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Perth High School’s 2001 cup-winning captain Scott Findlay never forgets to remind Eddie Malone about final

The Perth school have only won the Scottish Senior Shield once but hope to make it twice on Friday night at Hampden.

Eddie Malone and the Perth High team of 2001. Images: SNS and DCT.
Eddie Malone and the Perth High team of 2001. Images: SNS and DCT.

The only Perth High captain to lift the most prestigious trophy in Scottish schoolboy football cherishes the memories of his team’s 2001 Hampden Park triumph.

And he also never forgets to remind one of the players he got the better of!

Goalkeeper Scott Findlay, and Eddie Malone were team-mates in St Johnstone’s youth academy by the time they faced off at the national stadium with Perth High and St Augustine’s High of Edinburgh.

The Fair City under-18 team ran out 4-2 winners that day, an achievement the current senior side hope to emulate on Friday night.

Malone went on to play at 11 clubs as a professional, famously scoring a winning goal for Clyde against Celtic in the Scottish Cup.

But Findlay, who is currently a goalkeeping coach with Saints, won’t let him forget who came out on top in Glasgow 22 years ago.

Scott Findlay with his children watching St Johnstone’s 2021 Scottish Cup win at Perth’s Cherrybank Inn, which he owns. Image: DC Thomson

“Every year on the 10th of May I send Eddie a message reminding him that we beat them,” he said. “Every single year without fail!

“Myself and Eddie were both already at St Johnstone.

“Eddie was a really good player – very under-rated. And he went on to have an excellent career.

“The St Augustine’s team that day had Chris Townsley in it as well, who played for quite a few clubs.”

This year’s High team have stressed the importance of unity and camaraderie on their road to Hampden and it was the same back in 2001.

“We were all mates,” said Findlay, who is going to the final, which has a 7pm kick-off. “We all hung about together at school.

“And football-wise, a lot of us had come through at Kinnoull together from the under-12s. Maybe eight or nine of us.

“There were no stars in the team. Everybody just dug in and played for each other.

“That’s how it worked so well and I hear that it’s similar with this year’s High School group.

“We could go to Glasgow and beat teams on ash pitches.

“The semi-final was up north against Banff Academy and I actually don’t know how we got through that one. They hit the bar late on and I had a big save to make.

“I was in sixth year and had played in the senior team for a few years.

“I think we lost three semi-finals in a row.

“One of them was at McDiarmid when (future Celtic and Scotland midfielder) Stephen Pearson was against us and ran riot.

“And I think we lost on penalties another year.”

Conceded an early goal and got a man sent off

Findlay, whose senior clubs included Livingston and Dundee, still has a video recording of the final.

“They scored an early goal from a corner when I got caught under the ball,” he said.

“Stuart Oliver was on the post and ducked because he didn’t want to ruin his hair!

“They scored a cracker of a free-kick as well.

“Sean Birrell was great for us that game.

“We were both in the Scotland Schoolboys team at the time.

“I think he was with St Johnstone for a wee while as well. He had a wand of a left foot. Sean went to America to play and studied while he was out there. He still lives in the States.

“We went down to 10 men when Mikey Gadsen got sent off.

“It was 3-2 at the time and if they’d scored the next goal we’d have been in trouble.

“The Shield is absolutely massive to lift. Hopefully the High boys get to see if they can manage it on Friday!”

This year's Perth High team.
This year’s Perth High team with former pupils, Liam Gordon and David Wotherspoon.

Finding the right balance between soaking up the occasion and treating it the same as any other game will be the key to success, according to Findlay.

“The boys will have loved the build-up,” he said.

“Schoolwork was irrelevant to us by that stage. All we could think about was the final.

“But they can’t think like they’ve got to play differently because it’s Hampden Park otherwise they could freeze.

“They’re playing a performance school (Holyrood Secondary) so it will be tough but if you’re a tight unit, you’ve got a chance.”

The Perth High 2001 champions were – Findlay (capt); Caldow, McDonald (Lafferty), Oliver, Davidson, Wilkie, McGregor, Jones, Innes, Gadsen, Birrell.

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