Tears, cheers & beers as 100,000 Aberdeen fans greet heroes

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin called it each "a small spot surrealistic".

Captain Graeme Shinnie spoke with glistening eyes astir taking an open-topped autobus down a heaving thoroughfare wherever helium utilized to store arsenic a child.

And president Dave Cormack wondered whether helium mightiness person been "swinging disconnected the chandeliers" successful solemnisation had it happened a fewer years earlier now.

But possibly Scottish Cup last game-changer Shayden Morris encapsulated a singular day successful the Granite City astir succinctly.

"This is conscionable unreal man," the Englishman said, awestruck astatine the show of adjacent to 100,000 Aberdeen fans engulfing the city's streets to invited location their Hampden heroes.

Morris reckons it was "the champion time of our lives" and fewer of his team-mates would disagree, judging by the smiles connected their bleary faces arsenic they hung disconnected the slow-moving autobus and cavorted connected the Town House balcony.

A "couple of the boys are hanging", confirmed midfielder Dante Polvara erstwhile asked astir the riotous celebrations some connected the roadworthy backmost northbound from Glasgow and erstwhile Aberdeen enactment arrived home.

Captain Shinnie's crackly dependable hinted it had been a large one. He reckoned helium mightiness person got "a mates of hours sleep".

As a section boy, helium already understood what the likes of Morris and Polvara person learned this weekend, but adjacent the Aberdonian was taken aback by what helium experienced connected Sunday.

"I ever knew that this was imaginable if you won a trophy for this club," the 33-year-old said of the metropolis centre scenes. "But I didn't expect it to beryllium arsenic bully arsenic what it is.

"This is what I was ever hopeless to do. It's phenomenal. You've shared it with your team-mates but present you're sharing it with the city.

"There are adjacent to 100,000 fans and you tin spot what it means to each of them. It's a precise peculiar weekend."

Cormack has been portion of crowds hailing Aberdeen trophy successes successful the 1980s, truthful besides had an inkling astir what Sunday's celebrations would hold.

"This is precise special," helium said. "It's expected to beryllium raining contiguous and the prima has travel retired arsenic well. Maybe if I was 40 I mightiness person been swinging disconnected the chandeliers."

The president besides paid tribute to Thelin, whose debut play astatine the nine has been 1 of the astir polarised that anyone could person imagined.

Cormack insisted the Swede is astatine Pittodrie for the agelong word and is "not a job-hopper", should his occurrence pull involvement from elsewhere.

Certainly, days similar this should assistance person Thelin to enactment wherever helium is.

"It's been unbelievable. Much, overmuch bigger than I thought," helium said, looking each inch his a antheral who had enjoyed his evening.

"You ideate what's going to hap but it was much, overmuch bigger than that. It was really a small spot surrealistic.

"I'm truthful blessed for each these radical and each the effort they person fixed america the full season, travelling and the pugnacious times. They person been determination each clip and present they tin observe together."

When Aberdeen past won the Scottish Cup successful 1990, I was connected a autobus embarking connected a schoolhouse travel to Germany, listening to it each unfold connected my pouch radio.

So being astatine the celebrations truly hammered location however agelong – excessively agelong – it has been since the nine past won this trophy, and what it means to the city.

The Dons fans lined the streets successful their thousands - good into the tens of thousands, successful information - arsenic the open-top autobus weaved its mode done the metropolis centre.

They were successful good dependable too, with 'Shinnie, helium is 1 of our own' and the present trademark 'Shady Mo' opus being among the choruses belted retired arsenic the autobus crawled done the throng that filled the granite streets.

Prior to the final, determination was a temper of trepidation, and precise small anticipation among the Red Army.

What a quality a time tin marque – this was a country of jubilation and celebration.

It was a fitting reception for the Aberdeen players and staff, who present person their names etched successful to the club's past books.

As they took it successful turns to clasp the trophy aloft from the balcony astatine the Town House astatine the Castlegate extremity of Union Street, each assistance was greeted with delirious joy.

Of course, the situation volition beryllium to physique connected this success.

But this was astir savouring the moment, 1 which saw a metropolis and its shot squad agreed arsenic one.

Fans lined the streets to spot the autobus spell down Union Street, on Union Terrace and Schoolhill earlier making its mode onto Broad Street.

Chris Nicholl, 30, who was astatine the game, said the acquisition was "amazing".

"It was 35 years of emotion held successful for my dad," helium said.

His woman Leah, 30, added: "He didn't adjacent outcry for our wedding!"

The triumph was particularly saccharine for a begetter and lad who travelled from Australia to enactment Aberdeen.

Allan McCarlie, 51, and his 18-year-old lad Jamie flew much than 10,000 miles (16,000km) from Sydney for the lucifer connected Saturday.

They admitted beforehand radical thought they were making a pointless agelong travel arsenic Celtic were dense favourites.

"I was told I was mad," Allan said afterwards. "Spending truthful overmuch wealth to question from Sydney.

"But [now] I americium the richest antheral successful the satellite - priceless memories."