A major honour for the Dons had been a long time coming.

They had last won the Scottish Cup in 1947, and the Scottish League Cup in 1956.

On April 11, 1970 they beat Celtic to take the Scottish Cup and were rewarded with an unprecedented welcome home in Aberdeen.

Three mile welcome in Aberdeen after Scottish Cup victory

The welcome home for the team that took the Scottish Cup from Celtic was spread over three miles, from the city boundary to the Town House and then to Pittodrie Stadium.

It became an occasion which reflected the pride of the community, reported the P&J.

It was estimated that some 50,000 people lined Union Street, nearly half that total in the vicinity of the Town House, where Lord Provost Robert S Lennox, who had seen the Hampden game said: “In the conception and execution of the game the Dons were far superior. Yesterday’s victory was not only a triumph for Aberdeen, but, of perhaps greater significance, it was a victory for football in Scotland.”

The crowds brought traffic to a halt in Union Street and thousands more took up vantage points all along the route from the Bridge of Dee, Holburn Street, King Street and finally Pittodrie.

A red and white welcome for their heroes

These lines from the P&J’s front page certainly puts the day in its contemporary context: “Ecstatic supporters met their heroes wearing and wielding every conceivable form of red and white device and adornment.

“There were scarves, hats, jerseys, jackets, ties, toories, skirts and dresses.

“Parents dressed their youngsters in complete red and white outfits — from red shoes to ribbons in their hair.

“Long-haired lads wore their scarves Red Indian-style around their foreheads.

“A few skinheads even donned red and white braces. They carried pennants, placards, banners and posters.

“Many had cameras and some even sported tape-recorders.

“From rooftops, windows, phone box tops, from every vantage point they roared their acclaim.”

Extra police manned the crush barriers outside the Town House where the first of the crowd had begun to congregate almost three hours before the team were due.

Things nearly went horribly wrong as the crush got tighter, and the police contingent had to push spectators back.

Some got squeezed, one or two fainted, and children screamed in fear and were lifted by the police to safety.

The approach of the team bus was a signal for almost frenzied excitement.

Cheers, cheers, cheers

The barriers almost burst, but eventually a way was cleared and it was cheers, cheers and more cheers as manager Eddie Turnbull and his players held aloft the sparkling Scottish Cup, back in Aberdeen after so many years.

“We want Derek”, roared the crowd and screamed their tribute as the two-goal scorer Derek McKay took over the trophy.

With equal zest they gave the Aberdeen manager “Happy Birthday”.

At Pittodrie thousands had assembled, many in the expectation of getting into the ground and seeing the victors do a lap of honour.

Toast to Mr Turnbull

In the pavilion there was a champagne toast to Mr Turnbull from the players and management.

Of Aberdeen’s welcome home, the manager said: “This is the sort of thing that makes it all worth while. I am really at a loss for words to describe it all. So are the boys. We didn’t really expect a reception on such a scale.”

Stonehaven got the first view of the cup when the Dons’ bus made an unscheduled stop at the Market Square.

Stonehaven stop

This was in a response to a request which the police radioed from Provost John Stewart to a patrol car meeting the victors’ transport at Upper Northwater Bridge on the Kincardine-Angus border.

The provost, Baillie James Carnegie and other councillors entered the bus and offered their congratulations.

And a crowd of several hundred cheered when skipper Martin Buchan showed off the cup.

Proudest family in the NE

No doubt about the proudest family in Banffshire last night —the McKays of 69 Gellymill Street, Macduff.

Son Derek was the Dons two-goal hero, and his fisherman dad, Archie McKay, and 16 year old brother, Kenneth, were at Hampden to see his triumph.

Mr McKay was once Rangers daft but now a Dons supporter: “What a game! And what a thrill to see the boy playing so well. I saw him after the game and he was just as excited, especially with scoring two goals at Hampden. He introduced me to some of the Aberdeen team.”

Derek’s mother listened to the match on the radio with relatives in Bishopbriggs. “I’m still hoarse with shouting. When Derek scored his first goal, all the neighbours came rushing in to the house to congratulate me. And this was in Glasgow!”

Clark’s house decked

For Dons goalkeeper Bobby Clark there was a second ‘reception committee’ waiting for him when he returned home from Pittodrie yesterday.

Unknown to him, about a dozen neighbours around his Milltimber home organised their own special welcome home.

When Bobby arrived home with his wife, the front of his house was decked in red and white bunting, not to mention a red flag flying from his television aerial.

Last night some of Bobby’s neighbours said: “Some of the lads got together and organised some bunting and coloured sheets. We wanted to say our own well done.”

Third time lucky for Jim

Probably one of the happiest and proudest men at Hampden on Saturday, the P&J asserted, was 75-year-old Aberdonian émigré James Mutch, who had travelled 3,500 miles from his home in Long Island NY specially to watch Aberdeen win the Scottish Cup.

It was a case of ‘third time lucky’ for Mr Mutch, for he saw the Dons lose to St Mirren in 1959 and to Celtic in 1967.

“I predicted they would win,” Mr Mutch told the P&J with satisfaction.