The romance of the cup

I disagree with those who talk about cup competitions as "distractions" from the main business of the league.

I have seen Accies win the championship or title of the second tier in senior Scottish football three times in my life, and will no doubt see it again - who knows, perhaps as soon as this season? However, I have never seen us in the final of the Scottish Cup or the Scottish League Cup - nobody has seen us in the latter, as we have never made it that far, and to remember the former, you have to have been following Accies nearly 80 years ago.

I have seen us lose heavily to Dundee United at East End Park in the semi-final of the League Cup, and attended two out of three of our Scottish Cup quarter finals under Billy Reid, including the ill-fated replay at Dens Park in 2007 (the one I missed I saw on TV, as it was broadcast live from Ibrox).

My remaining ambition as an Accies fan is to see us contest a final at Hampden, and every year I travel in hope.

This year the Scottish Cup journey begins at Palmerston Park, Dumfries, as we have been drawn away to Queen of the South in the third round of the William Hill Scottish Cup, on Saturday 2 November.  The stumble on the last day of last season has cost us, as finishing third or fourth in last season's SFL 1 would have ensured we missed this round and joined in the fourth round; our loss to Cowdenbeath meant we dropped to fifth and thus entered the draw a round earlier than we have done for ten years.

So it's that wee bit tougher this season.  We have three league games to negotiate before then, including crucial home ties versus our closest competitors, Raith Rovers and Falkirk. But I'm looking forward to another cup campaign with relish.  Maybe this year...