Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

The enduring friendship that has earned Perth High School boys a place in Hampden cup final

Senior team in the Scottish Schools FA Senior Shield have "incredible" bond.

This year's Perth High team.
The Hampden-bound squad with St Johnstone players and former pupils Liam Gordon and David Wotherspoon. Image: Ross Robinson/Perth High School.

They’ve played together since first year and know each other on the pitch inside out.

Now the strong bond of Perth High School’s senior football team is credited for earning them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play at Hampden Park.

Coach and PE teacher Ross Robinson reckons it is the boys’ enduring friendship that has got them to the final of the Scottish Schools’ Football Association Senior Shield.

Although they are focussed on the not-so-small matter of exams until the big match in three weeks, a couple of the boys took some time out to tell us about their road to Hampden.

Team captain Jack Milne. Image: Perth High School/Ross Robinson.

Jack Milne, 18, is “buzzing” to have reached the final and said the moment the whistle blew on their semi-final victory over Dunfermline High School was incredible.

The S6 pupil, who is team captain, said: “To know we’ve gone through a whole year unbeaten and gotten ourselves to a final at Hampden Park is brilliant and I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet.”

A massive part of their success, he said, was their “togetherness as as a team”.

“We’ve all played together for years at school and many of the team play together out of school.

“We all work hard for each other and want to achieve something with our mates.”


Perth High School road to Hampden

Second round: Perth HS v. Inverkeithing HS 4-0

Third round: Perth HS v. Grove Ac. 5-0

Fourth round: Perth HS v. Cults Ac. 3-0

Fifth round: Bishopbriggs Ac. v. Perth HS 1-3

Sixth round: Robert Gordon’s College v. Perth HS 3-3 (5-6 pens)

Semi-final: Perth HS v. Dunfermline HS 3-1

Final: Perth HS v Holyrood Sec at Hampden on May 19


Vice-captain Connor Scott, 17, agreed that his teammates’ solidarity was the biggest reason for their success.

Vice-captain Connor Scott. Image: Perth High School/Ross Robinson.

“We talk about the games long before them and get everyone hyped up together to go and win because we all know how big an achievement it would be to win the competition for both ourselves and the school,” he said.

It feels “surreal”, he said, to be preparing to play in a national final in an iconic stadium where so many legends of the game have played.

Jay Oosenbrugh in action against Dunfermline. Image: Grenville Dawson.

He said: “We all joked about it after the first game, saying we’re going to get there, but no one fully believed that we would because we knew how difficult it was going to be.”

Connor, also in S6, is going to America on a football scholarship in August but now is trying to focus on passing his Highers.

He said: “It’s difficult to only think about one or the other because they’re both on my mind but I’ll just have to do my best with both and after my last exam I can just focus 100% on Hampden.”


Perth High School Hampden team

  • Bruno Nowrotek
  • Connor Scott (vice-captain)
  • Cole Dewar
  • Jack Milne (captain)
  • Charlie Scott
  • Sam Currie
  • Connell Clarke
  • Adam Leese (vice-captain)
  • Ethan Forber
  • Aaron Flood
  • Lewis Anderson
  • Kacper Przeslica
  • Jay Oosenbrugh
  • Thomas Drysdale
  • Finlay Jarvis
  • Jameson Gahan

Ross has coached the boys – mostly S6 pupils with a few from S4 and S5 – since S1.

And he says it is their endurance as a team which has been their strength.

Coach and PE teacher Ross Robinson. Image: Perth High School/Ross Robinson.

He said: “The camaraderie, the friendship within the group is massive. I haven’t seen or heard of a single disagreement, barring the odd one on the pitch; the team spirit they have is incredible.”

While at the start of the season he wouldn’t have predicted they would be bound for Hampden, he said he is not surprised.

The atmosphere back in the changing room when they beat Dunfermline to secure that place, he said, was “quite something”.

Celebrations as the third goal hit the back of the net in the semi-final. Image: Grenville Dawson.

“It felt like it took the boys a few minutes to process the fact they had just qualified to play at Hampden.

“Once that sunk in it was raucous in there. It was noisy, there was singing, there was shouting, there was stuff being thrown all around the changing room!”

Coaches are being organised for Hampden, and Ross hopes they will have at least 200 supporters in the stands.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity they have earned.”

Ross Robinson, coach and PE teacher

There is excitement and healthy respect among the players for the footsteps they will be following in when run out onto the hallowed turf.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity they have earned,” said Ross.

“If we come home with that trophy that would be amazing but for me the real trophy is having the Hampden experience and living as a professional footballer would for a day.”

The team has had a pep talk from St Johnstone players and former High pupils, Liam Gordon and David Wotherspoon.

But until the big day the boys are trying to steer their minds from Hampden onto exams for National 5s, Highers and Advanced Highers.

Ross said: “It’s a really, really strange time period they are in just now.

“The boys will have to put football to the back of their minds and focus on what’s arguably more important – but as the days go on and we get closer to the 19th that will be harder and harder!”

The final of the Scottish Schools Football Association Senior Shield will kick-off at Hampden Park at 7pm on Friday, May 19.

Conversation