I was living in Italy in 1993 and that February was unusually cold and wet. To find out the score I had to walk about half a mile in the pouring rain to a phone box on the deserted seafront. Huddled in the booth I pumped my few coins into the slot and called Dad.
Mum answered. Dad must known who was calling because I could hear him shout, "It's 3-1 !"; "Who to?"; "Us."; "Is it finished?"; "Ten minutes to go on Ceefax."And then my lire ran out.
It was a restless night not knowing the final result. The next morning I was down to the newspaper stand earlier than usual. A frantic search throught the pink pages of La Gazetta dello Sport and there it was - Coppa Scozzese East Fife 1, Arbroath 4.