lies between the Blackhill, Glasgow, Blackhill, Blochairn, Germiston, Glasgow, Germiston and Provanmill areas of the city, and was built by Glasgow Cor ...

and a

City of Glasgow Police The City of Glasgow Police or Glasgow City Police was the police of the City of Glasgow, Scotland. In the 17th century, Scottish cities used to hire watchmen to guard the streets at night, augmenting a force of unpaid citizen constables. On 30 ...

team. Celtic at first demanded a new trophy, but today the St Mungo Cup proudly takes its place in the

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...

trophy room. There was also a tournament for clubs in the lower division, the ''St Mungo Quaich'' won by

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

with a win over

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...

in the final, and a series of friendly matches between Scottish and English clubs, five featuring Ayr United who lost each time.

Final

Teams

References

{{1951-52 in Scottish football Defunct football cup competitions in Scotland 1951–52 in Scottish football Festival of Britain Football in Glasgow

Original format

Summary

Final

Teams

See also

References