The 1987 Tennent's Sixes was held at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) in Glasgow on 18 and 19 January 1987. It was the fourth Tennent's Sixes and the second held at the SECC. All 12 clubs in the 1986–87 Scottish Premier Division entered.
Aberdeen retained the trophy with a 4–3 win over Heart of Midlothian in the final. Hearts forward John Robertson scored ten goals during the tournament, more than any other player.
Format Four three-team groups produced eight quarter-finalists, with the top two clubs in each section progressing. Teams played twice in the group stage and received two points for a win. A penalty shoot-out settled any match which remained level after normal time.
The group fixtures were played over two halves of seven and a half minutes. From the quarter-finals onwards, each half lasted ten minutes.
Group stage
Group 1
Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Aberdeen 2 2 0 9 2 +7 4 Hamilton Academical 2 1 1 6 7 −1 2 Hibernian 2 0 2 3 9 −6 0
Team Score Team Date Aberdeen 5–1 Hamilton Academical 18 January 1987 Hamilton Academical 5–2 Hibernian 18 January 1987 Aberdeen 4–1 Hibernian 18 January 1987
Group 2
Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Dundee 2 2 0 7 5 +2 4 Motherwell 2 1 1 6 5 +1 2 Rangers 2 0 2 5 8 −3 0
Team Score Team Date Dundee 4–3 Rangers 18 January 1987 Motherwell 4–2 Rangers 18 January 1987 Dundee 3–2 Motherwell 18 January 1987
Group 3
Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Heart of Midlothian 2 2 0 10 6 +4 4 Dundee United 2 1 1 7 7 0 2 Clydebank 2 0 2 4 8 −4 0
Team Score Team Date Heart of Midlothian 5–2 Clydebank 18 January 1987 Dundee United 3–2 Clydebank 18 January 1987 Heart of Midlothian 5–4 Dundee United 18 January 1987
Group 4
Team Pld W L GF GA GD Pts Celtic 2 2 0 9 3 +6 4 Falkirk 2 1 1 3 7 −4 2 St Mirren 2 0 2 4 6 −2 0
Team Score Team Date Celtic 6–0 Falkirk 18 January 1987 Falkirk 3–1 St Mirren 18 January 1987 Celtic 3–3Celtic won 3–2 on penalties St Mirren 18 January 1987
The group results and penalty shoot-out outcome are recorded by the Scottish Football Historical Archive.
Knockout stage
Quarter-finals
Team Score Team Date Aberdeen 3–1 Falkirk 19 January 1987 Dundee 2–1 Dundee United 19 January 1987 Heart of Midlothian 3–3Hearts won on penalties Motherwell 19 January 1987 Hamilton Academical 3–1 Celtic 19 January 1987
Semi-finals
Team Score Team Date Heart of Midlothian 8–1 Dundee 19 January 1987 Aberdeen 1–0 Hamilton Academical 19 January 1987
Aberdeen's semi-final was settled in the closing seconds by captain Alex McLeish.
Final
Team Score Team Date Aberdeen 4–3 Heart of Midlothian 19 January 1987
Gary Mackay scored twice for Hearts, opening the scoring after 28 seconds, and John Robertson supplied their other goal. Hearts led 2–0 and later 3–1, but Aberdeen recovered through Paul Wright and Neil Simpson. Wright scored three of Aberdeen's four goals, completing his hat-trick with the winner two minutes from the end.
Jimmy Sandison and Kenny Black spent the closing seconds in the sin bin. The victory was Ian Porterfield's first trophy as Aberdeen manager and gave the club a second successive Tennent's Sixes title, following their 1986 win under Alex Ferguson. Porterfield and captain McLeish received the trophy.
A crowd of 7,000 watched the final.
Prize money All 12 clubs received £8,000 for entering. Losing quarter-finalists received another £500, losing semi-finalists £1,000, the runners-up £1,500 and the winners £3,000. There was also a £1,000 prize for the tournament's highest-scoring club.
Hearts took the goalscoring prize after scoring 24 times. Aberdeen's first prize brought their tournament payment to £11,000; Hearts received £9,500 as runners-up before their separate £1,000 goalscoring award.
References
External links Tennent's Soccer Sixes at the Scottish Football Historical Archive 1987 tournament programme at Flickr