Was Scottish cup win best ever?

[Speedy]

My immediate thought it I don't really care.

You could argue our win is no bigger than the previous two years (ICT having been formed and climbed from the bottom in 20 odd years - almost like a Gretna without the implosion.). You'll never get a definitive answer though.

[Northernhibee]

The thing that makes it special is that there are so many little stories within it that could be a movie plot all in themselves.

After suffering two major injuries in his career, McGregor signs for Rangers, gets released by them, joins his boyhood heroes and helps them end one of the longest running hoodoos in sporting history against the team that released him.

Conrad Logan suffers a career threatening injury and finds himself out of contract and unable to play for a club. Almost as soon as he returns training he gets a phone call from a Scottish team offering a short term contract. He makes his first appearance in over a year in a semi final of a major cup. He has an incredible performance, saves two penalties and helps his team end the hoodoo in the cup.

Lewis Stevenson - hard working lad, a bit quiet and reserved, ends up as the first player in his only club's history to win both major trophies after years of disappointment.

Alan Stubbs, Taff Holden and John Doolan take their first first team managerial job at a club in crisis with only 8(?) first team players after relegation. They overcome adversity, the loss of Doolan's father days before and end the cup run.

Hibernian overcome the adversity of losing the league cup final and promotion play-offs via last minute goals to beat their rivals in the final via a last minute goal of their own. 150,000 Hibs fans line the streets of Leith to give them a heroes welcome.

There are literally so many stories that could be a movie in themselves. If you wrote it it'd be an Oscar winner.

[Liberal Hibby]

Of course the 2016 Scottish Cup is the greatest tournament ever. The winners broke a 114 year hoodoo, becoming only the second lower tier team (in 15th place) to lift the oldest football trophy in the world. On the way that team defeated only one team lower in the league structure than them and played seven games (including one that went to extra time and penalties) so 11 hours of football (and 4mins!).

The other team from a lower tier to win was East Fife in 1938. They finished 6th in Division 2 (26th place overall). According to Wikipedia they beat Raith Rovers, St Bernards and Kilmarnock to win the cup. However that only covers from the fourth round and they surely would have played in earlier rounds. But they took two games to beat Raith Rovers, three to beat St Bernards and two to beat Kilmarnock (seven games in total). All of whom finished above them in the league. However Killie finished 18th in Division 1 (eight places above East Fife), Raith Rovers won D2 (and got relegated back the following year) and St Bernards 4th in D2 - two places and two points - above East Fife in sixth.

So whether Hibs's path as a lower league team to the cup was more difficult than East Fife's is obviously debatable - but we probably beat much higher ranked teams than East Fife did (although we didn't have to play replays to the end). But East Fife played in front of more people than we did.

But it is clear - almost by definition - that any team from a lower division that wins a national cup will have to beat a majority of team higher in the league than them.