Whoever bags winner at Hampden will have drinks bought for life, says ex-Hearts hero Wayne Foster

May 19 2012 By Anthony Haggerty

WAYNE FOSTER insists whoever bags the winner today at Hampden in the all-Edinburgh Scottish Cup Final will never go sober in the city again.

Foster should know – 18 years after hitting a dramatic late clincher in a Scottish Cup tie against Hibs at Easter Road, the Englishman admits he still can’t buy a round of drinks in the capital.

Foster grabbed the headlines and the glory for the Jambos in February 1994 when he scored the decisive goal in a 2-1 fourth-round tie four minutes from time.

The former Jambos hitman revealed he has dined out on that one career goal ever since and says today’s Hampden hero will be in for a rude awakening as well as a lifetime of free drink.

Foster said: “The guy who scores the winner in this one will have an unbelievable shock coming.

“You are talking to me 18 years after I scored a goal that is, okay, still remembered. But it would be nothing to winning the first all-Edinburgh cup final in over 100 years. This is going to be mega. It’s going to be fantastic for the person who achieves that.

“I still live in the city and people are still trying to buy me drinks just for that goal.

“So the person who does it in this one will have all that. A derby winner is not the worst thing to be remembered for and the drink is a bonus.

“The match-winner will never have to put his hand in his pocket for a drink again, not in Edinburgh – and I doubt if he’ll ever have to pay for food, either.”

Foster also admitted he hopes the winning goal celebration will be bigger, better and dafter than Hearts striker Craig Beattie’s was in the semi-final victory over Celtic. Beattie’s half-naked charge round the national stadium in front of the Gorgie faithful, swirling his top above his head with his team-mates trailing in his wake, left him in stitches.

And Foster is all for any player who scores in the historic derby clash losing the plot while celebrating their moment. He said: “Hopefully whoever scores will have a daft celebration like Craig’s.

“That was superb. That is what people do when they score important goals in big games, they lose the plot.

“It was fantastic, not just for a Hearts fan but for any fan of sport. The enjoyment on his face was priceless.”

Foster believes the form book points to a Hearts victory and has forked out his own cash on a corporate ticket.

He added: “Hearts should be fairly confident. As a player, you don’t want to be the team that lets Hibs pick up the Cup for the first time in 110 years.

“I’m paying my own cash and going into the corporate section. I have taken a fortnight off, so I’ve done things right.”

Taken from the Daily Record