Celtic and the real loving cup

Andrew H previews the St J cup semi

I used to get the dry boak when confronted by the hackneyed phrase ‘romance of the cup’ – or any derivations thereof. Maybe I’m going soft since being returned to full-time supporter status but when I think about Sunday’s semi-final, and set it in the broader context of Celtic’s relationship with the grand old trophy they will be hoping to move within one game of landing once more, the sense of a love affair is potent.

Our club’s bond with the Scottish Cup is profound, nay transcendent. It makes me go all warm and fuzzy to think about the joy that the competition has provided…stretching back to when an 1892 triumph provided the fledging, but immediately fiercely competitive, Celtic with the first major honour of a glorious history. It can be all-too-easy to become blaise about the possibility of the club claiming yet another Scottish Cup success, reaching another final. God, Celtic’s silverware hegemony in recent times is so overwhelming, it can even seem somewhat matter-of-fact that lifting the trophy this season would secure yet another treble. A sixth inside the past decade would be scarcely believably. Especially to those of us who didn’t witness such a feat in the flesh across the first three decades of their lives.