Tennents' Sixes
| Founded | 1984 |
|---|---|
| Region | Scotland (SFA) |
| Number of teams | Usually 10 |
| Current champions | Partick Thistle |
| Most successful club(s) | Aberdeen, Heart of Midlothian, Rangers (twice each) |
| Television broadcasters | STV |
The Tennents' Sixes was an annual indoor football tournament contested each January by senior football clubs from Scotland (along with some English guests) between 1984 and 1993. The tournament was sponsored by Tennent Caledonian Breweries and organised by the Scottish Football Association. When Tennent Caledonian Breweries withdrew their sponsorship after the 1993 event, the Sixes was discontinued.
The format used was dependent on the number of teams participating: in most cases 10 teams were involved and would be drawn into 2 groups of 5 who would play each other once. From there, the first and second-placed teams from each group would contest the knockout stages, consisting of two semi-finals and a final.
The teams involved were usually from the Scottish Football League Premier Division, but occasionally guest participants from the lower divisions of the Scottish Football League were invited along with English clubs Nottingham Forest and Manchester City.
The inaugural tournament was contested at Coasters Arena in Falkirk in 1984. The following year it took place at Ingliston Showground near Edinburgh, and all subsequent tournaments were played at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow.
No individual team dominated the event over its history with Aberdeen, Heart of Midlothian and Rangers all winning the tournament twice each. Motherwell were beaten finalists on 3 occasions.
The final team to win the Tennents Sixes was Partick Thistle; to this day they still have the trophy displayed in the Firhill trophy cabinet.
The rules of play evolved as the years progressed, and the following summary refers to the rules used during the final competition in 1993. Many were similar to indoor soccer in America, which in turn was developed with many influences, such as the use of a penalty box and making the pitch the same size as a NHL rink, from ice hockey.
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