The 2016 Scottish Cup Final was the 131st final of the Scottish Cup and the final of the

2015–16 Scottish Cup The 2015–16 Scottish Cup was the 131st season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The tournament was sponsored by bookmaker William Hill in what was the fifth season of a five-year partnership. The final was conteste ...

, the most prestigious knockout

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 ...

competition in Scotland. The match took place 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 ...

on 21 May 2016 and was contested by Scottish Championship teams

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

and Hibernian. It was the first final to be contested by two teams from outside the top tier of the Scottish football league system. Hibernian ended a run of 114 years from last winning the competition, beating Rangers 3–2 with a stoppage time goal from club captain David Gray. The winners, Hibernian, entered the second qualifying round of the

2016–17 UEFA Europa League The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2017 UEFA Eu ...

Route to the final

Hibernian

Hibernian started the Scottish Cup in the fourth round as one of the top four placed teams in the

2014–15 Scottish Championship The 2014–15 Scottish Championship is the 20th season in the current format of 10 teams in the second tier of Scottish football. Heart of Midlothian won the title on 22 March 2015 and secured their return to the Scottish Premiership with a reco ...

. They were drawn away at fellow Championship team Raith Rovers. At

Stark's Park Stark's Park is a football stadium in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. It is the home ground of Raith Rovers, who have played there since 1891. The ground has an all-seated capacity of 9000 History Raith started using the ground in 1891 and it seats ...

, Hibernian won 2–0 with goals from Darren McGregor and

Dominique Malonga Dominique Sossorobla Malonga (born 8 January 1989) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Icelandic club Þór Akureyri. Malonga has previously played for Italian sides Torino, Foggia, Cesena, Vicenza and Pro Vercel ...

. In the fifth round, they were drawn away against their

Edinburgh derby The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any football match played between Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian (Hibs), the two oldest professional clubs based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The two clubs have a fierce r ...

rivals and Premiership club, Heart of Midlothian. Following a 2–2 draw at Tynecastle Stadium, Hibernian won the replay at their Easter Road 1–0 via a

Jason Cummings Jason Steven Cummings (born 1 August 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for A league Men club Central coast Mariners . Born in Scotland, he represents the Australia national team, after previously representing Scotland a ...

goal. In the quarter finals they were drawn at home against the Scottish Cup holders, Premiership side

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

. Following a 1–1 draw, Hibernian won the replay at

Caledonian Stadium Caledonian Stadium is a football ground in the Longman area of Inverness, Scotland, near the banks of the Moray Firth. It hosts home matches of Scottish Professional Football League club Inverness Caledonian Thistle. History Inverness Caledon ...

2–1 due to two goals from

Anthony Stokes Anthony Christopher Stokes (born 25 July 1988) is an Irish professional footballer, who plays as a striker. He was also an Irish international, having played at the under-21, team B and Republic of Ireland national football team. He began hi ...

. In the semi-final at neutral Hampden Park, they were drawn against Premiership Dundee United and progressed to the final after winning 4–2 in a

penalty shoot out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...

Rangers

Rangers also started the Scottish Cup in the fourth round as one of the top four placed teams in the previous years Scottish Championship. In the fourth round they were drawn against Scottish League One team Cowdenbeath at home. At their Ibrox Stadium, Rangers won 5–1 with goals from Lee Wallace,

Barrie McKay Barrie McKay (born 30 December 1994) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a striker or as a winger for Heart of Midlothian. McKay has previously played for Rangers, Greenock Morton, Raith Rovers, Nottingham Forest, Swansea Cit ...

and a hat-trick from

Martyn Waghorn Martyn Thomas Waghorn (born 23 January 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Huddersfield Town on loan from Coventry City. He is a former England under-21 international. Waghorn had be ...

. In the next round they were drawn with Premiership team

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

. After a 0–0 draw at Ibrox Stadium, Rangers won 2–1 in the replay at Rugby Park with goals from Waghorn and Nicky Clark. In the quarter finals, Rangers were drawn at home against Premiership

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 ...

, which they won 4–0 with goals from Harry Forrester,

Jason Holt Jason Derek Holt (born 19 February 1993) is a Scottish professional footballer, who plays as a midfielder for Scottish Premiership club Livingston. Holt has also previously played for Heart of Midlothian, Raith Rovers, Sheffield United, Fle ...

Andy Halliday Andrew William Halliday (born 11 October 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or left-back for Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian. He has previously played for Livingston, Middlesbrough, Walsall, Bl ...

and Wallace. In the semi-finals, Rangers were drawn against their Old Firm rivals

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 ...

in only their second derby since 2015. Rangers progressed to the final winning 5–4 on penalties. Rangers entered the final as Scottish Championship league champions and

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Scottish Cup Final in 114 years, having previously won two Scottish Cups (in

1887 Events January–March * January 11 – Louis Pasteur's anti-rabies treatment is defended in the Académie Nationale de Médecine, by Dr. Joseph Grancher. * January 20 ** The United States Senate allows the Navy to lease Pearl Har ...

and

1902 Events January * January 1 ** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's f ...

) and lost in ten finals since their last victory. The 2016 final marked their third appearance in the final in the space of five years, having lost to Hearts in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. Rangers appeared in the Scottish Cup final after winning the competition 33 times under their previous guise (coming out of administration in 2012). The most recent appearance and victory for the former club was in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, when they defeated

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

1–0. This was the first meeting of the clubs in the Scottish Cup since

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, when Rangers won 1–0 at Ibrox in a replay after a goalless draw at Easter Road. Hibernian and Rangers had previously met in one Scottish Cup Final, in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. Rangers won the cup that year by winning a second replay by 3–2, after the first two matches both finished goalless.

Match

Details

Match rules * 90 minutes * 30 minutes of extra time if necessary * Penalty shoot-out if scores still level * Seven named substitutes * Maximum of three substitutions

Post-match

At the end of the match, thousands of Hibernian fans spilled out onto the pitch in celebration. An element headed to the other end of the ground to goad Rangers fans, who responded by entering the pitch themselves, leading to fights occurring. Some Rangers players and staff were also assaulted by the Hibernian fans as they tried to leave the pitch. The Rangers team received their runners-up medals in the dressing room. The SFA conducted a full investigation into the crowd trouble. The report was published in August and found that neither club was to blame but that the invasion was caused by the Hibs supporters' exuberance at winning the cup. It was pointed out that Rangers supporters had let off fireworks and sung sectarian songs during the match. The report suggested the possibility of making pitch invasions illegal as they are in England. The aftermath of the final is also notable for the five-minute rendition by Hibs' fans, having returned to the stands, of the club's anthem, the Proclaimers' " Sunshine on Leith".

References

{{Rangers F.C. matches Scottish Cup Finals Scottish Cup Final 2016 Scottish Cup Final 2016 Scottish Cup Final Sports competitions in Glasgow Scottish Cup Final 2010s in Glasgow Scottish Cup 2016