Tears, cheers & beers as 100,000 Aberdeen fans greet heroes

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin called it all "a little bit surrealistic".

Captain Graeme Shinnie spoke with glistening eyes about taking an open-topped bus down a heaving street where he used to shop as a child.

And chairman Dave Cormack wondered whether he might have been "swinging off the chandeliers" in celebration had it happened a few years before now.

But perhaps Scottish Cup final game-changer Shayden Morris encapsulated a remarkable afternoon in the Granite City most succinctly.

"This is just unreal man," the Englishman said, awestruck at the sight of close to 100,000 Aberdeen fans engulfing the city's streets to welcome home their Hampden heroes.

Morris reckons it was "the best day of our lives" and few of his team-mates would disagree, judging by the smiles on their bleary faces as they hung off the slow-moving bus and cavorted on the Town House balcony.

A "couple of the boys are hanging", confirmed midfielder Dante Polvara when asked about the riotous celebrations both on the road back north from Glasgow and when Aberdeen party arrived home.

Captain Shinnie's crackly voice hinted it had been a big one. He reckoned he might have got "a couple of hours sleep".

As a local boy, he already understood what the likes of Morris and Polvara have learned this weekend, but even the Aberdonian was taken aback by what he experienced on Sunday.

"I always knew that this was possible if you won a trophy for this club," the 33-year-old said of the city centre scenes. "But I didn't expect it to be as good as what it is.

"This is what I was always desperate to do. It's phenomenal. You've shared it with your team-mates but now you're sharing it with the city.

"There are close to 100,000 fans and you can see what it means to all of them. It's a very special weekend."

Cormack has been part of crowds hailing Aberdeen trophy successes in the 1980s, so also had an inkling about what Sunday's celebrations would hold.

"This is very special," he said. "It's supposed to be raining today and the sun has come out as well. Maybe if I was 40 I might have been swinging off the chandeliers."

The chairman also paid tribute to Thelin, whose debut season at the club has been one of the most polarised that anyone could have imagined.

Cormack insisted the Swede is at Pittodrie for the long term and is "not a job-hopper", should his success attract interest from elsewhere.

Certainly, days like this should help convince Thelin to stay where he is.

"It's been unbelievable. Much, much bigger than I thought," he said, looking every inch his a man who had enjoyed his evening.

"You imagine what's going to happen but it was much, much bigger than that. It was actually a little bit surrealistic.

"I'm so happy for all these people and all the effort they have given us the whole season, travelling and the tough times. They have been there every time and now they can celebrate together."

When Aberdeen last won the Scottish Cup in 1990, I was on a bus embarking on a school trip to Germany, listening to it all unfold on my pocket radio.

So being at the celebrations really hammered home how long – too long – it has been since the club last won this trophy, and what it means to the city.

The Dons fans lined the streets in their thousands - well into the tens of thousands, in fact - as the open-top bus weaved its way through the city centre.

They were in fine voice too, with 'Shinnie, he is one of our own' and the now trademark 'Shady Mo' song being among the choruses belted out as the bus crawled through the throng that filled the granite streets.

Prior to the final, there was a mood of trepidation, and very little expectation among the Red Army.

What a difference a day can make – this was a scene of jubilation and celebration.

It was a fitting reception for the Aberdeen players and staff, who now have their names etched in to the club's history books.

As they took it in turns to hold the trophy aloft from the balcony at the Town House at the Castlegate end of Union Street, each lift was greeted with delirious joy.

Of course, the challenge will be to build on this success.

But this was about savouring the moment, one which saw a city and its football team united as one.

Fans lined the streets to see the bus go down Union Street, along Union Terrace and Schoolhill before making its way onto Broad Street.

Chris Nicholl, 30, who was at the game, said the experience was "amazing".

"It was 35 years of emotion held in for my dad," he said.

His wife Leah, 30, added: "He didn't even cry for our wedding!"

The win was especially sweet for a father and son who travelled from Australia to support Aberdeen.

Allan McCarlie, 51, and his 18-year-old son Jamie flew more than 10,000 miles (16,000km) from Sydney for the match on Saturday.

They admitted beforehand people thought they were making a pointless long journey as Celtic were heavy favourites.

"I was told I was mad," Allan said afterwards. "Spending so much money to travel from Sydney.

"But [now] I am the richest man in the world - priceless memories."