1889 Scottish Cup Final
| Event | 1888–89 Scottish Cup | ||||||
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| Date | 2 February 1889 | ||||||
| Venue | Hampden Park, Glasgow | ||||||
| Referee | Charles Campbell | ||||||
| Attendance | 18,000 | ||||||
| Weather | Snow showers | ||||||
| Replay | |||||||
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| Date | 9 February 1889 | ||||||
| Venue | Hampden Park, Glasgow | ||||||
| Referee | Charles Campbell | ||||||
| Attendance | 16,000 | ||||||
| Weather | Fine | ||||||
The 1889 Scottish Cup Final, colloquially known as the Snow final, was a football match played on 2 February 1889 at Hampden Park in Glasgow and was the final of the 16th staging of the Scottish Cup. Celtic and Third Lanark contested the match.
Third Lanark won the match 3–0. Due to the poor conditions and the unplayable nature of the pitch through snow, the match was ordered to be replayed the following week on 9 February 1889, where Third Lanark won again with a 2–1 victory.
The match was Third Lanark's first Scottish Cup and in Celtic's inaugural season it was their first appearance in the Scottish Cup final.
Snow showers and strong winds had affected Glasgow on 2 February 1889. Around 11 am the officials decided that although there was a light covering of snow, the ground was playable. However, further heavy snow showers continued into the afternoon and by the time kick-off came, the pitch was ankle deep. It was decided that the match should be played, but both teams played under protest and agreed that, as the pitch was unplayable, the match would be treated as a friendly. The players threw snowballs at each other as they ran onto the pitch.
With the wind at their backs, Celtic made most of the early pressure, but despite that went a goal down on the 20th minute after Johnstone centred to Marshall to give Third Lanark the lead. In the second half Third Lanark had most of the pressure and went 2–0 up after Celtic goalkeeper Kelly dropped the snow-covered ball to let John Oswald score. Third Lanark continued to dominate the match and Hannah wrapped the game up for them with a third goal a minute from time.
The match attendance of 18,000 was a record for Scottish football at the time.
Two days later, on 4 February 1889, a special meeting of the Scottish Football Association was held to discuss the match. Both teams claimed that prior to the match they had agreed that because of the poor playing conditions it would be played as a friendly. Although a signed document was produced to show that the teams had agreed to play the match as a friendly, it was challenged by some members. Airdrieonians representative Mr Reid moved that the agreement should not be recognised and the result should stand. The referee, Charles Campbell, and his umpires were then questioned and stated that the ground had been unplayable. Following this admission it was unanimously agreed that the tie be replayed the following Saturday.
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