It’s an exclusive club, and as John McGlynn has just found out, not an easy one to gain access to.

His Falkirk team have just ended their League One title-winning season as ‘Invincibles’, but they did it the hard way. Even in their final fixture of the season, they trailed by two at home to Alloa before salvaging their perfect record from the penalty spot in the dying minutes of the game and the campaign.

The efforts of McGlynn, his staff and players were recognised on Sunday night as he was voted the PFA Scotland Manager of the Year, and his status as an ‘Invincible’ is also likely to be recognised by one of the last managers to achieve the feat in Scottish football.

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That will be down to a mutual respect that he has already spoken of in recent weeks, and the fact that the two go back a fair bit. McGlynn understands though that his old friend, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers, has one or two other things on his plate this week.

McGlynn was working at Celtic when Rodgers arrived in Glasgow the first time around, helping out John Park in the recruitment department, and he is looking forward to touching base with his old boss just as soon as he has taken care of his own pressing business.

In the meantime, he is simply basking in the realisation that he has carved out his own place in Scottish football history alongside Rodgers and former Rangers manager Steven Gerrard, who also achieved an unbeaten league season back in 2020/21. And, more importantly to him, his own place in the folklore of Falkirk Football Club.

“He’s not been on yet, but he did get in touch when we won the league a couple of weeks back and was very complimentary,” McGlynn said.

“I’m led to believe there’s only three managers [to achieve an unbeaten league season in the modern era] so it’s a nice club to be in.

“They can put me six feet under now! I’ve done what I was here to do!

“It is nice to be part of history and that’s what we’ve preached to the boys. It will never be forgotten.

“In 30 years, when I am six feet under, they will be having reunions and celebrations. Falkirk will be using the anniversaries to raise some money!

“We are just delighted it will be remembered forever and we’ll be immortal.

“It’s special to win [the PFA Scotland award], spectacular. This means the world to win this award.

“For the guys to win the league in invincible fashion is outstanding and I can’t thank the players enough. They have delivered every week as results have suggested and I would like to thank my fellow managers for voting for me for this award and my backroom staff including Paul Smith, my assistant manager.

“The icing on the cake is that we almost lost it. We were down to 10 men against Kelty and almost lost it against them. We were 3-1 up against Annan and they come back for 3-3.

“It was a bit nervy [on Saturday] as well, being 2-0 down and then coming back second half. We get a penalty with five minutes to go and who is going to step up but Brad Spencer, who had taken on the armband and stuck his penalty away.

“It was a massive relief that we went all the way and created that invincible moment.”

It isn’t unfair to suggest that Falkirk shouldn’t have been anywhere near League One in the first place. But McGlynn is now hoping that the long years of mismanagement both from the dugout and the boardroom are now behind them, and they can now ascend to a station in the Scottish game more commensurate with their size and status.

“Falkirk is a huge club, an absolutely huge club,” he said.

“I always believe that you get where you are because of what you do on the pitch.

“Unfortunately, Falkirk slipped into League One and it’s not an easy league to get out of. It took Airdrie a long time to get out and get up.

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“Falkirk is a sleeping giant and even this season we had the 12th highest attendance of all the leagues while being in the third tier.

“We are one of the top 12 clubs, but you have to do your talking on the pitch. You get promoted and you get into the league above if you do it on the pitch.”

What made that assignment all the more difficult is that the expectation from the stands was understandably higher than any of the clubs they were competing against, and McGlynn says he sensed that some players were frightened to go out and express themselves in front of the demanding home support when he first came back to the club.

“The potential of the club is huge,” he said. “Absolutely huge.

“But it was a huge gamble to go there. You think, if you can get this right, what a club.

“They were in a bad way, they finished sixth in the league before we went there. They couldn’t win two games in a row, never mind win a league.

“We’d accumulated more points by Christmas than the team did the whole of the season we arrived.

“So, it was a huge gamble, because when I went to watch games there the fans were not very patient. It could be like the Stadium of Fright. The players got very nervous, they didn’t want the ball, they hide and when that happens you’ve no chance.

“So, you have to come in with a new broom and try to eliminate the negativity, be positive and try to get the thing going and players in.

“There was a near miss, a Scottish Cup semi-final the first season. Then second position when the play-offs were not very good to us. It was then a matter of recruitment in the summer gone past and bringing in the second phase; the players who could take us to where we are right now.”