Today should be the last time the Scottish Cup is played on a Sunday

Creating history can come at a price. And the cost of today’s first-ever Sunday Scottish Cup Final will be borne entirely by the fans.

As usual, they have been the last to be considered.

The biggest bugbear for supporters of both Hibs and Celtic is the sheer inconvenience of getting to Hampden on a Sunday.

Sunday transport services aren’t exactly frequent, while many food outlets won’t even be open today.

Why inflict those hassles on the already hard-pressed fans?

Quite simply it was to allow UEFA President Michel Platini to maximise last night’s Champions League Final.

And UEFA have become so greedy, they have put money before all else.

So the SFA were forbidden from playing the Final of the oldest national trophy in the world on a Saturday for the first time since it’s inaugural Final in 1874.

To date, only two World Wars prevented the tournament being staged.

The Scottish football authorities have known for long enough that UEFA don’t permit any game to clash with the Champions League Final.

The SFA got away with it last season (above), but were told it could never happen again.

Yet what do they do? Arrange the Scottish Cup Final for the same week-end but move it to a Sunday!

Before those in charge plead this was the only date available, consider the fact the SPL allowed their clubs a free Saturday immediately after the split on April 13.

If they’d played that week-end, the Cup Final could have been staged last Saturday.

There is something not right about staging the Final today. Sure, most of the weekend’s top games are now switched for live TV, and the League Cup Final has been staged on a Sunday for decades now.

That’s accepted because it’s always played during the League season.

But surely the Cup Final should be the finale to every season?

The English FA made an even bigger hash of their Cup Final earlier this month, forcing Wigan and Manchester City to kick-off on a Saturday at 5.15pm, leaving both sets of fans struggling to get home the same day.

So on both sides of the border, a highlight of the season has been seriously devalued, and must be returned to its proper place.

The SFA must make sure today is the last time the Scottish Cup is played on a Sunday.