Jamie McGrath is eager for more cup success, hoping to bring the League Cup to Leith following his success up north.
The midfielder lifted the Scottish Cup with Aberdeen in 2025, having already signed a pre-contract agreement with the Edinburgh side. McGrath is now hoping to achieve something similar in December’s cup final against Rangers.
McGrath, who didn’t feature in the final due to injury, watched on as his side went on to defeat Celtic at Hampden, bringing the trophy back to Aberdeen. The Dons lifted the trophy for the first time in 35 years.
“It’s still the best few days of my life,” McGrath insisted. “Winning the Scottish Cup, it’s amazing. The scenes afterwards. Obviously, it had a knock-on effect, and the boys [at Hibs] didn’t let me forget about it afterwards! You’re caught up in the moment. Everybody’s there, supporting your family and everything.
“To win a Scottish Cup is special. We certainly enjoyed the celebrations. I don’t think any of the boys who weren’t in the squad got one (a medal). I’ll have to try and get a replica somewhere.”
McGrath, who was a second-half substitute, is dreaming of becoming a hero in Edinburgh as he looks to bring similar success to the Easter Road side. The midfielder reflected on how hard he tried to secure a place in the final after suffering an injury setback just weeks beforehand.
McGrath said: “I remember I knew I was goosed on the Thursday. I felt my calf and said to the gaffer (Thelin), ‘Can I try to train on Friday?’ He was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll give you a chance.’ I think you could see straight away that I couldn’t move. I was just trying to get on the bench. He had to pull me after. He just said, ‘Listen, I don’t think you’re right.’ It was probably the worst news I’ve had, missing a cup final. It didn’t matter, though, in the end. The boys did the job, and we partied for days. It was a special few days.”
McGrath is hoping to make the team sheet for the final and avoid a setback similar to the one he suffered while playing for Jimmy Thelin’s side.
He said: “Of course, everybody will be. Hopefully, we’ll have a fit and healthy squad. I think we’re close to getting a lot of boys back as well. Everybody will be chomping at the bit. It’s a cup final. You’ll always remember it when you retire. Everybody will be raring to go.”
The Scottish Cup winner was confident it wouldn’t be long before things really got going, with the derby semi-final victory marking the first win of David Gray’s successor’s stint in Edinburgh.
“I think we played really well during midweek,” the Hibs player insisted. “We showed similar kinds of traits to what we’d done against St Mirren midweek, but we just didn’t get that win. I think we just have to stop conceding those sloppy goals.
“We’re working very hard to eradicate them. We’ll obviously look at it now on Monday. If we do that, we’ll give ourselves a really good platform to win games because, at times, we control large spells of the game.
“The pleasing thing was coming from a goal behind today because it’s something that we’re aware we haven’t done in quite a while. To do that when it matters most, in a cup semi-final against your nearest and dearest, it’s great.”
