With a full card of William Hill Scottish Cup fourth round fixtures taking place this weekend, we delved into the archives and found four matches which produced which produces some of the tournament’s biggest upsets…

Stenhousemuir 2-0 Aberdeen, 1995

The Premier Division outfit’s visit to Ochilview was only Roy Aitken’s second match in charge of the struggling Dons. His first, a 2-0 victory over Rangers at a sold-out Pittodrie, rightly gave the travelling support cause for optimism on their trip to Ochilview. Such optimism was quickly dashed by Stenhousemuir, then in the Scottish Second Division, as a Tommy Steel brace gave the Warriors a famous 2-0 victory.

Both sides were to experience cup success the following season at the expsense of the two Dundee teams; Stenhousemuir won the Scottish Challenge Cup on penalties against Dundee United, while Aberdeen went on to the win the Scottish League Cup with a 2-0 victory over the Dark Blues at Hampden.

Albion Rovers 1-0 Motherwell, 2013

For two teams who were only seven miles apart, the fortunes of Albion Rovers and Motherwell could not have been more different. The Steelmen had participated in European football in five of their last six seasons, including in Champions League qualifying against Panathinaikos, and had finished 2nd in the SPL the previous season. Albion Rovers, on the other hand, had not been any higher than the fourth tier of Scottish football since 1994 and their stadium Cliftonhill was deemed unsuitable to host this North Lanarkshire derby. 

The tie, played at Hamilton Academical’s New Douglas Park, was to provide one of the great Scottish Cup upsets. A late winner from Gary Phillips secured the victory for the  Wee Rovers, who took Rangers to a replay in the quarter-finals that season.

Celtic 1-1 Arbroath, 2012

After defeating the likes of Spartak Moscow and Barcelona en route to the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League, Celtic were massive favourites to overcome Second Division outfit Arbroath at Celtic Park. A bizarre own-goal by Alex Keddie had made a victory for the Hoops likely, but a late defletced free-kick from Steven Doris earned the visitors a replay.

A stunning strike from Adam Matthews was enough for Celtic at Gayfield, as Neil Lennon’s team went on to win the competition.

Ayr United 2-0 Kilmarnock, 1998

Scottish Cup holders Kilmarnock started the defence of their trophy in the third round with a 2-0 victory away to Stranraer. Their run in the competition continued – and ended - in the south-west of Scotland however when their Ayrshire rivals knocked them out of the cup in front of over 9,000 fans inside a packed Somerset Park.

Goals from Jim Dick and Ian Ferguson secured a win for the Honest Men, though it should not neccessarilly be considered a surprise – Ayr United had knocked Killie out of the League Cup the season before, and they were to eliminate them from the Scottish Cup once more in 1998-99 by an emphatic three-goal margin.