From the Kop to the Kelpies: The Alex Totten Story

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When I went to Liverpool, Alex was at Everton by then and I couldn’t wait to play against him, albeit in the second team. He was a brilliant player and we became really good friends. In October 1991, though, we were the best of enemies.
St Johnstone v Rangers at McDiarmid Park and there was no quarter asked, nor given. At the time we were in the bottom four and Rangers were second-top. Get all the latest Sports news sent straight to your Inbox every day by signing up to our newsletter. ALEX TOTTEN and Walter Smith were the best of buddies – and had even enjoyed the odd holiday abroad together.

I feel pride obviously, that's the highlight of any manager's career, leading a team out for the cup final," he said. "If we'd won the game, I would likely have retired.Roberts said: “The tournament was a big thing over there. There were TV crews everywhere with people wanting autographs. We didn’t appreciate how big it was. It’s only now you realise it was a great trip and opportunity for us. Will joined us a couple of years ago from Tranmere Rovers and has been a great signing for the club – especially as he’s starting to make a habit of scoring spectacular goals!

Brown and his board identified Totten as the man to spearhead the on-field transformation of a club which was on its uppers before they breathed new life into it. The last time we had played them in the league we lost 3-2 but we should have had all three points that day. They were a fine team but we weren’t scared of them.

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The programme will include action from both ties and feature exclusive interviews with Alex Totten and members of the 1997 team. FALKIRK legend Alex Totten would’ve loved players like Craig Sibbald and Will Vaulks at the club when he was Bairns’ boss. Totten admitted it is a chapter in his life – and the book – that he will never forget. He said: “I’ve always had the greatest of respect for those I worked alongside, and pitted my wits against, in dug­outs the length and breadth of the country. Totten recalls the club’s negotiations with Soviet Union international Sergei Baltacha and Geoff Brown’s delight when he demanded a club car. Preferably a Lada!

It may have been just 24 years ago but this was a different era. If police intervened nowadays every time managers had a touchline barney, the court system would grind to a standstill. I signed Peter and he ended up a ginger God," Totten laughs. "He was a smashing player and he's a smashing person. He's no ginger God now, by the way, he's got no hair, like myself." But it had been nothing; handbags at dawn and a difference of opinion from two guys whose only crime was showing a passion for their respective football clubs.

It seemed that Falkirk were indeed getting a second bite of an Old Firm cherry, and they didn’t plan on just having a nibble. This was an opportunity that The Bairns weren’t going to let slip, and Alex and his boys knew they had a chance. We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. To prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online and offline. To beat Celtic over two games in Glasgow was a miracle, what a feeling to take your club to a cup final.”