Partick Thistle entertain Highland League Cove Rangers this Saturday in the William Hill Scottish Cup Third Round and for Firhill midfielder David Rowson, the visit of the Aberdeen based side will bring back happy memories of learning to play the game at a soccer school run by former Aberdeen and Celtic player Willie Garner.
Learning skills from the former centre-half, who went on to manage Alloa Athletic and Assistant Manager to Sir Alex Ferguson at Pittodrie, led to the now 36-year-old Rowson playing in a Scottish Cup Final for his home town team back in 2000.
Unfortunately, the Cup Final was effectively over before it had begun and Rowson is now hoping to be starting another Scottish Cup campaign after overcoming a back injury. If selected when Jackie McNamara’s side look to take their first step towards a potential Hampden appearance come next May, the game will be a landmark one as it will mark Rowson’s 250th Thistle appearance.
Rowson said: “I was actually at school with Martin Johnston, who plays for Cove, and he played in the SFL with Peterhead, Brechin and Elgin so it will be good to see him again. I also know their former Chairman, Alan McRae, who is now heavily involved with the SFA as their Vice-President and I played on their Allan Park ground a lot when I was younger.
“The first time was when Willie Garner ran his soccer school at Cove and also the boys club I played with from Deeside used to play a lot of games there.”
Rowson graduated from Deeside and Garner’s soccer school to play at another famous ground, Aberdeen’s Pittodrie Stadium, where he was a Don from 1994 to 2001 and he said: “It was brilliant to play for them. Every schoolboy wants to play for their local team and I was able to do that over 130 times.”
One of those appearances came in the Scottish Cup Final of 2000 when Ebbe Skovdahl’s Aberdeen took on Rangers at Hampden and the contest was ruined in the opening exchanges when Dons shot-stopper, Jim Leighton, was caught in the face by Rod Wallace’s knee and had to be carried off.
There was no substitute goalkeeper listed by Skovdahl in the permitted three replacements that was allowed at the time and striker Robbie Winters ended up having to came on and go between the sticks in a Ryan Esson jersey to face a Rangers side that had just been crowned League Champions.
Rowson said: “It is still the highlight of my career but we never really got a chance to get into the game. To lose your only goalkeeper after only four minutes was a huge blow and what is usually also forgotten is that we lost Russell Anderson as well midway through the first half when the game was still goalless. That was another cruel blow as well and made our job even more difficult.
“We lost 4-0 and Robbie was not to blame for any of the goals as most of them came from defensive mistakes.”
Rowson moved down to England the following summer and joined Stoke City and he enjoyed a special moment of FA Cup football down south as he explained: “We drew Everton in the FA Cup when Stoke were a League One side. We lost 1-0 but it was a special occasion playing in front of 28,000 fans at the Britannia Stadium.”
After two years in the Potteries, Rowson headed north for a first stint with Partick Thistle where interest in the Scottish Cup was brought to an abrupt end with a 3-0 home defeat from Dunfermline Athletic. After a season at Firhill, the midfielder ended up back down south again for spells at Northampton Town and Darlington before returning to Maryhill in 2007.
Rowson said: “I have not had much of a cup run since then with our best performance probably being the game we drew at Ibrox 1-1 when Damon Gray scored at the Quarter Final stage. We lost the replay but earned a lot of credit for how we played.”
Last season, Rowson and his team-mates met another side from close to his Aberdeen home when Culter Juniors were re-instated in the competition after a clerical error by Spartans who had earlier defeated them and the Junior club stunned Thistle by holding them to a 1-1 draw on their home turf.
“They did very well at their ground and stuck to their task all game,” said Rowson before adding, “They nearly caused an upset in what was a really difficult game for the young boys in our side to play in. The pitch was not great but there were no excuses as we should have done better but we put that right at Firhill when we beat them 4-0 a week later.”
Rowson is now hoping that having played against a Junior side last season, he will get the chance to play against a Highland League side from the same neck of the woods but he knows that he cannot go banging on McNamara’s door demanding to get a starting spot.
A troublesome back problem has curtailed Rowson this season and now that he is fit, the Jags are in such good form he is struggling to get a starting jersey as he explained: “At the start of the season, my back was just too sore and I could not play. I had played through it for a year but the pain got too bad. I have now had a couple of cortisone injections and they have helped me but fortunately for the team and unfortunately for me, we have made a great start and I can’t get into the team.
“I am just waiting in the wings now and after making my comeback with a 70 minute performance in the reserves, I have played three games and would say I am nearly back to full fitness. I am waiting for my opportunity to get back in but I can hardly suggest to the Manager to change a team that has done so well.”
Rowson summed up the situation saying: “It would not be fair to drop anyone just because someone else is fit at the moment and I would be disappointed if it happened to me. I am at 249 appearances for Thistle now and just waiting to get to the 250 mark. Hopefully, it will come soon and I can help the side keep playing decent football.”
He continued: “The squad this year is a lot younger than the other squads I have been involved in at Firhill. I am more in line with the Manager’s age than the players and last season that was really noticeable when we were not doing so well.
“Last season, the squad was still gelling and most of the guys were still learning their trade. If I did not play, that left just Alan Archibald with a lot of experience with no-one else over 24 and that is young for a division as competitive as the First Division.”
Rowson concluded by saying: “The cup tie aginst Cove is a game that I am looking forward to either to watch or play in as I am sure both sides will just go for it.”
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