The 1986 Tennent's Sixes was the third staging of the Tennent's Sixes and the first held at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) in Glasgow. It took place on 19 and 20 January 1986.
Ten clubs entered. Celtic and Rangers were absent, with First Division club Dumbarton and English side Manchester City joining eight clubs from the 1985–86 Scottish Premier Division. Aberdeen won the tournament for the first time, beating St Mirren 3–0 in the final. Ian Porteous was the leading scorer with four goals.
Format The ten clubs were split into two groups of five. Each team played the other four clubs in its group, with two points awarded for a win. Matches which finished level were decided by a penalty shoot-out, and the shoot-out winner received the points. The top two teams in each group progressed to the semi-finals.
The opening day was divided into afternoon and evening sessions, with the remaining group fixtures, semi-finals and final played on 20 January.
Group stage
Group 1
Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Dumbarton 4 4 0 8 0 +8 8 St Mirren 4 3 1 7 5 +2 6 Dundee 4 2 2 5 3 +2 4 Manchester City 4 1 3 4 11 −7 2 Heart of Midlothian 4 0 4 5 10 −5 0
Team Score Team Date Manchester City 2–1 Heart of Midlothian 19 January 1986 Dumbarton 1–0 St Mirren 19 January 1986 Dundee 1–1Dundee won 4–3 on penalties Heart of Midlothian 19 January 1986 St Mirren 2–1 Manchester City 19 January 1986 Dumbarton 0–0Dumbarton won 4–3 on penalties Dundee 19 January 1986 St Mirren 4–3 Heart of Midlothian 19 January 1986 Dumbarton 4–0 Manchester City 19 January 1986 St Mirren 1–0 Dundee 19 January 1986 Dumbarton 3–0 Heart of Midlothian 20 January 1986 Dundee 4–1 Manchester City 20 January 1986
Manchester City won their opening match against Hearts but then lost their remaining three fixtures, including a 4–0 defeat by Dumbarton and a 4–1 loss to Dundee.
Group 2
Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Aberdeen 4 3 1 6 2 +4 6 Hibernian 4 3 1 2 1 +1 6 Clydebank 4 3 1 4 4 0 6 Dundee United 4 1 3 4 7 −3 2 Motherwell 4 0 4 3 5 −2 0
Team Score Team Date Clydebank 2–1 Dundee United 19 January 1986 Aberdeen 0–0Hibernian won 4–3 on penalties Hibernian 19 January 1986 Clydebank 1–1Clydebank won 4–3 on penalties Motherwell 19 January 1986 Hibernian 2–0 Dundee United 19 January 1986 Aberdeen 2–0 Clydebank 19 January 1986 Dundee United 2–1 Motherwell 19 January 1986 Clydebank 1–0 Hibernian 19 January 1986 Aberdeen 2–1 Motherwell 19 January 1986 Aberdeen 2–1 Dundee United 20 January 1986 Hibernian 0–0Hibernian won 6–5 on penalties Motherwell 20 January 1986
The group results, standings and shoot-out outcomes are recorded by the Scottish Football Historical Archive.
Knockout stage
Semi-finals
Team Score Team Date Aberdeen 1–0 Dumbarton 20 January 1986 St Mirren 3–0 Hibernian 20 January 1986
Aberdeen reached the final after a 1–0 win over Dumbarton, while St Mirren defeated Hibernian 3–0.
Final
Team Score Team Date Aberdeen 3–0 St Mirren 20 January 1986
John McMaster scored once and Porteous twice as Aberdeen won their first Tennent's Sixes title. The final was watched by 5,200 spectators.
Aberdeen's squad consisted of Jim Leighton, McMaster, Brian Mitchell, Neil Simpson, Brian Grant, captain Billy Stark, Ian Angus, Steve Gray, Joe Miller and Porteous.
Officiating The use of the sin bin during Aberdeen's two knockout matches attracted criticism in contemporary reporting. Three Dumbarton players were sin-binned during the semi-final, while two St Mirren players received the same penalty in the final.
The trophy was presented to Aberdeen manager Alex Ferguson and Stark.
References
External links Tennent's Soccer Sixes at the Scottish Football Historical Archive