1945–46 Southern League Cup (Scotland)

The 1945–46 Southern League Cup was the sixth and final edition of the regional war-time football tournament. The North Eastern League and North Eastern League Cup had ended the previous season, teams from those competitions joined the Southern League and Southern League Cup. With the Southern League now acting effectively as a national league the competition was split into two Divisions, The league cup was therefore also split into two divisions.

Aberdeen won the tournament, defeating Rangers 3–2 in the final at Hampden Park before a crowd of 135,000. This was the last edition of the competition, but the trophy itself was used again for the 1946 Victory Cup played only a few weeks later (won by Rangers), therefore Aberdeen only possessed the cup for a short time. The same teams met in first official Scottish League Cup final the following year.^[1]

Group stage

Division A

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Heart of Midlothian	6	3	2	1	12	8	+4	8
St Mirren	6	2	2	2	6	8	−2	6
Falkirk	6	2	1	3	10	11	−1	5
Hamilton Academical	6	2	1	3	6	7	−1	5

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Rangers	6	5	1	0	15	3	+12	11
Morton	6	3	1	2	15	7	+8	7
Motherwell	6	2	1	3	9	13	−4	5
Queen of the South	6	0	1	5	4	10	−6	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Aberdeen	6	4	0	2	21	13	+8	8
Hibernian	6	4	0	2	10	7	+3	8
Partick Thistle	6	1	2	3	6	6	0	4
Kilmarnock	6	1	2	3	4	11	−7	4

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Clyde	6	4	0	2	21	13	+8	8
Celtic	6	3	1	2	14	10	+4	7
Third Lanark	6	2	2	2	11	15	−4	6
Queen's Park	6	1	1	4	9	17	−8	3

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Division B

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
East Fife	6	5	0	1	24	10	+14	10
Alloa Athletic	6	4	0	2	11	8	+3	8
Raith Rovers	6	3	0	3	15	16	−1	6
Cowdenbeath	6	0	0	6	10	26	−16	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Ayr United	6	4	1	1	12	7	+5	9
Dundee United	6	4	1	1	12	7	+5	9
Stenhousemuir	6	1	2	3	8	13	−5	4
Dumbarton	6	1	0	5	7	12	−5	2

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Play-off

Ayr United	1 – 0	Dundee United	Hampden Park, Glasgow

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Airdrieonians	6	3	2	1	16	5	+11	8
St Johnstone	6	2	2	2	12	8	+4	6
Dunfermline Athletic	6	2	1	3	6	10	−4	5
Albion Rovers	6	2	1	3	6	17	−11	5

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Dundee	4	2	1	1	11	4	+7	5
Stirling Albion	4	2	0	2	6	10	−4	4
Arbroath	4	1	1	2	6	3	+3	3

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Quarter-finals

Aberdeen	2 – 0	Ayr United
Airdrieonians	1 – 0	Clyde
Heart of Midlothian	3 – 0	East Fife
Rangers	3 – 1	Dundee

Semi-finals

Aberdeen	2 – 2	Airdrieonians	Ibrox Park, Glasgow
Rangers	2 – 1	Heart of Midlothian	Hampden Park, Glasgow

Replay

Aberdeen	5 – 3	Airdrieonians	Iibrox Park, Glasgow

Final

11 May 1946^[2][3][4][5]

Aberdeen	3–2	Rangers
Baird 1' Williams 19' Taylor 90'		Duncanson 49' Thornton 70'

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Attendance: 135,000

Referee: W. Webb

Teams

Aberdeen: GK George Johnstone RB Willie Cooper LB Pat McKenna RH Andy Cowie CH Frank Dunlop LH George Taylor OR Alex Kiddie IR George Hamilton CF Stan Williams IL Archie Baird OL Willie McCall

Rangers: GK John Shaw RB Dougie Gray LB Jock Shaw RH Charlie Watkins CH George Young LH Scot Symon OR Willie Waddell IR Willie Thornton CF Billy Arnison IL Jimmy Duncanson OL Jimmy Caskie

References

1. Kevin Stirling (27 January 2014). "League Cup History 1946". Aberdeen F.C. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
2. "Rangers 2–3 Aberdeen". FitbaStats. 11 May 1946. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
3. "Match Report: Aberdeen 3–2 Rangers". AFC Heritage Trust. 11 May 1946. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
4. Aberdeen Win Deserved, The Glasgow Herald, 13 May 1945
5. Aberdeen League Cup Success | Last-minute Goal Beats Rangers, The Scotsman, 13 May 1945, via London Hearts Supporters Club

External links

• Southern League Cup at Scottish Football Historical Archive (archived version, 2015)