Mighty like a Rose

WITH all due respect to the dozens of teams who have taken part so far, for most people the Scottish Cup proper starts next weekend when the SPL sides begin their participation. And there among the Celtics and Rangers, the Hibs and Hearts and all the other famous brands is the junior club with one of the prettiest names in Scottish football, Linlithgow Rose.

On Saturday the West Lothian side will become the first member club of the Scottish Junior Football Association to play in the same round as clubs from the country's top rank. "It really is a bit of history for a junior club to get to the last 32 of the Scottish Cup and be there beside the giants," said Rose manager Jim Sinnet. "It is quite amazing that we've got to this stage."

Their ancient moniker speaks volumes about Linlithgow's status as a junior club. Think of Kilbirnie Ladeside, Auchinleck Talbot, Irvine Meadow, Shotts Bon Accord, Kirkintilloch Rob Roy, Dundonald Bluebell, and not forgetting Craigmark Burntonians, and you swiftly conclude that the juniors eschew the prosaic when it comes to the naming of their clubs.

Defined as juniors almost by name, then, Linlithgow Rose truly are in the midst of a historic season. For the first time, junior clubs were allowed to participate in the Scottish Cup, and as winners of last season's Scottish Junior Cup and their own regional league, Linlithgow Rose joined Glasgow club Pollok and Aberdeenshire's Culter FC in the first round – with the draw for the opening round was made at Rose's home, Prestonfield Park.

All three junior clubs made it into the second round, where Pollok were the first juniors to come up against a full Scottish league side, Montrose, and lost only narrowly, 1-0, after a replay. Culter perished at the hands of Highland League side Huntly in the third round having beaten Vale of Leithen in the second, while Rose went through 1-0 against non-league seniors Dalbeattie Star, having beaten Newton Stewart 6-0 and Spartans 4-1 in the earlier rounds.

"All three junior clubs have proved that we can compete against non-league senior teams," said Sinnet. "We have done the junior game justice.

"Pollok were unlucky against Montrose by all accounts, and we showed what we could do against Spartans. They have done really well in the Scottish Cup in recent years yet we beat them comprehensively. It shows we are a strong team from a strong league."

That result in late November means the fragrant Rose will play against the only team in Scotland whose name can be found in the bible, Queen of the South (Luke ch.11 v.31).

By all that's holy, Queen of the South – presently in the middle of the Irn-Bru First Division – should prune the Rose in short order. But to say that does a gross disservice to Linlithgow. Rose will not let the juniors down.

Life really is too short to spend time explaining Scottish football's internecine struggles over many decades. Suffice to say the 'seniors' and 'juniors' conducted themselves as sniffily separate never-the-twain-shall-meet organisations, though players often moved up and down between the two levels.

This country's top trophy tournament, the Scottish Cup, was thus sacrosanct. Only SFA member clubs could take part, and for many years SJFA officials did not bother to argue.

But in recent years, when the likes of Cambuslang Rangers, Pollok, Auchinleck Talbot, Tayport and Linlithgow Rose were drawing vastly bigger crowds than Third Division sides, a campaign for a 'pyramid structure' in Scottish football gathered pace.

In short, the sought-for pyramid would enable ambitious clubs from the juniors to move into the senior game, while the dross sides who kept their senior places only on account of full SFA membership would no longer be retained automatically – as has long been the case in England.

More enlightened souls within both the SFA and SJFA realised times were changing, and the first step in creating a pyramid was to allow juniors to take part in the Scottish Cup, hence the importance of Linlithgow Rose's remarkable adventure which could well make the pyramid structure inevitable.

Or is it so remarkable? Sinnet said: "Over the past seven years since I became manager we have won everything possible in the junior game. We have won 19 trophies in all, and last season won the treble of Scottish Junior Cup, East Region Super League and League Cup.

"We have already won the League Cup again this season and the week after we go to Dumfries we play Cumnock in the Junior Cup and they don't come much harder than that. But we always felt we wanted to try ourselves against teams from other leagues, and so far we have not let ourselves down."

Sinnet, 48, who has recently recovered from a hernia operation, made his name as a striker with Rose's arch enemies, Bo'ness United. He once enjoyed a record spell of 98 goals in two seasons at United, before moving into junior coaching with the likes of Benburb before taking over at Prestonfield Park, Rose's neat 3,500 capacity ground which would put many senior clubs to shame with its 300-seat stand and thriving social club. It's also a financially sound club, which attracts four figure crowds regularly for fixtures such as the derby with Bo'ness.

"I sometimes get a wee bit of stick from the Bo'ness fans, but there's been no real animosity," said the amiable Sinnet."Next Saturday is a huge occasion for the club and we will enjoy it. We reckon there could be as many as 1,200 to 1,500 of our supporters travelling with us to Dumfries and that should ensure there will be a good atmosphere with plenty of support for us.

"We have had them watched and they are a decent side with a lot of seasoned pros. But we have a few who have played at a higher level themselves, such as Brian Carrigan, ex-Clyde, Hamilton and Stockport, and Mark Bradley, formerly of Hearts, while former St Mirren and Motherwell player Greig Denham has had a recent cartilage operation and might not make it. We've also recently signed Sean Grady, who was with Forfar.

"If we can get out our strongest side and they play as well as we can, I am confident we will do ourselves justice," said Sinnet. "I would love us to get a draw and then bring Queen of the South to Prestonfield. That would be another huge occasion."

It sounds as though Sinnet and Linlithgow Rose are enjoying their moments of history, and should they get a result at Palmerston Park next Saturday they will be helping to make the case for junior football to take its place at a higher level in Scottish football. It maybe that when the pyramid is finally in place, Rose will be much further up than the base.