Can't be arsed turning it into a poll as such things are a blight on modern life.
It's not intended as a gloating thread, but maybe it is a bit.
Anyway, what would you prefer at this moment in time - a trophy in the bag and top flight football to look forward to or the prospect of a cup final and a guaranteed European adventure - however brief - to get excited about.

I'd choose Queens' position because of the romance of the cup and because I'm obviously biased.

What do others think?

Premier League every day tbh. Cup Finals, although id love to see Accies play in one, come and go in 90 minutes. SPL football lasts a full season, at least.

personally im really happy where we are now!!!!

Head says accies for the money the spl gives your club,heart def says queens.We were in the same position a few years ago got beat but got to europe.Had a cracking trip to perugia that was one of the highlights of me supporting the dees for over 35 years.

Queens everytime.

Having experienced an away European trip as little as under a year ago i can assure it that 3 days was better than any away trip in the SPL,combined.

Dont think either Hamilton or QoS fans would change the position their clubs are in just now, without a doubt these 2 clubs have been the most successful this season.

Personally I'm not too keen on SPL football at all! I think its a joke of a league and the 1st is better in every way barr quality of football i suppose!

So you would rather watch Hamilton v St Mirren than Hamilton beat Rangers in the scottish cup final and lift a trophy?

Queens for me seen Thistle play hundreds of premier league games never seen them in a cup final. Although I'm jealous of both at the moment.

Imagine it's going to depend a bit on which team you support.

For top first division clubs, each will aspire to get into the SPL at some stage - after all, one does every season. But for that size of club to get to the Scottish Cup Final, well it practically never happens! So if you have a choice of one or the other and treat it as scoring of one of the "things i'd like to see before I die", I think you would have to take what Queen of the South have now.

If you support a team that's very unlikely ever to get to the SPL, you may well choose what Accies have on the same basis.

I'm far more jealous of Queens. Not just Europe, but the fact that this is a once in a lifetime chance. Saints will be thereabouts in the promotion race next year, but I doubt we'll get as close to a major cup final for years.

No, i'd rather watch Accies play in the SPL week in, week out, than swap it for a one-off cup game, which Queens will, quite probably, lose.

That's different from saying "would you choose to play St. Mirren or win the Scottish Cup?"

No contest...Queens position.

No contest - Accies position.

The opportunity to build and grow in the community, rather than Queens in a one off game where they'll get the inevitable pumping (sadly).

I know what position I'd rather see Clyde in.

Only Gretna have been pumped in recent years?

If you had experienced a european occasion at Home and then away then you too would choose Queens position.

Short term I would say ourselves but longer term I would say it would be Accies. Our success will in all reality be over in September when we will probably be out of Europe but Accies will continue for at least the 2008/09 season

I dont think I would choose that (although I would love to be in either position)- I tend to think of things for the longer term benefit, rather than a few games. All about preference I suppose.

My ultimate ambition is to see Clyde in Europe, so it would be Queens' position.

You are going into unkown situations on at least 3 occasions...how exciting will that be! The build ups, the new experiences, the occasions! There is also the small matter that, despite what everyone is saying, you could actually win the Scottish Cup!

I'd much rather have that even once than a season of survival playing against unexciting, unispiring SPL teams.

Enjoy!

It would have to be Queens position, to be honest, i don't think the spl is all it's cracked up to be, i could'nt be arsed with having to play games at 12-30 on a Sun and 7-45 on a Mon night etc, football is for 3 o'clock on a Saturday.

Given the state of the SPL this year, the Phil O'Donnell tragedy apart, with the call offs and games being changed willy nilly, I think it's turned into a joke of a league. With the European adventure ahead of us - however fleeting it may be - I wouldn't change that for the world. I have been Hampden with the Tartan Army and they have been special days, but to walk into Hampden with my Queens top and scarfs was just the best day I have had ever in football, and now with the final to look forward, it really is happy days to be a Queens fan and I think that given the choice we are "better off"

I'm biased but I wouldn't swap.

Winning the league would obviously be great, but I don't think I'd get any more enjoyment out of watching Queens play SPL teams than I do watching them in the first. Plus there's the extra cost, the probability of losing, having to share stadia with Old Firm fans, turning Palmerston into all seater etc.

This cup run feels like a real one off. Something I never thought I'd see with Queens.

With the numbers 1-11 on the shirts of the starting 11

I don't think you can get an objective opinion from either Accies or Queens fans here. I doubt either of us would swap. For all the reasons outlined by Penguin and Adamski I wouldn't trade it.

Will be interesting to see what the majority of neutrals think though.

Would you? strange man.
When Dunfermline got relegated i got asked wether if i had the choice would i chuck our upcoming Euro games and Cup final for whats St Mirren got.
And i have to say it took about a milisecond for me to realise that for every club in this division and many in the spl Relegations and promotions will come along alot. And i will put my neck out and say that every first division fan in this league(apart from maybe Stirling and maybe Clyde) will have tasted Spl football at one point in there life . It is almost a near certainty, but as for cup finals and Euro games?
Well they rarely come along and when they do its hell of alot better than mid table mediocracy in the spl.
So cup final and euro everytime.

Most Accies fans will probably disagree,but the opportunity to play in a Cup Final and in Europe are my two ambitions for Accies.That is why many of us have only just got over the Dundee Cup Quarter Final defeat recently.

However,it we had been in the SPL say 4 times in the last 15 years,then the answer among Accies fans would perhaps differ.

It is only because we have been so low down the ladder and suffered so many disasters that this season means so much.However,I feel that finishing second this season and getting to the Final and Europe would have generated cash to enable us to win the League next season.

One quarter-final appearance in 41 years for Accies clouds my judgement,but only because I feel we would have secured promotion over the next 2-3 years anyway.

Difficult one to call though.

Tough shout for this one. The cup run has just been exceptional. I firmly believe we have a good chance of winning the Scottish cup, something I actually never though we`d get near. Most teams are looking for the big draw at some point, the bumper pay day and possibly live TV. Most don`t actually think they could get to the final. We`ve got there and who knows, with a bit of luck we could just be lifting the cup
The European games will be something else. I have been away following Scotland on a few occasions but nothing will come close to watching Queens away in European competition.
Obviously we want to be playing top flight football, playing against the "bigger teams" week in week out. But given the state of the SPL, the farcial organisation all round, you may get away thinking we`re better off where we are.

Having never experienced Accies in the Premier League I prefer our position. Plus after being away from Hamilton for so long, it gives us some time in the spotlight to try and entice people in the area back.

Cup Final, every time.

Even though, for Pars fans, Hampden is getting like a home game were there that often

In all seriousness, i'm 17 and i've seen Pars play at Hampden 5 times, 3 cup finals

All defeats though To Celtic

Queens have NEVER played in the SPL nor in the forerunner, Premier Division. We haven't played top league football since 1964. As things stand we can't do either because the ground doesn't comply.

I still wouldn't swap what we've acheived for it.

Getting to a cup final can be sheer luck of the draw. Winning a league title and playing in the top flight is a far bigger achievement.

If QOTS actually win the trophy then that changes everything. But they won't.

I'd be quite happy Falkirk falling all the way down to the third division if it meant WINNING the Cup. Looking back on it, I would probably have sacrificed our cup final in 1997 if it had meant being an established top flight team in the late nineties onwards.

I can take or leave Europe to be honest (not that I have much choice!).

Cup final and Europe, any time!

At this stage last year I was saying a cup win over staying up. Obviously I'd rather have stayed up if I knew we weren't going to win it.

Slightly different scenario though as we were coming down after spending a number of years in the SPL.

I can't believe people would take a cup "final" over being a club in the top flight which, in turn, means you can strengthen your position in Scottish football which gives you a better chance of reaching finals and Europe in the future.

If it was a cup WIN then it is a totally different story but I'd rather be in the SPL than have one match where we lose a cup final and then remain in the lower divisions.

Surprised at Dunfermline fans, especially considering they have had a few finals recently. It's nice getting to finals but losing them is utterly sickening. There isn't much fun watching Rangers or Celtic lift a trophy at your expense in my opinion. I'm still waking up in the middle of the night after having nightmares of Kerr's backpass and I would still murder Kenny Clark if I saw him in the street tomorrow.

Queens fans are probably different because their club has never been in a final or Europe before.

Wait, I didn't read the whole thread, but just realised that this will be the THIRD season in a row that a first division team is playing in Europe! Woohoo!!

We had this debate earlier in the season on AcciesWorld, and the overwhelming majority chose promotion to the SPL over a Cup Final and the chance to play in Europe. I was a strong advocate of the Cup Final option.

This season I may be prepared to make an exception. It's twenty years since we won promotion to the SPL, so apart from the long-term strategic importance of this title win, it also has a degree of novelty. For many Accies fans it's their first ever promotion to the SPL.

But it's my third. And the furthest I've seen us go in any cup competition is the semi-final of the League Cup in 1979. For me, it's a no-brainer.

Even when we get relegated again (as one day we must) I'll stick to my choice. As someone said earlier, it's a "things to see before you die" issue. I knew we'd win the league this year, and I'm sure we'll win it again in my lifetime. But the cup final? We haven't been in one of those since before my parents were born - it's something I may never see.

Queens without a doubt. Cup finals are special, I've been to 2 with Dundee and even though we lost the experience is second to none. The buzz I felt going to a cup final was far greater than when we last won promotion to the SPL. The anticipation of playing European football the following season makes it even better.

Probably one of the better questions I have seen in a while.

I would have to plumb for Hamilton. As much as Queens fans are salivating at the prospect of a Cup Final and a couple of glamour games in Europe I think reality will bite soon enough.

Scenario: Rangers lift the cup 4-0 and the first EURO game is in Armenia? Not much fun.

So for me, if I had the choice I would take Hamilton's position but if you offered Livi any option we would bite your hand off!!!

Depends on your perspective.

A one off cup final against Rangers or two trips to Ibrox and Parkhead? As far as occasions go you're better in the SPL.

As for Europe: an ignominious defeat, in a fishing village just north of Aberdeen, in a qualifying round?

For Dunfermline or Dundee fans a cup run in Europe was probably preferable because they were SPL teams at the time and it was more of an adventure for them.

For teams who haven't experienced SPL football that is a more of an adventure.

I think all those who are saying they're not bothered about playing in the SPL are at it!

That said, if it was a guaranteed cup win then that's the kind of history you can't turn down.

As Skyline Drifter points out we have never played Premier League football so that would be unprecedented success and to win a league and be able to say without doubt, we are the best team in the SFL would be great.

A Scottish Cup Final and UEFA Cup qualification is also unprecedented, so this season wins 2-1!

In seriousness though, hopefully this season has raised the national and local profile of the club enough to create a serious platform for us to build on. With the financial implications and the Tesco situation being resolved this season could be a massive turning point that leads us to a title challenge in the next 1,2,3 years?

The answer to this will change depending what you have experienced yourself as a fan, or what your club has achieved in the past. For Queen of the South this season is lightyears ahead of a league win in my opinion as I simply don't believe we have the infrastructure in place to survive in the SPL and a season of being outnumbered and outplayed doesn't sound too fun.


Waves to Charlie Nicholas

Hi Charlie!



Let me guess, Gordon Smith, right?

With out doubt getting to the SPL would be much better! A whole season in top flight gauranteed, more cash to boost squad, better attendances for your club. Plus with a better quailty of squad next season the chance to get further in the cup improves for Hamilton. The best of both worlds maybe. Although a cup run to the final in good it doesn;t beat a full season (for us anyway) of Derbies, OF games, away days to Hearts Hibs etc. Much better IMO than going to the likes of Palmerston, Stirling etc

I don't agree.

As I said previously, I've seen Accies win the first division title and get promoted to the Premier three times, and it's a fair bet I'll see it again in my lifetime, perhaps several times.

But I have never seen Accies in a cup final at Hampden. We haven't been there since 1935. I would happily give up two of the titles we have won for the chance to savour a Scottish Cup Final (or even a League Cup Final) even if we lost. I would happily give up our next first division championship just for the occasion of going to Hampden.

No hestitation - I'd love to be a Queens fan just now.

A Scottish Cup Final and a trip to Europe to look forward to, or stupid money for a restricted view and a pumping at Parkhead.
Hmm, let me think which I'd rather have.

There's nothing that great about losing a cup final! I've never really bought into the whole, "well, it's nice to be there... the result's of secondary importance" idea.

If Queens win the final, I think it would the best day of many of their fan's lives. This would be followed by at least one away trip to Bosnia or somewhere. A life-changing experience.

Hamilton have won the 1st, which is good but there's a good chance you will see your team win it again in the future. I doubt Queens fans will ever see them win the scottish cup again in their lifetime

I vote for Queenies.

Easy for you to say. No dount you were there when you lost to Killie. And, of course Falkirk have actually won the Scottish Cup.

Put yourself in my shoes. My team has been in the Scottish Cup Final twice (both times in ancient history, never in my lifetime or even close) and never been in the League Cup Final. Obviously if we got to one I would much prefer to win it, but just being there would be the treasured memory of a lifetime.

Yeah, I can see where you are coming from.

I can't say I was overwhelmed by our cup final day either. I'm sure that would have been different had we won, but I took and take far more pleasure from our games against Celtic to get there than the disappointment of losing to a very average Killie side on the day.

Perhaps it being at Ibrox and not Hampden makes a difference as well. If we got relegated though, I would gladly trade a cup win for promotion again, even though we may never win the cup in my lifetime and we will almost certainly win Division One several times during that period.

But that's kindof what I'm saying... going to the cup final and losing wasn't that great. It was a good experience and I loved the month preceding it, but with hindsight I would have swapped it for being in the top flight when I was growing up. In saying that, I was twelve at the time, I didn't stay in Falkirk and it was only my second ever Falkirk match... perhaps if it happened now my opinion would be different.

Of course, if Queen Of The South win then all bets are off... I'd definitely rather be in their position! But if it comes down to whose position I'd rather be in at this exact moment it would be Hamilton.

To each their own though.

I understand where you're coming from Academical - it's the third time in the top league for me too. This is my 36th season watching Accies, and the 2 seasons in the top flight were really miserable affairs (except the cup game at Ibrox - even that was followed by defeat at home to Motherwell). I remember my Grandfather, who went to his first game at the age of 6 in 1898, telling me all about the cup final and replay in 1911 - we should have won the first game which ended 0-0 - and the 1935 final. My father (who was 6) remembered Hamilton bedecked in red and white bunting in 1935 in anticipation of the cup coming to the town - Accies were 4th in the league that year - but of course it didn't. These were fantastic occasions and you're right - we may well never see them. Accies' post war cup record is terrible.

However, I'm sure you agree that nothing can dilute the joy of our present achievements. Our league win surpasses the two previous ones for me, as the club has never been healthier. We might just survive in the SPL - maybe - and if we do, then we can build on that, given the youth set up, and income generation from the stadium development, TV money etc. We might even reach the point hoped for by a previous chief executive, Alastair Duguid, where Accies' financial survival is practically independent of gate receipts! Who knows - we might win the cup then!

As on who has just gone through both scenarios I can assure you I would always take the situation that Queens are in to that of Accies.

This is not said with the benefit of hindsight either.

The complete euphoria of first of all getting to the semi-final then to top that by getting to the final was mindblowing
An absolute day to remember for all time.

The brief excursion into Europe was also a fantastic time.
Yeah we got horsed at Motherwell but I doubt I will see many better goals than some of those that Derry scored.
To make that trip to Derry, was an absolutely unforgetable trip.
It took me about an extra 15 minutes at least to get out of the ground due to their fans and their good wishes
Fabulous fans we met - and the party in town afterwards.................. !!
These memories will never fade - no matter what.

The win to take us to the SPL, neverwracking as it was, never managed to raise the same lever of excitement at all.

So for me - it would be the Cup final / Europe experience every time

But I am equally sure both sets of fans will have a fund of memories to look back on over a lifetime to come