Levein reveals how he took introduction
As Craig Levein endured a few good-natured barbs at Petershill Park, it brought back a swathe of vivid memories.
Some painful, but all formative.
His time in the Junior ranks with Lochore Welfare occurred close to 40 years ago, a fresh-faced teenager attempting to make his mark in a league of grizzled, wily veterans who did not take kindly to this languid youngster striding out from the back.
Levein points to his face to indicate where he received his first skelp. Welcome to men’s football.
It would be the first of many lessons he learned at that level as he grew up very quickly before joining Cowdenbeath in 1981.
A superb career with Hearts would follow, winning 16 full caps for Scotland along the way. However, he never forgot his apprenticeship on those pockmarked pitches.
“I played for the mighty Lochore Welfare,” he smiles. “My highlights? I don’t know if we had any to be honest! But it made me grow up, it made a man out of me.
“I still remember my first match and the big striker who was playing against me. The ball came up to him and he controlled it. I put my leg between his legs, knocked the ball away and went round him.
“I passed it forward and the next minute I just felt – bang!”
The former Scotland manager gestures to his chin, adding: “I was lying on the ground dazed, and he said: ‘That will be the last time you do that!’
“The next time the ball came up, fair to say he won it!”
It’s a different ball-game today, literally. As they illustrated in their 1-0 win over Ayr United in the fourth round, Auchinleck Talbot have far more to their game than those old traits of physicality and force. One of the giants of the modern Junior game, they can play.
Levein witnessed them demolish Petershill 7-0 in person last Saturday while one of their star men, Gordon Pope, played under Levein at Dundee United.
“I didn’t manage to stay incognito at Petershill sadly,” he continued. “There was a bit of banter. It was good fun actually. It’s a while since I’ve been to a game at that level.