Celtic turned the tables on Rangers to win the final of the revived Tennent’s Sixes on Sunday night, beating their Glasgow rivals 5-4 at Braehead Arena just a day after being on the end of a 7-1 defeat by the same opponents in the group stage.
The tournament was staged for retired players from all 12 Premiership teams, with the SPFL bringing back a competition that had previously taken place between first teams from 1984 to 1993. Despite the veterans’ format, the closing stages produced reactions in keeping with any major trophy final.
Celtic’s Charlie Mulgrew admitted he got carried away in his celebrations, ignoring handshake attempts from the Rangers captain, Andy Halliday, in order to salute the crowd, and exchanging words with the Rangers manager, Barry Ferguson.
Speaking to Premier Sports once he had calmed only slightly, the 40-year-old said: “A lot of adrenaline was flowing, a few nasty tackles. I mean, I know it was the Tennent’s Sixes, but you get caught up in the moment. You don’t like to get beat from Rangers, our closest rivals, 7-1, so that hurt. We had a few beers, a wee chat, a wee night out, so we managed to turn it around. We got a few things ironed out, although I was a wee bit rough in the morning.” He added: “It feels like I’ve won an actual, real cup. It’s mental. I got a bit carried away at the end there but it builds up. There was a lot of emotion in that. Sometimes that’s what happens, it spills over.” Mulgrew also described being nutmegged a couple of times by Martyn Waghorn and exchanging words with him before firing into a few tackles, crediting his side’s spirit for the win.
There were angry scenes in the Rangers dressing room afterwards. In a video leaked on social media, Kirk Broadfoot appears to be heavily criticising the goalkeeper Lee Robinson.
Celtic’s manager, Tom Boyd, said he had been “pretty angry” with his players on Saturday night and that the victory “feels like winning the league”. His assistant, Simon Donnelly, admitted the squad had been “embarrassed” by the previous day’s heavy defeat and told Celtic Player after the final: “It’s against Rangers, so it’s as if it’s a Scottish Cup final there. That’s the feeling. You could play Rangers at tiddlywinks and you’d still want to win.”