TO paraphrase the old Coronation Cup song, the nose on my friend Bob’s face is a bright shade of blue. It shines particularly brightly following any victory by his team against us.

We have a peculiar ritual that started after the 2003 League Cup final. This was the one where John Hartson’s equalising goal was adjudged offside when pictures later showed he was about a yard on.

It was one of those very few occasions when you could tell with the naked eye that he was onside, having been played in at the perfect moment by Henrik Larsson’s pass.

You hate to use the word ‘cheat’ on these occasions, preferring the old dissimulation of ‘honest mistake’ but you were left to wonder what the linesman thought he had seen when it was clear to everyone at that end of the ground that Hartson was clearly onside.

Bob was ecstatic and texted me with something subtle like “well, you can stick your treble up your arse now.” I responded in what I thought was a mature and thoughtful manner with: “Mickey Mouse cup anyway.”

These juvenile exchanges have since formed a ritual that we observe following cup games between Celtic and Rangers. They are a means of taking the edge off a defeat and beginning the recovery process.

Recently, we’ve extended it to include the Europa League and sometimes games where either of our teams have prevailed (or not) against other sides in cup games. We don’t routinely indulge in it, so that we can keep it fresh.

Bob has thus far been silent this season, forgoing even the simple pleasure of mocking me after our failure to progress from this season’s Europe League group. I think he knows that we played well against some very difficult opponents. I have a sense though, that no matter the outcome of the League Cup final against Hibs tomorrow he’ll be messaging me again. Win or lose it’ll be “Mickey Mouse cup anyway.” It works in either event, being either dismissive or sarcastic.  

Throughout my youth and well into the 90s the Scottish League Cup in all its sponsors’ brands caused me a lot of pain. My first ever Celtic cup final was Partick Thistle’s incredible 4-1 triumph against us in 1971. I was seven years old then and this was at a time when your young self believed that Celtic were, quite literally, invincible. I was really only there to experience what it felt like actually watching Celtic lift a cup in real life.

We were 4-0 down at half-time and I felt traumatised and panicky. It was like being told that Santa Claus didn’t exist. The first rip had suddenly appeared in the fabric of what had been a warm and secure Celtic-supporting existence. And so, I begged my dad to take me home. Being a man of wretched egalitarianism, he insisted we stay. “I’ve seen Celtic win lots of cups here,” he said. “It’s Thistle’s turn today and they don’t win many, so let’s stay and be part of their big day.”

The following year we were beaten by the best Hibs team I’ve ever seen (which was no consolation). After that, the League Cup became a wrecking ball, seeming to exist solely for the purpose of reminding you of your own mortality or puncturing any momentum Celtic might have built up in the early months of a league season. Sometimes it seems that Celtic in the League Cup existed as a sort of dream factory for artisan teams; providing them with their once-in-a-lifetime moments. Dundee at noon in December, 1973; Raith Rovers in 1994; Kilmarnock in 2012.

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Then there were the semi-final knock-outs and shock early-round defeats to such as Airdrie … and one against Dundee United at Parkhead in 1981. Actually, that one wasn’t such a bad experience. Dundee United were a brilliant side back then and it was a pleasure watching Paul Sturrock and Graeme Payne and Eamonn Bannon and Ralph Milne play outstanding football. At Parkhead that night they destroyed us 3-0 during a season in which Celtic won the league.

I remember Jim McLean, the great Dundee United manager becoming emotional on the BBC after the highlights. What had moved him was the sight and sound of thousands of Celtic supporters applauding his team’s display. It was as good as anything I’ve seen from the best European sides who have displayed their finery here.

The worst experience had to be a 3-2, semi-final defeat against Rangers at Hampden Park in 1978. This was a thrilling match – one of the best I’ve witnessed against our old adversaries. Celtic gave their finest performance of a season that ended with that glorious 4-2 win in May. They were just about superior to a Rangers side who had defeated Juventus and PSV Eindhoven in the European Cup. Rangers played well too, but the occasion was ruined by perhaps the worst display of refereeing I’ve ever witnessed against Celtic. Friends who listened to the match on the radio were struck by the fact that the commentary team had also been rendered almost speechless by some of the referee’s decisions.  

Between 1982 and 1998 Celtic contrived every possible method of failing to win the Scottish League bloody Cup. Yet, now we are in a golden era of League Cup success that mimics that anointed period between 1965 and 1969. I was there when Christopher Julien scored the winner two years ago against Rangers. Yes, of course, we had been out-played, but that just made the triumph all the sweeter. It more than compensated for Rangers in 1978 and 1984 and 1986 and 2002.

And of course it’s not a Mickey Mouse competition. An old newspaper colleague of mine, following our defeat in 2002 rebuked me for trying to dismiss our defeat. “Look, we only get to compete in three domestic trophies every year. Other clubs would love to win this cup. I’m gutted.”

The League Cup trophy is also a very handsome piece of silverware. And when you see Celtic players holding it aloft you’re transported to the 1960s and black and white pictures of Bobby Murdoch and Bobby Lennox and Billy McNeill emerging with it from the old Hampden entrance in their dark suits and green ties and short hair. They helped define the greatest chapter in our history.

And I like that we’re playing Hibs today and it’s the Bertie Auld final. This cup holds special memories for them too.