Sixty-nine-year-old ticket stub unearthed at Cappielow
Renovation work at Cappielow recently turned up a relic from a bygone era in the form of a well-preserved match ticket stub – from 1947.
The brief had fallen through the cracks between the wooden flooring of the main stand and survived there undisturbed until last term.
Kitman Andy Bryan uncovered the antique and went away and did his research on the match in question, a Scottish Cup third round replay against Aberdeen on 8 March 1947.
In what was the first full campaign following the conclusion of hostilities in the Second World War, the Dons would win the encounter 2-1 before going on to lift the trophy at Hampden the next month.
Speaking to gmfc.net, Andy said: “We had workmen in replacing the wooden flooring in the mainstand and they found a small ticket stub that had fallen through a crack. When you consider it’d been there since 1947, it was in unbelievable condition, bone dry and barely creased.
“The seat was for section E, seat 139 in the main stand. We went up and had a look to see if we could find where the supporter would have sat but that specific area has been converted for hospitality.
“I was speaking to wee Joe Harper recently and was going to ask if he played in the game – but I don’t think he would have been too chuffed!
“I went away and did a bit of digging and apparently the match was a replay that Aberdeen won 2-1 before eventually beating Hibs to win the tournament.”
When asked to shed further light on the match, programme editor Niall McGilp, a keen Morton historian, told gmfc.net: “Morton were drawn away against Aberdeen in the third round of the Scottish Cup in 1946/47.
“The game at Pittodrie on 22 February finished 1-1. Miller scored after 25 minutes for the Dons, but Ton’s McKillop equalised after 56 minutes and Aberdeen press reports viewed the replay with trepidation.
“This was the period before most of Morton’s future internationalists returned from military service, so there was no [Jimmy] Cowan, [Tommy] Orr or [Billy] Campbell.
“But Billy Steel played in his last few months as a Morton player. The team was: McFeat, Maley, Fyfe, Divers, Aird, Whyte, McKillop, Steel, Henderson, McGarrity, and McInnes. The crowd was 30,150.
“The replay in Greenock was two weeks later on Saturday 8 March and the Morton line-up was exactly the same. The Greenock men were 2-0 down to the Dons at half time, with goals from McCall in the 16th minute and Hamilton on the half hour.
“Morton went for it after that and McKillop scored in the 61st minute. An all-ticket crowd of 18,500 watched breathlessly as they chased the equaliser but it finished 1-2 and Aberdeen progressed.
“The Pittodrie side went all the way to the final beating Hibernian 2-1 to lift the trophy in front of 82,100. Twelve months on, Morton made the final but lost in a replay to Rangers.”
Images: Jonathan Mitchell
