During the 1980s and 90s, the Tenner Bet could name every single participant in an FA Cup final together with the result and even the goalscorers.
As we entered the 2000s, I lost interest in a blur of wins for Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.
From 1992 until 2011 when Manchester City broke the hegemony, just two teams (Everton and Portsmouth) outside that quartet won the cup and my disillusionment with the competition was complete. Back in the good old days growing up in Northern Ireland, one of the highlights of cup final day was the two-minute segments given over to the Scottish Cup final at half-time and after the final whistle. My recollection is that the players were all hairier than their English counterparts and certainly more ginger. That just might have been in the years Aberdeen won, though.
Whisper this in front of Hibernian supporters, but the lustre has gone out of the Scottish Cup in much the same way as it has the English equivalent. Maybe it's just modern football that has ruined things. In the old days you knew where you stood. The cup finals north and south of the border were on the same day and certainly at the end of the season.
The domestic season that is. Now we have Wigan winning the FA Cup (yay! One in the eye for modern football) before we've found out who the Champions League (nee European Cup) winners are – that's 2-1 to modern football. Of course, European Cup/Champions League finals were played on a Wednesday night until some bright spark moved it to a Saturday. And yet it will still be played before the Scottish Cup final which is tomorrow because it cannot clash with a UEFA-organised competition. I make that about 6-1 to modern football. Infernal grumbling aside, it means we've got a couple of big matches to bet on this weekend.
SCOTTISH CUP FINAL
Those nice guys at Oddschecker have done all my work for me and have come up with a couple of interesting lines. Mikael Lustig doesn't score often for Celtic – just three times this season – but the notable point is that two of his goals have come in games against Hibernian.
The Swede was also credited with another in the 2-2 draw at Celtic Park in September but it was later changed to a James McPake own goal. At a best price of 9/1, he's worth a punt to score any time, especially if we look to cover ourselves with a bet on Leigh Griffiths in the same market. If Hibs score it's a fair bet it will be through Griffiths and at 11/4, it's a no-brainer.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
The Tenner Bet is looking at other markets for Bayern Munich versus Borussia Dortmund. They have faced each other three times this season, drawing 1-1 twice in the Bundesliga, while Bayern won a German Cup tie 1-0. That opens up the both teams to score and total goals market but there is little value in either and 3/1 the draw makes most sense. I'll also have some of the 15/2 available about a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes.
THE BET
Four bets in total this week so remember to shop around for the best prices and keep an eye out for whether Lustig starts. Should he miss out for Celtic, then bookmakers will most likely pay non-runner, no bet.
SEASON'S TOTAL
Beauty Parlour was a non-runner in last weekend's Lockinge Stakes so profits remain unaffected – for a week at least. Total: £88.97
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