MOTHERWELL will spend the night before the William Hill Scottish Cup final in the luxurious surroundings of Turnberry – just like their famous predecessors did ahead of their famous 1991 victory.
Stephen Robinson, the Fir Park club’s manager who will lead the Lanarkshire club out in a cup final for the second time this season at Hampden on Saturday, is keen for his players to gain any advantage they can ahead of the meeting with Celtic.
He has spoken to Jim Griffin, who played as Dundee United were beaten 4-3 after extra-time in what is widely regarded as one of the greatest Scottish Cup finals, about how Motherwell prepared 27 years ago.
And the Ladbrokes Premiership side will stay at the famous Ayrshire hotel and former Open venue, which is now part of a stable of golf resorts owned by United States president Donald Trump, as a result of those conversations.
“We are going to Turnberry on Friday just to do something a little bit different,” said Robinson. “The last time we stayed there we were quite successful in the cup I was led to believe. So I thought: ‘Yeah, we’ll do that again’.
“I was going to Tweet Donald and see if he would give me his suite! Seriously, though, the hotel is fantastic and the environment is fantastic. We can’t have the hotel we stayed in for the semi. We have tried to give the boys the best environment possible to prepare.
“It is a beautiful environment for the boys to relax in 24 hours before the game. We will go and enjoy that. But our normal build-up will be exactly the same.
"The 1991 team are still revered around the football club. It is a massive chance for boys to put their names into history. If we can manage to win the cup I don’t think we will realise the size of the achievement until after."
The Motherwell players declined to get fitted out for suits before the Betfred Cup final back in November – a game they ended up losing 2-0 to Celtic – but they will cut a dash on the Hampden turf before kick-off this time out.
“We always give the boys a choice,” said Robinson. “I encouraged them to get suits and last time they didn’t. That was their choice. This time they are going to have the suits for whatever reason. They just want a free suit probably.”
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