THE date is 2 May 1995. Boyzone and Scatman John are jostling for position in the UK charts. Father Ted is two episodes old. And Partick Thistle have just beaten Celtic.
Twenty-three years, 359 appearances and nearly five seasons in the Firhill dugout later, Alan Archibald is still waiting for another win over Thistle’s Glasgow neighbours.
It has been a long and painful wait, with a 1-1 draw in May last year providing the only respite in a run of 26 Celtic victories.
Archibald has risen all the way up the ranks in that time, from cleaning boots to picking the team, and he is determined to see his side end their dismal run during tomorrow’s Scottish Cup fifth round encounter at Celtic Park.
“I was 17-years-old when I signed for Partick Thistle and I was a boot boy, carrying the hampers when we last beat Celtic in 1995 at Hampden,” he said.
“It was a long time ago - too long! It’s ridiculous the amount of time since we won a game against them. We were in different leagues for a long spell, but it doesn’t make it any easier for ourselves or the fans.
“It’s only going to get harder, we know that. But we should do better and there’s games in that run where I’ve been in charge that we should have won.
“It’s a disappointing record and hopefully we can put it right. I remember Tommy Smith scoring a late equaliser at Parkhead when I just arrived (in May 1994) and everyone remembers that goal.
“That is the challenge for our players, to try and be a hero and go down in history and it would be particularly huge as it’s a cup tie.
“I don’t remember much about the game in 1995 apart from doing the kit with another trainee and all the players coming in happy after it.
“It was a good group of players at that time. Mental, but good. We had the likes of Steve Pittman, Chic Charnley and Alan Dinnie.
“As a trainee you didn’t want to get on the wrong side of them. If you didn’t have their boots ready they’d let you know about it but it’s different now and society has changed a bit.”
Archibald, who is hopeful that Steven Lawless and Callum Booth will return for the game and rates Niall Keown’s chances of being involved at 50/50, believes the time has come for his side to put an end to the hard luck stories of recent years.
“We’ve produced decent performances at Parkhead but it counts for nothing, albeit we’ve had a point here and there,” he said.
“You want three points or a win to get through to the next round of the cup. It gives you a little bit of hope to the see likes of Kilmarnock winning last week.
“I know they’ve only lost two games but games have been closer.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here