NOBODY who was associated with Dundee United when the Tannadice club lifted the Scottish Cup for only the second time in their 107-year history in 2010, not the players, not the office staff, not the fans, is ever likely to forget the experience.

Apart from maybe one person. Ian Cathro, the Hearts head coach, was working at the United youth academy at the time. But his focus was elsewhere and he missed the stunning 3-0 triumph over Ross County at Hampden.

“We must’ve had an under-12 thing on that was obviously more important to me than the cup final so I wasn’t at the game,” said Cathro. “I literally would’ve thought whatever I was doing was more important. That’s just the way it was for me.”

The story, recounted in a self-deprecating manner at his own expense, will do nothing to dispel the popular image of Cathro as a football obsessive.

However, the 30-year-old, the youngest manager in the history of the Scottish top flight, did attend the dinner afterwards and vividly recalls the impact which the victory had both on United as a club and the people of Dundee.

As his Hearts side prepared to take on Raith Rovers at Stark’s Park in a difficult fourth-round tie in the William Hill-sponsored competition this afternoon, he admitted that emulating that success is a major ambition.

“I was invited to the victory celebrations and I did go down for a bit,” he said. “Most people were shocked I was there and that I wasn’t working on something else. But I remember sitting down at one of the tables and just realising what an impact it had had. Just seeing people reacting, I love that bit. I love the fact that hard work can give that to people.

“You just take a split second and think: ‘That’s with everybody for the rest of their lives’. It’s with the city, or half of it, for the rest of their lives. When football can give that feeling and experience to people then you feel privileged to have the chance to do that.”

Photographs of Hearts’ victories in the Scottish Cup in 1998, 2006 and 2012 adorn the walls of Tynecastle and are a daily reminder of the capital club’s rich recent history in the competition.

Cathro, who has been busy during the January transfer window, bringing in Aaron Hughes, Malaury Martin, Lennard Sowah and Andras Struna, admitted he is keen for those triumphs to be repeated on his watch.

“There are a lot of cup images,” he said. “These are the things that end up making up what the football club is; everything it has done, every big day it has had, every big moment. People have lived through those things, remembered them and repeat the stories. That’s what a football club is.

“Over the period of time I am here I fully intend of being a part of writing new things. The players who will be the ones who do most of the writing, I’ll just maybe set out the chapter.”

Cathro may, with Arnaud Djoum away at the Africa Cup of Nations, Alim Ozturk and Igor Rossi moving on and Callum Paterson out injured for the remainder of the season, have to field an entirely new back four against Championship rivals in Fife this afternoon.

The former Rio Alves, Valencia and Newcastle United assistant, however, has complete faith in his new signings’ ability to gel.

“The guys we are looking to help us in that area are ready,” he said. “In Portuguese they say they are ‘cooked’. That’s the phrase for a player who is ready. Bringing ‘cooked’ players should make it easier.

“Given the choice I would’ve come at the end of the season and had a pre-season and done it in the summer. But life is not like that. You have to be relaxed, calm, clear and try and make the right decisions that can allow you to improve.”

Sowah, who has joined Hearts after a brief spell at Hamilton, played for the Germany Under-16, Under-18 and Under-19 sides alongside the likes of Shkodran Mustafi and Mario Gotze as a boy growing up in Hamburg.

The 24-year-old defender hasn’t scaled the heights which the Arsenal and Bayern Munich players have since gone on to. Nevertheless, he is hopeful his move to Hearts will enable him to force his way into the Ghana side.

“My parents are from Ghana and I would like to play for them,” he said. “I was born in Germany so it will always be a proud moment to play for them and to watch those players win the World Cup, especially the ones I know personally, but Ghana is a hope of mine. I was over in Ghana during the summer on holiday so it is a place I feel close to.

“Playing for Ghana is a massive personal goal and I believe that everything will fall into place if I play well at Hearts. This club already has players in the Africa Cup of Nations so that shows this is a good platform. International managers follow the club.”