The skipper got it in the ear because he showed more emotion in lifting the Scottish Cup than his wedding day

Graeme Shinnie admitted he was in the doghouse with his wife because he was in tears after lifting the Scottish Cup.

Mrs Shinnie gave the delighted skipper it in the ear because he hadn’t shown anywhere near the same emotion on their wedding day.

Football-wise, it was a dream come true for the home town boy as he lifted the Scottish Cup and proudly took it down the open top bus parade of Union Street and Aberdeen city centre.

Thousands of fans lined the streets and it was a sea of red and white as the first silverware in 11 years was finally brought home.

Shinnie had never hidden the fact that he wanted to lift a trophy at Aberdeen and you saw what it meant to him as he cried tears of joy as they shared the moment with his wife, kids and family.

He admitted: “I’m not really an emotional person so I got a telling off from my wife because I didn’t get emotional on my wedding day.

“But when Dimi saved that penalty to win the Scottish Cup I couldn’t stop greeting!

“It was a really, really special day.

“Ten years ago my youngest wasn’t born and my eldest was four months, so she won’t remember it.

“I promised them we’d make those memories and it was wonderful.

“My youngest didn’t really care all that much but my eldest took it all in and really enjoyed the day.

“She likes the attention she was getting, it was special to share it with my family.”

“He’s one of our own” echoed around the Granite City streets as Shinnie led his team into the civic reception at the Town House.

Shinnie had spent Saturday night out with his teammates.

First there was the long bus journey which saw the 33-year-old topless, complete with an Aberdeen bucket hat and the Scottish Cup

It was then take up a notch or two when he hit the town and celebrated with the fans.

He said he never had to put his hand in his pocket and insisted that is a perfect night for an Aberdonian.

He said: “The night was as good as expected – my voice proves that.

“I didn’t have to buy a drink all night – and that keeps an Aberdonian happy!

“The scenes in the city were incredible, these were the moments I told the players we could enjoy. The city was bouncing, everything I thought it would be.

“The Scottish Cup hasn’t been in Aberdeen for so long, it means so much to the punters and everyone who backs us.

“These are memories which will last a lifetime. We’ve achieved it and we’re enjoying it.

“The bus journey back up from Glasgow on Saturday night was carnage, as you would expect.

“There was a lot of singing, champagne everywhere. I felt bad for the driver because he would have had to clean it.

“We came back to Pittodrie and the cup stayed there, I don’t think the club would have trusted me with it. I doubt it would have been here today!”

It was Aberdeen’s first Scottish Cup in 35 years. Shinnie had previously lifted it as Inverness skipper and now had a dream double.

It was his first trophy in red at the fifth attempt. He had previously lost three finals to Celtic and Brendan Rodgers but was finally able to bin that hoodoo in some style.

He proudly claimed: “What we’ve done will sink in, it still feels a bit surreal to say I’ve won the Scottish Cup with Aberdeen to be honest.”

There was the glittering prize and then the even bigger one of guaranteed European group stage football.

He has previously savoured it as they played Eintracht Frankfurt, PAOK and HJK. Now he will get another crack at it.

They go into the Europa League play-off and would drop into the group stages of the Conference League if they didn’t progress. It will be something else for Jimmy Thelin’s Red Army to look forward to.

He added: “But when it does start sinking in, we’ll think about Europe because that’s a massive thing for this club as well.

“European group stage football is where we want to be and we have that to look forward to now.

“The last time, we had great games like Eintracht Frankfurt away and PAOK away, which were brilliant games to be involved in.

“The fans love those trips and I’m sure they’ll be ready to travel in big numbers with us again like they always do.”

This time they will want to make an impact with Aberdeen at that level but before then it will be time to celebrate, reflect and then to recharge the batteries to go again in a couple of months.