Broxburn Athletic 8 Dalbeattie Star 1 (Broxburn win 12-2 on aggregate) 

THE rain mercifully lifted at Albyn Park pre-match and it was more than possible to talk with some validity about sunny futures and bright horizons as Broxburn Athletic swept into the Lowland League.

There was also the opportunity to talk of past glory. As the East of Scotland champions dismissed the South of Scotland title holders on Friday night with an almost unseemly briskness, Steven Anderson stood next to the home dugout and looked out on to the final scenes of his involvement as a professional football player.

Anderson, who is 38, is typically modest about his greatest achievement as a player, brushing off the reminder that he scored in that 2-0 triumph. Indeed, he questions its place at the summit of his career.

‘I am a firm believer in league placings giving a true indication of your season,’ he says. ‘You need to win a league over a period of time while a cup, obviously, is just a knockout. That Scottish Cup day was a great occasion but I have fond memories of winning the First Division at St Johnstone under Del (McInnes). I think that was the basis of everything that followed.’

He adds: ‘We had other good times too at the club. We finished third one season and we played in Europe. The cup final feels a long time ago, though social media and that stuff keeps it fresh, especially on an anniversary.’

Cup final day in 2014 had specific memories. ‘It’s odd but I remember it as my mothers’ 50th and I also remember I felt it was all in the stars. Stevie May played on May 17 wearing 17 on his back. There were lots of wee things that made me think we would win.’

It is 23 years since Anderson started his career in pro football with Dundee United but his spell with the Saints from 2004-2020 placed him permanently in the hearts of the Perth support and also gave him an invaluable perspective on the club.

‘The Browns have done an extraordinary job there,’ he says of Geoff and son, Steve, who have run the Perth club from 1986, though a sale to an American businessman was agreed this month. ‘After we won the cup, the club went on to win the Scottish and League Cups in 2021. That is some achievement. That is never going to be done again outside the Old Firm. The club has progressed and progressed and I hope they can kick on again after avoiding the relegation play-off.’

The future is more clear-cut for Anderson. He joined Broxburn at Christmas after his St Johnstone career ended with loans to Partick Thistle and Raith Rovers and subsequent moves to Forfar Athletic, Berwick Rangers and Crossgates Primrose.

‘This is my last game,’ he says. ‘I have had injuries the past few seasons and I think time with the family is now precious. I will take some time out because there are other things I want to do.’

He has a daughter, aged nine, and a seven-year-old son. ‘Football has consumed my life so it will be good to relax and do things with my children and my wife.’

He has his B licence and may eventually do ‘some bits and bobs’ with Broxburn. A winner of the Scottish Cup, the Challenge Cup and the First Division with the Saints, he is grateful for his time as a professional.

‘People say I can be a moany so and so,’ he says, ‘but that is just to organise others, tell them where to be, so that I don’t have to run much.’

This is said with a smile but his commitment to football was total. ‘I always just wanted to win. I always had that bug for football. I always felt that winning made your day that wee bit better. To tell you the truth, it defined my weekend.’

His weekends will now be spent with his children who enjoy swimming. His daughter is particularly interested in art and his son is involved with cycling. ‘He’s not that bothered about football and I never pushed it,’ says Anderson.

He has a full-time job with Fife Council but almost certainly will drift back occasionally to Albyn Park. ‘There are so many good people here,’ he says. ‘Promotion is the perfect end to my career but, more importantly, it is a big step forward for the club.’

THE pre-match atmosphere is cautiously celebratory. A 3-1 first-leg lead has calmed the nerves of Broxburn supporters. Dalbeattie take an early lead on the night but are brushed aside on the artificial surface with a first-half red card to the Dalbeattie goalkeeper ensuring that the only question is the margin of victory.

Ian Sloan sits on a chair in the covered enclosure, hoping that the dampness departs and he can take his place on one of the benches atop the grassy slopes.

‘I was born in Broxburn 75 years ago,’ he says. ‘I can first remember coming here at five as an unofficial ball boy.’

A retired solicitor, he has worked throughout Scotland but now lives in Bathgate. ‘I watch the team whenever I can,’ he says. ‘I played football and always enjoyed it. I even took up walking football when I retired but I got injured.’

He is content, though, to be a spectator. ‘Broxburn has always been my team and this has been a great season. We were nearly relegated last season but we have just got stronger and stronger. I think we can push on to League Two. It is not unrealistic, though it will take time.’

The past at Broxburn also holds satisfying memories for Diane Sayers and David Millar. Both have sons who were involved in the squad on Friday and both parents have coached under-age teams.

Sayers is greeted heartily by a succession of young lads as she seeks to talk about the significance of Broxburn Athletic to her life. ‘These are my boys,’ she says with a smile. They are some of the players that Sayers coached at youth level when her son, Jack, 19, first joined the club as a boy.

‘He played football in the back garden and then at soccer schools, so I got involved, took my coaching badges, my first aid training, and came down here,’ she says.

She is aware that clubs like Broxburn depend on volunteers. ‘I have taken a wee step back but I still help out now and again. This can take up much of your life.’

It can, of course, enhance it, too. Millar’s son, Marcus, has been injured but is in the match-day squad. ‘I have a picture of him in a programme of 10 years ago when he was 17,’ says his father. ‘He played in the side that lost the Under-19 Scottish Cup final. He was injured that day, too. He had broken his collarbone a few weeks earlier but still came on and played 20 minutes.’

Millar, who came to live in Broxburn 40 years ago, has found the club to be a wonderful part of his life. ‘I love it down here,’ he says. ‘You see how the fans have got behind the team. Yes, we might have to get a few more players for the Lowland League but the committee here has been brilliant. The work they have put in over the years has been phenomenal.’

That labour is rewarded by Lowland League football. The Broxburn manager, former Partick Thistle defender and United States internationalist Steve Pittman, sits in the dressing room as his players celebrate in front of fans. He takes a long pull on a bottle of beer.

‘We know we will have to improve but we will push on,’ he says. It is the way of football. A 12-2 victory, like Anderson’s Scottish Cup triumph, is now part of history. The future beckons.