TAKING the field in a cup final, resplendent in the colours of the club you love, is the stuff of footballing fantasy.

Kevin McAllister has been there, done that. It is only now, with The Beautiful Game no longer a part of his working life, that he is really living the dream.

It is normally supporters who drink in the atmosphere of landmark matches involving their side and picture themselves in the shoes of others, be it the captain raising silverware high in the sunlight or the scorer of the winning goal, wheeling away to perform a painstakingly-rehearsed celebration routine.

With McAllister, it was always a little bit different. The 53-year-old, voted the Player of the Millennium by supporters in the wake of four spells with the club, performed in semi-finals and one major cup final with Falkirk.

He celebrated with the fans in the highs and commiserated with them during the lows. All through, however, he would watch them making the most of their proud little club's rare days in the spotlight and ache for a time in which he would be able to share the excitement of clutching your ticket for the very first time, participating in the pre-match banter of the pub and supporters' bus and then racing to your seat in the stadium in time for the teams coming out.

He fulfilled that ambition six years ago, seeing the Bairns lose to Rangers at Hampden by virtue of a Nacho Novo goal in the final instalment of the 2009 Scottish Cup. He will be back on one of the coaches booked from his local this Sunday to return to the National Stadium in the hope that Falkirk can overcome Hibernian two years on from blowing a three-goal lead against them at the same stage of the competition.

McAllister spent three-and-a-half years as a Hibs player between 1993 and 1997. When time and fixtures allowed, he would skip out of training in Edinburgh and zip back to his home town to see his 'real' team take on allcomers at Brockville.

He enjoyed himself at Easter Road and made good friends there, but they will have no place in his affections for 90 minutes come Saturday lunchtime.

"I especially enjoy going along to the big cup games," said McAllister, who still lives in Grangemouth.

"When we reached the Scottish Cup final in 1997, it was the first time we had made it to that stage in 40 years and I remember celebrating in front of the fans at Ibrox after winning the semi against Celtic.

"We were back at Ibrox for the final and I remember saying to one of my mates after walking out in front of the supporters that I would love to see a day in which Falkirk would be in a cup final and I would be on the terracing.

"That happened when we played at Hampden and lost 1-0 to Rangers. Now and again, I do the hospitality thing before games, but, sometimes, it is great just to go with your mates, enjoy the atmosphere and have a couple of pints.

"I did go to games as a fan when I was playing. When I was at Hibs, for example, I would go to the Falkirk games in midweek as I am a Falkirk supporter.

"I have a bit of free time these days, though, and pick and choose the matches I go to. I don't go every single week. I will certainly be going on the bus with my mates at the weekend, though.

"I normally go with the Supporters' Club from the Roman Bar in Camelon, but my pal is arranging it and I am not sure exactly which bus we will be on as yet."

It was on a day out from his long-favoured hostelry that McAllister witnessed one of the most remarkable Scottish Cup semi-finals of recent times. Goals from Craig Sibbald, Jay Fulton and Blair Alston had Falkirk 3-0 up against Hibernian after half-an-hour in April 2013.

Lyle Taylor then found himself one-on-one with Ben Williams and saw his effort saved by the outstretched right leg of the Hibernian goalkeeper. It was a moment that changed everything. Hibs three everything but the kitchen sink at Falkirk during the second period and, having levelled the scores seven minutes from normal time, went on to complete an incredible comeback with a winning goal from Leigh Griffiths in extra-time.

"I was behind the goals and it was fantastic when Falkirk raced into that three-goal lead," recalled McAllister. "My mate was taking names for the bus for the final at half-time.

"It was some semi-final, all right. I just hope that we really will be able to book that bus for the final this time round.

"No-one could really believe what happened two years ago. The journey home was just so quiet. We had a great chance to make it 4-0 and I remember us all saying at the time that we hoped it wouldn't come back to bite us."

The Roman Bar is synonymous with McAllister and the bigger games in Falkirk's history. He still jokes that he spent the best part of 24 hours within its hallowed portals before being dragged out to get ready for training after helping the club beat Celtic in a Scottish Cup semi-final replay in 1997.

He no doubt drowned a few sorrows there after losing the final to Kilmarnock and then missing out at the last four stage against Hearts 12 months later, a truly sickening 3-1 defeat in which he had scored a magnificent goal, won the Man of the Match award and then witnessed the opposition score twice in the last four minutes.

"It is quite astonishing in football that you can reach such a high one year and plummet to such a low the next," he reflected. "It just doesn't matter who plays well and who doesn't when you lose."

McAllister revels in the memories of those great days. He recalls single incidents and pivotal moments with clarity. There is one from that defeat to Kilmarnock in the 1997 final that he still believes could well have brought the one major honour that his most satisfying career lacked.

With five minutes to play and Killie leading through a first half goal from Paul Wright, Neil Oliver moved onto a flick-on from Kevin James and sent an unstoppable volley into the corner of the net. The celebrations had already started when the referee, Hugh Dallas, noticed that his linesman, Sandy Roy, had raised his flag for offside.

"Bobby Williamson had taken off two strikers in Paul Wright and Jim McIntyre to hold on for the win and we would have had a definite advantage had that goal been given," stated McAllister. "Killie didn't have any strikers on the pitch, but they held out in the end.

"Do I think our goal should have stood? Sometimes, you'd get it and, sometimes, you wouldn't, so we have just got to accept it. It is over and done with now."

Whilst not quite regarded with the same reverence as McAllister, the current Falkirk manager, Peter Houston, boasts a rich history at Falkirk, having spent a couple of spells there as a player.

"When I first went to Falkirk in 1983, The Ginger God was there," smiled McAllister. "He is a good friend of mine and he won the cup with Dundee United, so he has valuable experience that will help the lads on Saturday.

"It is a difficult job he has in that the remit is to bring younger lads through, but this is his first full season and he still has the opportunity to reach a major final.

"Peter was idolised by the supporters as a player at Falkirk and was a big, big character. He was a big, bustling goalscorer and he helped me a lot because I had just signed from junior football. He is a good lad and a well-respected guy."

Of course, McAllister possesses a knowledge of Hibernian's back story, too. There can be no living organism left within the Solar System that does not know that the Edinburgh club have not won the Scottish Cup since 1902.

It has certainly been brought up in conversation once or twice this week, but McAllister insists it barely merited a mention when he was plying his trade in green-and-white in the mid-1990s.

"I think it became more apparent as it got closer to the 100th anniversary of 1902 and Hearts winning the cup a couple of times probably didn't help either," he said. "It certainly wasn't an obsession when I played for Hibs, but they are going to get it every year now until they do win it.

"It is Falkirk that I will be supporting on Saturday, though. You can be sure of that."