Perth High School's football team set for 'once in a lifetime' Hampden Park final
They take on Holyrood Secondary School this evening
Perth High School will take to the Hampden Park pitch tonight as they look to win the Scottish Schools Football Association Senior Shield final.
They take on Glasgow's Holyrood Secondary School at seven o'clock this evening (19th May 2023) at the national stadium.
Teacher at the school and coach of the football team Ross Robinson says it's a "once in a lifetime opportunity."
He said: "Not many people get the opportunity to go and play football at Hampden, so, for the boys it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. For me, probably even more than a once in a lifetime opportunity.
"Some of these boys we have are really exceptional footballers. I would not be surprised to see any of them back on that pitch in the future."
The coach added: "For me, the real reward here is not potentially getting a medal. The real reward is that once in a lifetime experience of going and playing on that pitch. A lot of these boys are going to come away from their football career with medals in their pocket. Not many are going to have that opportunity to go and play at Hampden.
"Not only to play at Hampden, but, to play at Hampden with their pals. Some of these guys have been best friends with each other since they went to primary school. That doesn't happen when you get to go and live out your dreams with your best friends but some of these guys are going to do that and that's as much as a reward to me as any trophy or any victory in a game."
To prepare for the show piece event, the team where visited by former Perth High School pupils and St Johnstone cup double winning legends Liam Gordon and David Wotherspoon.
On the visit, Ross Robinson said: "We did manage to get Liam Gordon and David Wotherspoon in who are both obviously St Johnstone players who are former Perth High School pupils.
"They came in and spent a bit of time with the boys and shared some of their experiences of playing cup finals at Hampden, they gave a couple of hints and tips as to how they could go about preparing for that game which was obviously a fantastic opportunity.
"It was amazing for the boys to sit there and speak to people who they know have sat in the same classrooms as they have and who they know have gone on to have very successful careers in football."
But apart from the visit of St Johnstone's stars, preparations have been difficult with the entire squad off on study leave as they face a different challenge, their exams. Robinson added: "I actually haven't really seen them since.
"I've had the odd chance meeting in a corridor with one or two of them if they're in for an exam where they're telling me how excited they are and how difficult it's been to focus on school work and exams when they have Hampden at the back of their minds."
Some of those who make their way onto the Hampden pitch could go on to make more appearances there in the future. That's the belief of Ross Robinson who said: "We've got a range of players from S4 through to S6 who I think without exception are playing at a good level. Whether that is players playing senior football with our junior teams locally.
"We've got a couple of S4s who are on the books at professional teams. We've got Connell Clark who plays at Montrose. We've got Aaron Flood, who's dad is Willo Flood who played for (Manchester) City and Dundee (United). Aaron is on the books at Dundee and I know he's doing very well through there.
"We've got a couple of boys, Adam and Sam, who are breaking into the first team at Jeanfield (Swifts). We do have a very high standard of players who are all playing at a very high level. Whether or not anybody can go on and become professional remains to be seen but I certainly wouldn't be surprised. Knowing the commitment and skill level these guys have I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see any of them making a career out of football. "