There is, it is probably fair to say, not much in common between Les Thomson, the chief executive officer of East Stirlingshire FC, and Martin Bain, his counterpart at Rangers.

The clubs meet at Ibrox in the Scottish Cup fourth round on January 13, for one of those compelling ties that pits paupers against princes. And it is highly unlikely that the two men’s preparations for the match were all that similar.

On Saturday, The Shire entertained Montrose in the Irn-Bru Scottish League third division, and Thomson faced a bewildering roster of chores which would certainly be alien to Bain: by lunchtime he had swept the corridors, sorted out the players’ money, issued tickets, made sure the refreshments were ready for the visiting directors and that arrangements had been made for the delivery of the referee’s postmatch pie. Later on, he would count the day’s takings, glad-hand the away dignitaries and undertake 1,001 other tasks vital to the smooth running of a third division fixture.

“I do a bit of everything, and that’s the way it has to be at a club like ours,” Thomson, the former Falkirk centre-half who has been involved with the club for 23 years, said “It’s not the kind of place where you can have someone who puffs their chest out and acts high and mighty. It’s a family club, and a homely club, and everyone rolls their sleeves up.”

The Shire went into Saturday’s match four spots off the bottom of the table, but compared to recent seasons, the club’s hardy band of loyal supporters feel like they’ve won the Champions League. East Stirling had been synonymous with mediocrity and failure for so long that it was suggested that the League might boot them out because they were so bad. But Thomson says the club were saved by a white knight from Rotherham named Spencer Fearn.

Fearn, 33, a football fan who made his brass from youth training and music, arrived in a shining Aston Martin with a boot-full of cash, and ploughed a reported £40,000 into the club straight away. The miasma of depression that had hung over Firs Park began to lift.

“He came in with money, and fresh ideas, and that’s what clubs need. Football’s no place for old fogeys like me. It has been an enjoyable place to come and work lately, and I love being involved,” Thomson said.

“I had some good days when I was a player, like turning out for Scotland B and beating Kilmarnock in the cup when I was at Falkirk. Working for a club like this is the next best thing to being a player, especially in an exciting week like this, with a big cup tie to look forward to.”