FOUR summers ago a promising group of young players were just setting out on their professional careers with Falkirk. Among the brightest prospects were two 17-year-olds, Tam Scobbie and Craig Gowans, and a 16-year-old, Scott Arfield.
Scobbie was the only one of the three to be Falkirk born and bred – Arfield came from Dechmont in West Lothian, Gowans from Edinburgh – but they were all committed to the club and looking forward to rising through the ranks together. Then tragedy str
uck, and Gowans was killed in a training-ground accident when a 20-foot-long pole he was carrying touched power lines.
Falkirk immediately cancelled a planned tour to England as a mark of respect following the accident in July 2005, and John Hughes, then as now the manager of the club, said that as a lasting tribute the teenager's jersey would be placed in the tunnel at the club's stadium.
That jersey is there to this day, and Arfield and Scobbie, now members of the first team, touch it before every home match in remembrance of their friend. When Falkirk come out at Hampden this afternoon for the Scottish Cup final against Rangers, however, every jersey in their squad will bear Craig's name.
What is more, the club announced this week that Craig's father, John Gowans, will lead the team out, and that Craig's mother, Sheila, will also attend the match along with his brothers Darren and Dean and sister Lynsey. Arfield and Scobbie, who scored a goal apiece in the 2-0 semi-final win against Dunfermline, will be among those who feel the occasion most poignantly, and this week Scobbie spoke of how much the tribute to his former team-mate means to him.
"Craig was a major part of my life and he still is, and for his dad to lead us out with Craig's name on our shirts is great," Scobbie said. "I was at his funeral and Craig's dad told me Craig looked up to me as a player, and he said, 'If you are going to do anything in football, do it for Craig'.
"Every time I step on to the park I feel as if I do that. But it would have been a greater day if Craig was walking out with us.
"The gaffer spoke to us before the semi-final and told us he wanted John to lead us out. He feels he owes the family a lot for what happened.
"I was there the day it happened and I played with Craig, and I think it is great John has accepted our invitation. It shows a great bit of character from him to do it. He will be very emotional along with all the boys who played with him, like Darren Barr, Scott Arfield and myself.
"Hopefully we can go out and do a job in memory of Craig. We have the jersey here at the stadium which myself and Scott touch every week.
"To have it on the jersey is a great sign. With a bit of luck and Craig looking down on us then hopefully we can get the win."
It was Hughes who asked the family if they would like to be involved at Hampden. Having been delighted to receive a positive reply, he now hopes that John Gowans will have a part to play in proceedings at the end of the match as well as beforehand.
"It's going to be a very emotional day," Hughes said. "John is going to walk the team out and I am proud that he is doing that. It is also very fitting that Sheila and the kids are coming along.
"I had to be very respectful to the family and approach them in the right manner. John said yes because he would be walking out in Craig's footsteps.
"I am a very emotional guy and I would love to see John and Darren going up to lift the cup. If that were to happen then I don't think I could hold the tears back. That's what it means to us."
Scobbie's family will be well represented at the national stadium, including his grandmother. "My gran wasn't able to go to the semi-final after my grandad died, but she has a ticket for the final and she is coming with my mum and dad," he explained.
"And for her to be there is absolutely fantastic. I'm sure my grandad will be looking down and hoping that we can do it.
"I got my tickets and gave them to my mum. I said 'Here they are – get them and your bus sorted'.
"I got 45 tickets for everybody who wanted them and they are running a double decker bus. I am taking nothing to do with it. I want to just stay focused on the game."
Although it will be a very emotional occasion, especially for those players who knew Craig, Scobbie is convinced his own team will not feel the burden of that emotion. "There is no pressure on us," he said.
"I think we can go there and with a little bit of luck we can win it. I am a local lad and I know what it means to the fans and the lads.
"We have played Rangers a few times this season. We have done well against them on a number of occasions.
"They will be on a massive high after winning the league. We know we will have to keep it tight for the first 20 and then to try and open things up. I think we have shown over the past four years that we tend to raise our game against the Old Firm.
"I spoke to Scott after we scored in the semi-final and told him that it was one of the biggest things you could do," he added.
"Now we have a chance to do something bigger and make a real name for ourselves on Saturday.
"But it's not about myself – or Scott – scoring goals. I wouldn't care if our goalkeeper Dani Mallo popped up with a goal as long as we got the win. That would be good enough for me."
A dozen years have passed since Falkirk last reached the cup final. They lost to Kilmarnock that day at Ibrox in 1997, but their supporters still came out in numbers to welcome the team home.
"I would be lying if I said I had memories of the 1997 final against Kilmarnock," Scobbie added. "I was just too young.
"But Falkirk lost and still had 5,000 fans out in the streets to see them coming back in the open-top bus. Hopefully, this time we can go there and get a better result."
And such a result might be the most fitting tribute of all to Craig Gowans, a boy who must have dreamed of playing in a major final for the team with whom he had just signed a professional contract shortly before he was killed.
The full article contains 1179 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
