BACK in 1993, our village football team returned from Glasgow bearing the Holy Grail - the Scottish Junior Cup: it sparked-off the biggest party this village has ever seen and, some upstanding members of the community were fairly well pissed for the next week.
Thus forewarned - I know well how some of the fair citizens of the Fair City of Perth will be feeling this morning. I hope this isn't their last victory party, but, this being Scotland, appreciate they might have a wee wait before they have the chance to let their hair down with abandon again. I can, however, assure them, nothing beats the first time your club wins a big trophy. Savour it, because, you never know when it might happen again.
I actually thought, for all the quality on the park at Wembley, for all the money in the English game, the Celtic Park affair was the better match. Yes, to lose it will be hard for Jackie McNamara and his men, but, they went down with their heads high and surely, they will not grudge their opponents from upstream on the Tay their moment of glory.
Now, all that waits to be settled is the final place in next season's Premiership - will it go to Hibs or Hamilton? I must admit, when I worked in Edinburgh as a youth, I would occasionally go along to Easter Road with some of the older guys at work, to watch Pat Stanton, Alex Edwards & Co. I enjoyed the experience. Then, as a football reporter, I always enjoyed my trips to New Douglas Park during that exciting period when the young McArthur, McCarthy and Brian Easton, a winner with St Johnstone on Saturday, were coming through and making waves.
It seemed, just a few short years ago, that, every time I was scheduled to cover a game at Hamilton, Ronnie McDonald and Billy Reid would unleash another terrific teenaged talent on to the scene. Then, there was big Mark McLaughlin. When he was coming through at Arthurlie, it seemed obvious to me - here was a local boy around whom St Mirren might build a team, but, he never got the call to Love Street, but, went on to have a longer and more-distinguished career at Hamilton than many who did get the Love Street call managed.
Sadly, Hamilton, when they last got into the Premier League as it was then, bottled the accent on youth. Still, it is nice to see them have the chance to get bck there. Hard luck too to Falkirk, where Gary Holt has carried-on where big "Elvis" left off. And, as an aside here, didn't Mr Pressley do well in difficult circumstances at Coventry in the season now ending. But for the pre-season points deduction, he'd have got the Sky Blues into the promotion play-offs.
Finally, well done the Blue Brazil - all but written-off pre-matches, they saw off the challenge of the Pars to remain in the Championship, which is a terrific testimony to the managerial skills of Jimmy Nicholl and a great boost to their Chairman, or, is he the RWM of the club?
Just the Hamilton v Hibs shoot-out and the Junior Cup Final punch-up to get out of the way and then, we can settle down and have some real fun, cheering-on ABE at the World Cup.
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