IN SEASON 1993-94, the Bell’s Challenge Cup was known as the B&Q Cup and the winners were Falkirk whose players in the final against St Mirren included a certain stripling defender called John Hughes.
That team went on to win the First Division by a single point from Dunfermline and Yogi, now player/manager of Falkirk, said yesterday he hoped that "history can repeat itself" with a similar double ten years on.
At the time of that last victory,
Ross County were still members of the Highland League, before the Dingwall side took their deserved place in the Scottish Football League in 1994. Now battling in the First Division, County and Falkirk meet today in the Bell’s Challenge Cup Final at McDiarmid Park in Perth in a game both sides feel could be a great advert for their league.
In that 93-94 season, Gary McSwegan was in the Notts County squad, having served a long apprenticeship with Rangers in which he had often been touted for, but never broke into, the famous nine-in-row side.
In his long career with the likes of Dundee United, Hearts, and Kilmarnock, McSwegan has never won a Scottish cup medal of any kind and, at the age of 34, he knows the opportunities are running out fast.
Both Hughes and McSwegan have played at higher levels in Scottish football, the latter winning two caps for Scotland, while Yogi had spells with Celtic and Hibs, but both emphasise that they see today’s match as every bit of a challenge compared to other big games they played in the past.
"When we came here to Dingwall in the summer it was sold to me straight away," said McSwegan. "This club has a lot going for it. The facilities, the squad of players and the staff are excellent. It’s also nice place to live and to bring up kids. It was a fresh start for me and a new experience, but it was something I looked forward to and now it’s very nice to be in a cup final so soon.
"This is the first cup final the club has been in, but it is a big thing for both teams and both will be going all out for victory. We have only done half the job, we have to finish it.
"It doesn’t matter what stage of your career you are at, it is nice to get to any cup final, irrespective of the tournament.
"I lost a league cup final with Dundee United, and also lost with them against Stenhousemuir in the final of this tournament a few years ago, so it would be nice to get a winner’s medal, if selected.
"Going into a cup final and winning it brings confidence to a team and that might just be the turning point for us and help start the run we need to get challenging for promotion."
The opposition manager agrees, emphasising that any cup win can boost league form.
"When we beat St Mirren 3-0 all those years ago," said Hughes, "it sparked off a run that saw us win the championship, so I want the same thing to happen.
"This is the cup final for the Scottish Football League, so it is important for us to win it and then show we are the best team in the league.
"We have been trying to keep things low key in the run up to the final, but the boys are up for it and we will need to be at our best because Ross County are every bit as good as us.
"Yes, we beat them 1-0 last month, but they are the best side we have played this year and it was real backs to the wall stuff up there. They were possibly even the better side on the day.
"This will be a tough game, and will be very close. We have hit top form four or five times this season and now we need to do it again. It may take us to the last five minutes or even extra time to clinch it, so I would ask our fans to be patient and give us their support right to the final whistle, as that is so vital for our players."
For his part, McSwegan feels that Ross County’s poor start to the league is no hindrance, even against a team bang on form who currently sit atop the First Division.
"We have played a lot of the teams in the league and apart from last Saturday when we let ourselves down, I think we have played quite well in most of the games," he said.
"We have lost three or four games one-nil and a couple of them were on penalties and although we have not started as well as we could have done, if we get a wee bit of consistency and get a bit of a run then we could shoot up the league. The likes of Falkirk, Clyde and St Mirren have all got off to a good start, but we are only a quarter of the way through the season.
"Falkirk have a few experienced players and they will have taken confidence from beating us, but it’s a cup final, a one off, so it should be a good close game.
"They have good players such as Darryl Duffy who has scored a lot of goals for them and I played alongside Kevin James at Hearts, while they also have Yogi at the back and Scott McKenzie.
"We have to knuckle down and try to run them into the ground. I know I’m not one to talk about this, but there are a few older guys in their team, so the one advantage we may have is younger legs, though sometimes experience is worth more."
Hughes’ love affair with Falkirk is the stuff that will keep local football historians purring for decades to come, but there was no obvious reason why McSwegan would leave Kilmarnock for a side in a lower division, albeit one which offered him the security of a three-year contract.
"It was not a backward step," said the veteran, quite vehemently. "Ultimately this team will be heading for the Premierleague and it is not an unachievable target. It is what everyone in the club is striving for.
"No disrespect to the First Division, but the gaffer doesn’t want to sit about here. He thinks he’s got a club with which it is possible to get promotion."
No matter which side wins today, it will be interesting to see if either of them can go on to lift the First Division title and prove that history can indeed repeat itself.
The full article contains 1166 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
