The
Tennents' Sixes was an annual
indoor football tournament contested each
January by Scottish senior football clubs, usually from the (then)
Premier
Division - but occasionally with guest participants from the
lower divisions of the
Scottish
Football League, and English clubs Nottingham Forest and
Manchester City
[120692] - 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
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 2 times each. Motherwell were beaten finalists on 4
occasions.
The final
team to win the Tennents Sixes was Partick Thistle and to this day
they still have the trophy displayed in the Firhill
trophy cabinet.
Rules
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.
- A specially constructed artificial field, measuring
approximately 200' by 85', with ice
hockey-style boards topped with acrylic glass to a height of 7' was
used. Goals were set into the walls.
- Squads consisted of up to 12 players, with no more than 6 on
the field. Substitutions were unlimited and could be made at any
time.
- Matches were played in 2 halves of 7 minutes 30 seconds during
the first round and 2 halves of 10 minutes during the knockout
stages. At the end of all tied matches, even during the group
phase, a penalty shoot-out would be held. A win on penalties in the
group phase was worth 2 points as opposed to the 3 gained by
winning after regulation time.
- Two yellow lines separated the field into thirds. Players had
to be inside this line in order to shoot on goal, and a three line
pass rule (similar to ice hockey's two
line pass rule) was in effect.
- The goal area at each end was reserved for the sole use of the
goalkeeper defending it. If an
outfield player from the same team deliberately infringed on it a
penalty kick would be awarded to the opposing team.
- Goalkeepers could only hold on to the ball for six seconds.
This was a
particularly interesting situation as FIFA
would later
adopt this rule for conventional association football.
- Teams were required to maintain a presence of at least 2
players in the opponents' half (1 player prior to 1991) or a
penalty kick would be awarded to the opposing team.
- Players shown the yellow card would
be dispatched to the Sin Bin for 2 minutes.
Aside from the normal offences, players could receive a yellow card
for the Sixes-specific offence of deliberately kicking the ball
over the perimeter wall to waste time.
Winners
See also
- Masters
football: A relatively similar competition for Players over 35
representing British clubs they play for, which has an annual heat
at the Braehead
Arena
known as the Scottish Masters.
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