Jack MacKenzie reveals the secrets behind Aberdeen’s Scottish Cup shock, including how Jimmy Thelin outfoxed Celtic.

Jack MacKenzie, a Scottish Cup hero, had feared his time at his hometown club would end on a low note. However, he was overjoyed to be a part of Aberdeen’s first trophy win in 35 years.

The defender helped Jimmy Thelin’s team defeat Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic squad on penalties, bringing the trophy back to the Granite.

The massive victory came shortly after one of his lowest points in football, when he sustained a nasty head injury after a seat was allegedly thrown from the Aberdeen section during their Premiership defeat to Dundee United.

He had to be stretchered off the pitch, required several stitches and was left sweating over his cup final position.

MacKenzie made a full recovery for Hampden, and his final act as an Aberdeen player was to take the Cup down the main streets of his hometown, according to Daily Record.

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The 25-year-old explained: “We’d heard a lot about it being 35 years. I’m 25, and lifting it in my final game for the club is a dream come true. There was no better way to end.

“I’ve just had the best time at Aberdeen. I joined the club when I was nine, and I never imagined I’d still be here at 25. To top it off, the cup victory made everything perfect.”

The right-back was the first to receive his medal, and he was the last member of the team to raise the trophy before lowering it to the Hampden turf for the celebrations.

He said, “I just went down the stairs with the trophy and handed it to the chairman. I walked down the stairs with it. I can’t explain what it meant.

“You don’t really understand what it means until you do it. I couldn’t believe we won the penalty shootout, and it took a few days to sink in.

“It’s ridiculous, especially given how the league season ended and us missing out on fourth place.

“It was a huge blow, but winning the cup was the ideal ending. “If I have a better day in football than at Hampden, I will be amazed.”

Aberdeen’s Jack MacKenzie is pictured leading the celebrations during the bus parade

Dimitar Mitov was Celtic’s penalty shootout hero, saving two attempts. MacKenzie joked he was on penalty number twelve.

When Mitov denied Alistair Johnston, Graeme Shinnie collapsed to his knees, the rest of the team raced to their custodian, and MacKenzie dashed for the Red Army.

He said, “No, I ran the opposite direction. I dashed straight to the fans.

“I looked around and saw that everyone had run to Mitov, but my first instinct was to run to the fans. I’m one of them.

“I can’t recall what happened in the next 20 minutes. It was simply incredible. It felt far better than I expected.”

Aberdeen defied the odds and ripped up the form book to win the cup.

They had lost their last four league games, dropped to fifth place, and had suffered four consecutive defeats to Celtic.

MacKenzie admitted that Thelin, their manager, gave them the confidence to succeed.

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The Scotland squad player stated, “I had a feeling we were going to do it, and I believe the entire group had a feeling.

“We had lost those four games and included in that was the defeat to Celtic.

“I have to say that all of the belief came from the manager. He just made us believe that we were going to win.

“We believed we would win the game. We just felt like this was going to be our year.

“We all stepped up when it counted. From Dimi’s save against Maeda to all of the penalties, the quality was unbelievable.”

Shinnie, Jack Milne, and MacKenzie are all Aberdeen boys who understand what it means to the club and the city.

Mackenzie said: “Graeme is from here and Jack and I have been here since we were very young.

“To take the Scottish Cup back to your home city, it doesn’t get any better. I felt 10 feet tall. It cannot get any better.

“It means a little bit more, but all the foreign boys have joined the club as well. It’s like a real family and an official Aberdeen team.”

On Sunday, 100,000 fans turned Aberdeen’s city centre into a sea of red and white, demonstrating the magnitude of this cup victory.

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