LITTLE did Jock Bradford's men realise just what they were starting on this day 73 years ago. Bradford was the St Mirren goalkeeper at the time and was a colossal figure in the Paisley area.
No great excitement had happened in the previous 48 years of the club's history, but on January 23, 1926, Bradford and his lads began a journey that was to take them all the way to Hampden and an epic Scottish Cup final win over Celtic - their first triumph in the competition.
A home first-round tie against Mid-Annandale, which St Mirren won 4-0, was a humble start.
Other first-round results: Aber-deen 8, St Bernard's 1; Brechin City 12, Thornhill 1; Dykehead 1, Morton 1; Falkirk 10, Breadalbane 0; Hibernian 1, Broxburn United 1; Kilmarnock 0, Celtic 5; Rangers 3, Lochgelly United 0; Third Lanark 7, Moor Park 0.
Following the defeat of Mid-Annandale, St Mirren made a relentless march towards the final, beating Arbroath, Partick Thistle and Airdrie before a semi-final meeting with Rangers in front of a 60,000 crowd at Celtic Park.
Rangers were beaten 1-0 and St Mirren went on to beat Celtic 2-0 in the final before the first ever 100,000 crowd at Hampden.
In his excellent little book, simply entitled ''The Saints'', our own William Hunter begins the 1926 chapter with the words ''Here is a poem: Bradley; Findlay and Newbiggin; Morrison, Summers and McDonald; Morgan and Gebbie, McCrae, Howieson and Thomson.
It was, of course, a litany of the names who had taken the cup to Paisley for the first time. Every man was given a windfall of #8 and Hunter writes: ''But one kindly, excited benefactor found a bottle of whisky for every man. Davie McCrae vowed he would not touch a drop till Saints again took the cup. He was to wait 33 years for a taste of his prize.''
1919: Bob Paisley, the most successful manager in the history of English football, was born. He joined Liverpool from Bishop Auckland as a player in 1939 and stayed with the club for more than 40 years. He took over from Bill Shankly in 1974 and steered the Anfield side to six league championships, three European Cups, the UEFA Cup, the European Super Cup and three Milk Cups.
1958: Hanif Mohammad, the Pakistan batsman, began a spell at the crease that lasted 16 hours and 10 minutes against the West Indies in Barbados, scoring 337 runs.
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