Aberdeen's breakout Scottish Cup glory hero Jack Milne reflects on 'the best day of my life'

Press and Journal

28-05-2025

'It's the best day of my life.' – Aberdeen defender Jack Milne's words sum up perfectly the feeling he, his team-mates and no doubt thousands of Dons fans had following Saturday's Scottish Cup glory against Celtic at Hampden.
In his first start in the competition, Milne – the surprise choice of manager Jimmy Thelin to play in a three-man defence – did not led the Dons boss down as he produced a magnificent display to help bring the cup back to the Granite City.
He is only 22, but Milne, a proud Aberdonian, knows the importance of what they have achieved.
He said: 'I honestly can't put it into words – it's the best day of my life.
'It's the club that my family and I, and all my friends, have grown up supporting, and to go and win this, it's just incredible.
'It means everything to all of us. We know the history of the club.
'It's a massive club and that comes with responsibility and pressure – but pressure is privilege, and we turned up and made history.'
Milne had hoped he would play in the final but did not know for sure until Saturday when the team was announced.
Perhaps it was for the best, as the late call ensured the defender had little time to let nerves take hold.
After all, there was a cup to be won, and focus was required.
Milne said: 'I officially knew I was starting on Saturday, but I had a feeling all week.
'We practised on it all week.
'He said in the meeting, the manager: 'We're going to change it. We're going to change our system, to try and counter what they do.'
'We did a lot of stuff on the shape, kind of tactical stuff and I was doing a lot of that, so I had a bit of an inkling.
'I told mum and dad earlier in the week, I was like: 'Don't get too excited or anything, but I think I might be playing.'
'Saturday was when it was officially confirmed – I just saw the team sheet.
'After the team meeting, I dropped them a text, and they replied with: 'All the best, good luck. Go and do your thing.'
'The feeling was just excitement. I just wanted to go and win the game, that was the most important thing.'
The change in formation from 4-2-3-1 to 3-5-2 was pivotal in Aberdeen's success at Hampden.
Manager Thelin had utilised the same formation for the entire season until his dramatic tactical change at the National Stadium.
Milne said: 'It worked, I would say – from open play, I don't think they really created much.
'I don't think we were too troubled.
'They scored from the set-piece, but apart from that, we defended well.
'I thought, for most of the game, we were pretty comfy, pretty solid.
'We knew a lot of it was going to be us soaking up pressure and them having a lot of possession, but we shifted well, we moved side to side, we defended well, and yeah, we kept them at bay pretty well.
'I think that's down to all the boys and the manager as well, and the staff – the way they set us up.
'At half-time, the chat was: 'We're still in this, keep calm.'
'There's been times where in the game – like the one (against Celtic) a few weeks ago – there was one goal in it and we've come out for the second half and then lost a sloppy goal, and another sloppy goal, and been out of the game.
'We just knew we had to keep it at one, stay in the game and try and hit them on the counter – and that's what we did.'
The Dons and Celtic were tied at 1-1 after 90 exhausting, exhilarating minutes, but as much as he wanted to continue, Milne's race was run as he was duly replaced four minutes into extra-time.
Cramp had taken hold and Milne had nothing left to give.
He said: 'I haven't played as much football recently and I was completely gone by the 90th minute.
'It was one of those moments where I had to make a decision.
'I was thinking: 'I'm not moving very quickly here.'
'I was running like I was in quicksand, so I just knew that was me done.'
A break, and watching from the sidelines, proved to be a torturous – and at times unbearable – experience for the young defender.
Milne had come off the bench to net his spot-kick in the penalty shootout defeat by the Hoops in the 2024 Scottish Cup semi-final following a 3-3 draw.
But he says the role of nervous spectator was far more nerve-wracking.
Milne said: 'Honestly, I don't know why, but it felt different this year.
'When it went to penalties, I was so confident.
'I was confident in (goalkeeper) Dimi (Mitov), I was confident in the boys stepping up.
'I just had a feeling that it was going to go our way, and all the lads that stepped up showed great composure – they were calm and all of them did brilliantly, while Dimi with his two saves was fantastic.
'To be honest, it was harder standing watching. Horrible – I couldn't stomach it.
'I felt sick, I couldn't watch the penalties. I was looking at the floor. Looking everywhere but the goal.
'I was more comfortable last year in the semi taking one.
'It was horrible to watch. Some of them I couldn't watch, but that last one was incredible.'
The relief, quickly turned to euphoria for everyone as Hampden became a sea of red joy.
For Milne, it was the realisation of a moment he and his team-mates had dreamed about coming true.
He said: 'I shared my room with Dante (Polvara), and I said to him: 'Look, this is our moment.'
'All of us, every single player in there believed that we could go and win the game.
'I know a lot of people didn't. They thought we were going to get turned over, but we turned up and proved a point.'
Cup glory has made memories which will last a lifetime, but Aberdeen's Scottish Cup victory also brings guaranteed European group stage football next season.
Milne is already looking forward to that added bonus.
He said: 'We're delighted with that. I think that was our objective at the start of the season.
'I know we technically got European football with fifth place in the qualifiers, but to go and make sure we're guaranteed Europe is special – that was our objective.
'We knew what we wanted to do. As soon as we won that semi-final and we were in for this, it's always been in the back of our minds.
'We were disappointed with the way the league ended, but to win this is just incredible.'