My first experience of cup football in Scotland

So the Donkin family moved to Midlothian in December 1970 and a whole new football scene was there to be explored. Edinburgh had two football teams Hibs and Hearts and there was a plethora of minor teams to go to watch and a new cup competition to fall in love with; the Scottish Cup. By December I had long since forgiven my Dad for his decision not to take me to the Middlesbrough v Man United FA Cup quarter final in March and we were actively seeking games to go to together. Hibs had a fantastic team at that time and we became regulars at Easter Road. Hearts were less successful and a bit more workmanlike but we also went to see them too. I reckon I missed out on the Scottish Cup in season 70-71 and I believe the first Scottish Cup tie I watched was the quarter final replay between Hearts and Celtic in March 1972. Over 40000 people were crushed into Tynecastle Stadium and there was not much room to breathe let alone move. All very exciting for a 14 year old who was just about tall enough to see the match between a forest of heads. I remember feeling very grown up because I made my way to this midweek match with a school pal who supported Celtic (I went to a catholic secondary school) and the arrangement was to meet my Dad afterwards for a lift home. When I met up with the old man he had a massive wet patch down the back of his trousers. The pre match drinking and the inability to move had encouraged a Hearts supporter directly behind him to try to urinate into an empty beer can on the terracing. Quite clearly his plan had failed. It was about this time my Dad went off Hearts a bit but I was warming to the workmanlike outfit from Gorgie. Although at this stage we were still spending more time at Easter Road rather than Tynecastle. Celtic won the match 1-0. Lou Macari scored for Celtic and Kenny Dalglish was a menace all night long. The Celtic team also included ‘Lisbon Lions’ Jim Craig, Bobby Murdoch, Billy McNeil and Bobby Lennox.

I was pleased to discover early on that the Scottish FA Cup was organised along similar lines to the FA Cup, with non-league teams playing in a qualifying competition and lower league teams playing in rounds 1 and 2 with the survivors being joined by ‘the big boys’ in round 3. Between 1972 and 1975 my Dad and I went to a number of Scottish Cup ties involving some of the minnows of Scottish football. We watched games involving Ferranti Thistle, Vale of Leithen, Civil Service Strollers, East Stirlingshire and Stenhousemuir – among others. In September 1975 I was to move to Stirling University and become a drug soaked, music obsessed student. Football was no longer cool in my world. I left for Stirling as a Hibs sympathiser. I was to graduate four years later, with my interest in the beautiful game rekindled, as a Hearts fan. The Boro were a distant memory.