The 1988 Tennent's Sixes, the fifth staging of the Tennent's Sixes, was played at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) in Glasgow on 24 and 25 January 1988. It was the third successive edition held at the venue.
Rangers declined to enter, so the other eleven clubs from the 1987–88 Scottish Premier Division were joined by Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest. Dundee beat Motherwell 3–2 in the final for their first tournament win. They scored 22 goals across five matches, while Alan Lawrence finished as leading scorer with five.
Format Four groups of three were used, with each club playing twice. A win was worth two points and drawn group matches were settled by penalty shoot-outs. Eight clubs progressed, with the top two in each section qualifying for the quarter-finals.
Dundee assistant manager Drew Jarvie took charge of the side for the tournament. Goalkeeper Bobby Geddes captained their ten-man squad.
Group stage Dundee, Motherwell, St Mirren, Hibernian, Dunfermline Athletic, Nottingham Forest, Dundee United and Aberdeen qualified for the quarter-finals. Celtic finished level on points with Hibernian and Dunfermline Athletic in Group 3 but were eliminated on goal difference. The group results and shoot-out outcome are also recorded by the Scottish Football Historical Archive.
Group 1
Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Dundee 2 2 0 11 4 +7 4 Aberdeen 2 1 1 5 3 +2 2 Morton 2 0 2 4 13 −9 0
Team Score Team Date Aberdeen 4–1 Morton 24 January 1988 Dundee 2–1 Aberdeen 24 January 1988 Dundee 9–3 Morton 24 January 1988
Group 2
Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Motherwell 2 1 1 2 0 +2 2 St Mirren 2 1 1 5 6 −1 2 Heart of Midlothian 2 1 1 4 5 −1 2
Team Score Team Date Heart of Midlothian 0–0Hearts won 3–1 on penalties Motherwell 24 January 1988 Motherwell 2–0 St Mirren 24 January 1988 St Mirren 5–4 Heart of Midlothian 24 January 1988
Group 3
Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Hibernian 2 1 1 6 4 +2 2 Dunfermline Athletic 2 1 1 5 5 0 2 Celtic 2 1 1 6 8 −2 2
Team Score Team Date Celtic 4–3 Dunfermline Athletic 24 January 1988 Hibernian 5–2 Celtic 24 January 1988 Dunfermline Athletic 2–1 Hibernian 24 January 1988
Group 4
Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Nottingham Forest 2 2 0 5 2 +3 4 Dundee United 2 1 1 7 4 +3 2 Falkirk 2 0 2 2 8 −6 0
Team Score Team Date Dundee United 6–1 Falkirk 24 January 1988 Nottingham Forest 2–1 Falkirk 24 January 1988 Nottingham Forest 3–1 Dundee United 24 January 1988
Knockout stage
Quarter-finals
Time Team Score Team Date 19:00 Dundee 4–3 Dundee United 25 January 1988 19:25 Motherwell 2–1 Dunfermline Athletic 25 January 1988 19:50 Hibernian 2–2St Mirren won 4–3 on penalties St Mirren 25 January 1988 20:15 Aberdeen 1–1Aberdeen won 4–3 on penalties Nottingham Forest 25 January 1988
Lawrence scored twice in Dundee's 4–3 win over Dundee United, with Stewart Forsyth and Keith Wright also on the scoresheet. Dundee had led 4–1 before United scored twice late in the match. Motherwell's 2–1 victory over Dunfermline Athletic completed the two quarter-finals settled in normal time; St Mirren and Aberdeen went through on penalty shoot-outs.
Semi-finals
Time Team Score Team Date 20:45 Motherwell 4–2 St Mirren 25 January 1988 21:10 Dundee 4–1 Aberdeen 25 January 1988
Dundee's four goals against Aberdeen came from Forsyth, Tommy Coyne, Graham Harvey and Wright. Forsyth's opener was scored shortly before half-time, with the other three coming after the interval.
Final
Time Team Score Team Date 22:00 Dundee 3–2 Motherwell 25 January 1988
Tosh McKinlay opened the scoring after 43 seconds. Harvey and Coyne supplied Dundee's other goals, while Martin McBride and Tommy Philliben scored for Motherwell. The win gave Dundee their first Tennent's Sixes title.
Prize money Dundee received £12,000 as winners and Motherwell £10,500 as runners-up. A further £1,000 was awarded to the highest-scoring side, which also went to Dundee after their 22 goals in five matches.
Morton were reported to have received £9,000 in appearance money for taking part.
Attendance and other events The three sessions at the SECC drew a combined attendance of more than 22,000. Scotsport televised the competition, with Arthur Montford presenting.
Snow in the Midlands affected Nottingham Forest's journey north after their league match at Watford. They reached Glasgow only shortly before the opening session. St Mirren were also delayed, in their case by traffic, and the running order for the opening ceremony had to be altered.
Morton manager Allan McGraw criticised his players after their 9–3 defeat by Dundee and withheld their individual appearance payments, reported as £100 per player.
References
External links Tennent's Soccer Sixes at the Scottish Football Historical Archive 1988 tournament programme at The Celtic Wiki