David Wotherspoon got a first-hand reminder of the wonder of the Scottish Cup when he attended last season’s final at Hampden.
With a dyed-in-the-wool Hibee fiancee and father-in-law for company, the St Johnstone midfielder was left in no doubt about the joy that seeing your club win the competition can bring.
The cup has been good to his family in recent years, and the man who will forever be part of Saints history for playing in the first team to win it, is greedy for more.
Wotherspoon, who will face Stenhousemuir at McDiarmid Park this afternoon in the fourth round, said: “The cup has been a mixed bag for me. I missed out on finals for Hibs but winning the trophy here was massive for the club. And the highs definitely outweigh the negatives for me.
“You tend to block out the negatives. After winning the cup it’s those memories I think of now.
“I want to win it again because it is such an incredible experience. It’s an amazing feeling being part of a cup winning team.
“In some ways it feels a long time ago but as soon as the Scottish Cup is mentioned your mind goes straight back to that weekend. It’s the first thing you think of and it’s something I want to do again.
“Last year I was at the final when Hibs won and I experienced the emotion of a cup win all over again and saw what it means to supporters. I was in the stand at Hampden with my fiancée Sophie and her dad Steven. They are huge Hibees, real diehards. She used to go to the games with him.
“I saw the emotion on his face after that win. Steven had been waiting all his life for Hibs to end their hoodoo and lift the Scottish Cup.
“I wasn’t at the homecoming parade the next day in Leith – and no, I wasn’t on the pitch after the game!
“But Steven was there in the crowd with a sign he had written especially to celebrate the victory.”
The former Hibs player and Scotland under-21 international added: “It was very similar to St Johnstone’s win but I don’t think Saints fans were thinking about it or being reminded about a hoodoo as much as Hibs supporters.
“But when we won it here what a feeling it was for everyone involved with the club.
“We had lost more than our fair share of cup semi-finals and I was a fan myself at defeats to Hibs at Tynecastle and Rangers at Hampden. So to eventually go on and win the Scottish Cup and finally bring it to Perth was very special.
“The fourth round of the cup means even more now because you want to experience the highs all over again. That’s what we are striving for and I’m sure all the supporters would want to go through a day and weekend like that again. It was unbelievable and I know fans will talk about it forever more.”
It takes five matches to win the cup but Wotherspoon insisted that game number one will command their full attention.
“There’s no way we will be treating Stenhousemuir lightly,” he pointed out. “The manager has been drumming it into us all week.
“You see cup shocks in Scotland and down in England. We have to make sure we aren’t on the end of one and we will be ready for this game.
“The boys are excited and ready to go after the break. We just want to get out there and play football again.”
Thankfully for Wotherspoon, he is too young to remember the infamous 4-0 cup exit to Stenny in 1995.
Allan Preston is his agent, and he was in Paul Sturrock’s side that night at Ochilview. Not that ‘Biscuits’ is ever likely to bring it up.
“I don’t remember the Stenhousemuir cup defeat,“ Wotherspoon said. ”I was only five at the time.
“I’d have been tucked up in bed. Hopefully we can put that right this time.
“Funnily enough Biscuits hasn’t mentioned that result. He talks a lot about matches he won at St Johnstone but he has managed to keep that quiet while we have been on the golf course. No one wants to talk about something like that.”
Saints will be without Michael Coulson and Murray Davidson for the clash with the League One strugglers.
