Hugh’s cup Blues even got the club chairman singing!
Stranraer are hoping to create another shock for football fans in Edinburgh this afternoon.
Hibs take on the League Two side at Stair Park in a clash that kicks-off at 12.15pm.
Hearts were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Highland League champions, Brora Rangers, in an earlier round of the competition.
A victory for Stranraer wouldn’t be quite as dramatic, but there’s no doubt it would be long celebrated in the town.
Hugh Hay played 476 games for the Blues during a 13-season stint with the club.
His best and worst Scottish Cup experiences were just a year apart.
He recalled: “We played St Johnstone in 1973, and they had a very decent side.
“We drew 0-0 at home and moved on to a midweek replay at Muirton Park.
“They were red-hot favourites to get through, and because it was an evening game in Perth, that meant most of us having to get away from work early.
“We didn’t get off to the best of starts when St Johnstone went ahead after just two minutes.
“But they had one of the biggest pitches in the country, and that seemed to suit us. We got a quick equaliser and took the tie to extra-time.
“My old pal, Billy Collings, never tires of telling us that his pass led to us getting the winner.
“It was one of the biggest shocks for years, and there were some joyous celebrations on the journey back to Glasgow.
“Our chairman, Jimmy Brown, wasn’t normally one to make a lot of noise. I think he was a funeral director and a teetotaller.
“But that night he was leading the singing on the bus!”
Unfortunately, Stranraer’s Cup hopes were brought back down to earth in the next round when they were thumped 9-2 by Dundee.
Hugh went on: “The Cup tie I’d rather not get mentioned was the year after that when we lost 7-1 against Ayr United.
“I had grown up as an Ayr fan, and used to get lifted over the turnstiles at Somerset Park.
“At least I got our goal. That meant I was able to hold my head high when I went back there. “Alex Ferguson was playing for Ayr that day, and there’s a picture in one of his autobiographies. But he didn’t score.”
Hugh’s senior football career started with Airdrie in 1969.
He recalled: “I trained with Ayr United when I was still a schoolboy until Ally Macleod took over as manager. He asked who all these young boys were and binned us – to my acute frustration.
“I then played three trial matches for Airdrie Reserves. The last one was an 8 or 9-1 defeat by Rangers – but I scored and was signed up. “I made my debut against Morton at Cappielow, just two days after I got married.
“We had a good side, with players like Drew Jarvie, Drew Busby and Derek Whiteford.
“There was a suggestion they might go fulltime, but my father had insisted I complete an engineering apprenticeship.
“I was given a free transfer, and Stranraer convinced me to sign for them.
“Over all the years, I was normally only in the town of Stranraer once a fortnight.
“We trained at various places throughout central Scotland. I had a spell where I trained with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park despite being a Stranraer player.
“Their players couldn’t believe it when I said we stopped for a pre-match lunch on the way to Stranraer, and an evening meal on the way back.
“I discovered after I’d retired that Kilmarnock had made a bid for me when Willie Fernie was manager. Nobody mentioned it at the time.”
Hugh, now 72 and living in Darlington, has no regrets about spending so long with one club.
He said: “I was a fitness fanatic and a passionate trainer. I would have been turning out as an amateur if I hadn’t got to turn professional.
“I got to play on every ground in Scotland apart from Dumbarton’s Boghead.
“The only disappointment in football for me was if the team-sheet was read out and my name wasn’t on it.”