Fort William have been bottom of the Highland League since time began. How the hell did they get into the SFA cup ? I presume it was through the Qualifying Cup...does anyone know more about the qualifying process ?

I did go to Pollok v Spartans on Saturday, which was a reasonably entertaining game although I left early due to the unremitting cold and rain. I now have a nasty cold....this is what happens when you take a top flight fan down the leagues. Plenty of glesgae banter flying about which took my mid off the cold. Also, Gordon Smith was there which was odd. What was odder is that he was the same uncovered terrace as me...you would think they would find a better seat for the grand fromage of Scottish football.

Pollok v Spartans was indeed a very good game, although I missed the penalty incident due to a careless bovril spillage. A considerable amount of Buckie and Tennents was being downed in the covered terrace by blokes dressed as cowboys (insert your own joke about Pollok and the wild west here).

The whole thing has whetted my appetite and I'll definitely be going back to Newlandsfield soon. Shame they're not in the same division as The Buffs.

Dances with Sheep, why didn't you go and watch Aberdeen pretend not to lie down to Celtc, or am I making to much of your name?

dances with sheep wrote:

QUOTE:
Fort William have been bottom of the Highland League since time began. How the hell did they get into the SFA cup ? I presume it was through the Qualifying Cup...does anyone know more about the qualifying process ?

I'm not sure of the exact rules but pretty much all of the Highland League, East of Scotland League, and South of Scotland League teams now go straight into the first round proper, along with the four Junior teams, rather than having to play in a qualifying cup. The winners of the East of Scotland and South of Scotland leagues along with the top two in the Highland League go straight into the second round draw along with the SFL 3 teams.

Mike - I spotted the gay cowboys coming out of the clubhouse as I approached the ground. I think the word is 'incongruous'. I was kind of hoping to be smitten by Pollok on my first visist to my local team but somehow I just cannot bring myself to support a Glasgow team, however much I love the city. I actually ended up cheering on Spartans, who played some pretty slick football in contrast to Lok's agricultural hoofing.

AMMS - I am indeed a Dons fan, but a thoroughly lapsed one. I have actually been to two games this season (Fir Park and Love Street) which is pretty good going for me. I haven't really been a proper supporter since moving to Glasgow in 1993. By happy accident, this has coincided nicely with the decline of the once mighty Dons.

Dink - thanks for that.

To confirm what dink said, the qualifying cup was abolished and an extra round introduced. One of Gordon Smith's better reforms.

Clydebank are still climbing up the Junior leagues, I hope they can get into the West Premier league so that they can draw Airdrie in the cup.

Aye good riddance to the qualifying cup. In previous years, hopes of a cup run could be in tatters by late august. With more 'minnows' involved from an early stage, everyone feels they have a better chance to progress.

Except poor Fort William of course. Their pitch is well positioned as a base camp for hikes up Ben Nevis, which gives it a unique micro-climate.
More waterlogged call offs than the rest of the league put together.

I'm a bit late with these results but the 1st round replays were on Saturday and we now have the draw for the second round finalised.

Forres 2 v 0 Wigtown
Brora 2 v 1 Newton Stewart AET
Coldstream 2 v 2 Selkirk AET (Selkirk won 3-2 on pens)
Spartans 1 v 0 Pollok

Leaving the second round draw (with the games to be played on 25 October) as:

Clachnacuddin v Crichton FC
Edinburgh City v Wick Academy
Cove Rangers v Whitehill Welfare
Dalbeattie Star v Selkirk
Montrose v Huntly
East Stirlingshire v Preston Athletic
Fraserburgh v Dumbarton
Berwick Rangers v Albion Rovers
Civil Service Strollers v Vale Of Leithen
Inverurie Locos v Banks O'Dee
Stenhousemuir v Threave
Annan Athletic v Spartans
Brora Rangers v Forfar Athletic
Lochee United v Buckie Thistle
Cowdenbeath v Elgin City
Forres Mechanics v Keith

Well, I guess that I should rename this thread the Homecoming Cup, then next year the Moving Scotland Forward, Programme for Government Cup, and finally the Matrons for the 21st Century Cup.

Given this executive's attitudes to most things (but bevvy especially), the Puritanical Prudes Cup would be most appropriate.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Fir Park for this afternoon's fourth round Scottish Cup sponsored by The Nae Drinkin, Nae Gamblin, Nae Shaggin Alliance tie between Motherwell and Ross County. I'll give you the teams in a moment, but first of all a couple of announcements to make..."

So, predictions for the Homecoming Cup second round:

Clachnacuddin v Crichton FC
Edinburgh City v Wick Academy
Cove Rangers v Whitehill Welfare
Dalbeattie Star v Selkirk
Montrose v Huntly
East Stirlingshire v Preston Athletic
Fraserburgh v Dumbarton
Berwick Rangers v Albion Rovers
Civil Service Strollers v Vale Of Leithen
Inverurie Locos v Banks O'Dee
Stenhousemuir v Threave
Annan Athletic v Spartans
Brora Rangers v Forfar Athletic
Lochee United v Buckie Thistle
Cowdenbeath v Elgin City
Forres Mechanics v Keith

The results from the second round of the Scottish Cup:

East Stirling 4-2
Berwick 1-2 Albion Rovers
Brora 1-3 Forfar
Clachnacuddin 1-0 Crichton
Cove Rangers 1-0 Whitehill Welfare
Cowdenbeath 1-2 Elgin
Dalbeattie Star 6-0 Selkirk
Edinburgh City 0-0 Wick Academy
Forres Mechanics 1-1 Keith
Fraserburgh 0-1 Dumbarton
Inverurie Locos 5-1 Banks O'Dee
Lochee Utd 3-0 Buckie Thistle
Montrose 2-0 Huntly
Stenhousemuir 5-0 Threave Rovers


And the draw for the third round, with the SFL 1 and SFL 2 teams entered into the draw:

Stilring Albion v Partick Thistle
Forfar Athletic v Stranraer
Lochee United v Ayr United
Forres Mechanics or Keith v Dalbeattie Star
Inverurie Loco Works v Civil Service Strollers or Vale of Leithen
Elgin City v Annan Athletic or Spartans
East Stirlingshire v Livingston
Edinburgh City or Wick Academy v Brechin City
Albion Rovers v Queen's Park
East Fife v Arbroath
Peterhead v Morton
Clyde v Montrose
Airdrie United v Cove Rangers
Raith Rovers v Alloa Athletic
Clachnacuddin v Stenhousemuir
Ross County v Dumbarton

Bah, yet another incredibly boring draw, away from home, in the Scottish Cup. On the plus side it's a game we've got a realistic chance of winning even if Raith will be heavy favourites.

Poor Dumbarton - traipse all the way up to Fraserburgh for a very tricky tie, come away with a 1-0 win and what's their reward? A trip to Ross County. Whoopee.

Stilring Albion v Partick Thistle

Our season is going very pear-shaped, very quickly. If we don't get our act together fast, we'll lose that game at Forthbank.

Results from the Third round:

Airdrie United 3 - 0 Cove Rangers
Albion Rovers 1 - 2 Queen's Park
Clachnacuddin 0 - 5 Stenhousemuir
Clyde 2 - 0 Montrose
East Fife 2 - 0 Arbroath
East Stirlingshire 2 - 1 Livingston
Peterhead 2 - 1 Morton
Raith Rovers 0 - 0 Alloa Athletic
Ross County 2 - 2 Dumbarton
Stirling Albion 2 - 3 Partick Thistle

Our game against Raith was pretty poor, following on from a recent 4-1 hammering from them and getting beaten at home by Queens Park we went with a far more defensive line up than usual. The plan seemed to be to try and defend for 60 minutes then try and be a bit more attacking in the last third of the game in order to snatch the win. Unfortunately Pat Scullion got sent off early in the second half and we never got beyond the defending part of the plan. We did that pretty well, however, and hopefully we'll be a bit more attacking in the replay.

And the draw for the 4th round:


PETERHEAD V QUEENS PARK
ST JOHNSTONE V RANGERS
RAITH OR ALLOA ATHLETIC V ABERDEEN
FALKIRK V QOS
AIRDRIE UTD V ELGIN OR SPARTANS
INVERURIE OR VALE OF LEVEN V MOTHERWELL
ROSS COUNTY OR DUMBARTON V HAMILTON
FORFAR OR STRANRAER V FORRES MECHANICS OR DALBEATTIE STAR
INVERNESS CALEY V PARTICK THISTLE
CELTIC V DUNDEE
EAST STIRLINGSHIRE V DUNDEE UTD
STENHOUSEMUIR V EAST FIFE
HIBERNIAN V HEARTS
LOCHEE UTD OR AYR UTD V KILMARNOCK
DUNFERMLINE V CLYDE
EDINBURGH CITY OR BRECHIN CITY V STMIRREN

One of the best line up of games that I've seen for some time, we've even got a half decent game to look forward to if we manage to get past Raith. The highlights of the draw are Inverurie or Vale of Leven v Motherwell, East Stirlingshire v Dundee Utd, Hibs v Hearts and the possibility of Ayr Utd v Kilmarnock.

How big a shock was the win by Falkirk's finest?