What's it like to lose a Scottish Cup final? Well, according to John O'Neil, there is no lasting scar tissue.

The 49-year-old speaks from a position of authority, too, because he didn't just lose one Scottish Cup final, he lost three. Chuck in a defeat in the 1998 League Cup against Rangers and it's tempting to speculate that O'Neil – who played for both of today's protagonists in finals – might be one of the unluckiest Scottish players of all time. But he doesn't see it that way.

“I can honestly say that they were great experiences. I enjoyed every one, the experience, the build-up to it, the atmosphere,” says O'Neil, who was on the losing side for Dundee United in 1991, Hibernian in 2001 and Gretna in 2006. “I feel a wee bit sorry for St Johnstone and Hibs not having that cup final experience because it is a special atmosphere, the Scottish Cup final is a game like no other, walking out with all your family and friends there, it's just a special day.”

O'Neil, who works as a driver these days, has distinct memories of each of the finals he featured in. In the famous 4-3 defeat by Motherwell in 1991, he started on the bench before springing from it as a half-time replacement for Duncan Ferguson to make the score 3-2 with a header inside the six-yard box from Dave Bowman's cross. But it is the before rather than the after that comes most readily to mind when O'Neil talks about that ding-dong game today.

“I was only 19 at the time, even now people still talk about that one. There's not many people who remember the losers in a cup final but they certainly remembered us. I suppose that is one thing that you can take out of it, it was a great cup final. It was disappointing at the time. I probably didn't really drink that one in because I was so young, naïve and not thinking too deeply about things.

“The team didn't get announced until about an hour and a half before kick off. I was very disappointed. I can remember I felt quite emotional because I had it in my head that I was going to start the game, and I never. I think Billy McKinlay was another one that people thought would have started and he never. I came on and scored but we didn't deserve to win it.”

He says the final against his boyhood heroes Celtic in 2001 was closer than the 3-0 scoreline to Martin O'Neill's side suggested. O'Neil had scored twice in the semi-final win over Livingston, missing his brother Stevie's wedding in the process.

“I was supposed to be the best man. Okay, it was my brother's wedding [but] what can you say, it was the semi-final of the Scottish Cup? If it had been any other game I'm pretty sure the manager [Alex McLeish] would have given me leeway for it but I never asked because I did want to play in it. My other brother, Kevin, stepped in for me.”

The final was essentially over by the 48th minute. Jackie McNamara scored six minutes before the interval and then Henrik Larsson added another three minutes after it. The Swede then scored a penalty 10 minutes from time to seal the victory.

“Celtic undoubtedly deserved to win but I felt there wasn't too much in the game at 0-0. Right up until McNamara scored we were right in it, but that goal and Larsson's after half-time knocked the stuffing out of us.”

Sandwiched in between those two finals was that League Cup defeat by Rangers at Parkhead, when St Johnstone lost a narrow match to Jorg Albertz's left-foot drive after Nick Dasovic had cancelled out Stephane Guivarc'h's sixth-minute opener.

“I swapped shirts with Albertz,” recalls O'Neil of events afterwards. “At first I thought he had dingied me. My best mate is a Rangers fan and he had been asking me to get him a Rangers top. The final whistle went and I went up to Albertz and said 'do you want to swap tops?' He said: 'Yeah, I will give it to you later.' I thought 'I've just been custard pied on that one.' But we were in the dressing room with our heads in our hands, the manager [Sandy Clark] said his bit for a couple of minutes, we could hear them celebrating and then there was a chap at the door and Albertz walked in. He just breenged right into our dressing room, took his top off, gave it to me and I gave him my top. My big mate's still got the Albertz top. I often wondered what Albertz did with that shirt. His missus maybe used it for the dusting, I don't know. I don't think he's got it up in his snooker room.”

He says his biggest regret came in 2006 when Gretna took 10-man Hearts to extra-time before losing on penalties after misses by Derek Townsley and Gavin Skelton. The defeat came at the end of his career and he knew his chance of winning a medal was gone. There is a humility and self-effacement to O'Neil that undermines just how good a player he was and it is apparent in what he says next.

“I would say that's the one that got away. That's probably the most disappointing one – I was man of the match in that final. We did have Hearts on the ropes going to extra-time. Paul Hartley was sent off and I just felt it was going to be our day. I was 36 at the time, I probably thought that was going to be my last cup final. I'm not saying the result would have been different but I wish I had taken a penalty in the shootout. The hands went up very quickly, I did volunteer, but there were guys there willing to take them. I maybe wasn't forceful enough. I just wish I had been a bit more demanding when the manager was looking for bodies because up until that point, in preparing for the cup final, we hadn't nominated takers. When the whistle went, Rowan Alexander pulled everybody in and said 'right, who wants to hit a penalty?' Who knows I could have ballooned it over the bar.”

Today as his old sides walk out at Hampden he will be hosting a family gathering. It is his granddaughter's confirmation and there is a birthday, too. He says his house will be as full as Covid-19 regulations allow for it to be. But he also says that, amidst shuttle runs to the kitchen to stock up on sausage rolls and sandwiches for the guests, he will have his eyes fixed on the TV tracking events in Glasgow where the two clubs of his heart will do battle for a trophy which collectively they have won just twice in the post-war era. So who does he want to win?

“You're trying to catch me out here, aren't you?” he laughs. “I really don't know. I've got such an affection for the two clubs. I really have. I have spoken before about my time at both clubs and what they meant to me. St Johnstone was the happiest time in my career but Hibs was great as well. Put it this way, I'm not going to be disappointed which way it goes.”

For once, O'Neil cannot lose.