WHAT A TIME TO BE BARN

Inside story of a title from delivery gaffes, party plan KO & anniversary at risk to march on Prem

- ALAN ROBERTSON

BACK-TO-BACK titles... an end to 15 years of confinement in the lower leagues... and saving their chief exec's wedding anniversary.

Falkirk’s squad checked off a lengthy list on the first Friday night of May to leave Jamie Swinney compiling another come the Tuesday.

His in-tray as a Premiership CEO does not care for the details of how this came to pass but details matter.

Like the gold embroidery on the players’ strips when they re-emerged to lift their trophy.

Those, of course, had to be ordered four weeks before winning the league, a feat that swung from certainty into the balance on the final night.

Nothing worth having comes hassle-free as Swinney said: “Before they had even arrived, a Livingston fan took a photo of a DPD delivery that says ‘Falkirk FC Champions Kit, Jamie Swinney’ and it’s been put on a Livingston fans’ Facebook page.

“That's then been sent on to me and I'm saying: ‘Oh my God, the last thing I needed was a Livingston DPD driver to pick up this box.

There was the “end of season party” at the Maniqui nightclub which, given tickets had to go on sale while the Bairns bottle was being questioned, became an “end of season event”.

Before that was a spread at the Inchyra for 250 that necessitated a commitment in advance. “Nobody would have turned up,” said Swinney if there had been a Friday flop. “I wouldn't even have been able to bring myself to go.”

“Where do you want to be on Monday guys?” said Swinney. “I love Falkirk as a town but I know what I'm picking.”

From losing at Firhill in the 97th minute to trigger a title jangler - “I was considering walking home from Glasgow to get my head right” - to the “greatest night in the stadium” in its 21-year history.

The club tumbled out of the Championship - sparking a five-year absence - the day he wed fellow Bairn Natalie in 2019.