Former Scotland captain Scott Brown returned to Hampden Park on Sunday evening to make the draw for the Third Round of the Scottish Cup. A six-time Scottish Cup winner with Celtic, Brown also represented Hibs and Aberdeen in an illustrious playing career. He joined host Gordon Duncan in the Scottish Football Museum to make the draw for the Third Round.
The Scottish Cup is marking its 150th anniversary this season and the Scottish Football Museum has recently launched an exhibition celebrating the famous competition.
Dunfermline were drawn against Fife rivals Raith Rovers in the pick of the Third Round ties, while Dunbar United - who shocked East Fife - will host Alloa Athletic in an intriguing match-up. Jeanfield Swifts caused the shock of Round Two as they stunned League Two Elgin City - winning 6-0 at the Riverside Stadium. Their reward is a match against the winners of Musselburgh Athletic and Clyde. Tranent produced the other stand out performance in the Second Round as they defeated fellow Lowland League side East Kilbride 7-0. They will host Forfar Athletic in Round Three. Championship pace-setters Dundee United were drawn away to League One side Queen of the South.
The matches will take place on the weekend of Saturday, 25 November.
Scott Brown spoke to the SFA after the draw as he reflected on his return to the National Stadium. He said: "It was good to be back to do the draw. I've not been back to the stadium since the 2020 Scottish Cup Final against Hearts actually. A couple of my mates have already been texting me who are at Kelty Hearts and The Spartans. I've also got some friends at Cowdenbeath so I'm sure how happy they will be at going up to Inverness but they've got to deal with the luck of the draw. The Fife derby is one that jumps out for me. I might go along to that and watch it myself. They played yesterday but both teams will be wanting to go far in the cup. Winning the Scottish Cup is amazing. It's an honour. When you win the trophy you know you're the best team in Scotland. Walking up the stairs is amazing and lifting the cup in front of your own fans, it's a special moment. You grow up wanting to do that and I've been lucky enough to do that six times and it probably should've been a couple more if I'm being honest."
Brown went on: "The Aberdeen match in 2017 is a stand-out as that secured the Invincible Treble. Tom Rogic scored late on and the scenes were exceptional when he put it into the bottom right corner and we all jumped into the Celtic fans to celebrate. Just walking up the steps knowing that we've worked so hard and there was so many people doubting us and not wanting us to do it, but we managed to push through and show our quality."
Brown also looked back on his first steps into management with Fleetwood Town. He guided Fleetwood to a 13th place finish in League One, while they also reached the Fifth Round of the FA Cup before he left shortly after the start of this season. He went on: "It was a great experience for me and Steven (Whittaker) to go down to England. We enjoyed it, we had some great times last season and some not so good times this season but we all bounce back. I'm getting itchy feet now. It's been good to get some family time and see the kids growing up, having been away for the last couple of years, but it's got to that stage where I'm looking forward at getting back to the routine."
Third Round Draw
Albion Rovers v Bonnyrigg Rose
Annan Athletic v Dumbarton
Brora Rangers v Pollok
Broxburn Athletic v Buckie Thistle
Cumnock Juniors v Broomhill
Dunbar United v Alloa Athletic
Dunfermline Athletic v Raith Rovers
Falkirk v Formartine United
Greenock Morton v Luncarty or Bo'ness United
Hamilton Academical v Kelty Hearts
Inverness Caledonian Thistle v Cowdenbeath
Montrose v Edinburgh City
Musselburgh Athletic or Clyde v Jeanfield Swifts
Partick Thistle v Queen's Park
Peterhead v Ayr United
Queen of the South v Dundee United
Stirling Albion v Cove Rangers
Stranraer v Airdrieonians
The Spartans v Arbroath
Tranent v Forfar Athletic