This weekend sees the top flight clubs enter the William Hill Scottish Cup and the draw has, as ever, thrown up intriguing ties between some of the country’s biggest names and a few of the game’s lesser lights.

Brechin City, rooted to the bottom of the Championship, travel to Parkhead to take on runaway Premiership leaders and defending champions Celtic this afternoon.

Rangers, meanwhile, face a long and treacherous journey north to take on Highland League opponents Fraserburgh at Bellsea Park tomorrow.

Elsewhere, Albion Rovers, who claimed the scalp of Motherwell in the competition five years ago, will, weather permitting, entertain a St. Johnstone team who will surely not be relishing their trip to Cliftonhill.

So, will any of the tournament favourites come a cropper against plucky part-timers in their opening game? We shouldn’t be surprised if they do. The competition is littered with seismic upsets.

Here, we have a look at the most infamous losses suffered as the big teams entered the Scottish Cup in its 145 year history.

Date: Saturday, January 31, 1959.

Venue: Bellsea Park.

Round: First round.

Attendance: 4,500.

Scoreline: Fraserburgh 1, Dundee 0.

Be afraid Rangers, be very afraid.

Taking on the tiny Highland League club away from home in the Scottish Cup would be a treacherous tie for the Ibrox club at any time. But in the middle of a cold snap in January, immediately after a three week layoff from competitive football, following a warm-weather training break in Florida and with a raft of new signings to be bedded in anything could happen.

The Broch have certainly pulled off a massive cup upset against top flight opponents before. Way back in 1959 they produced one of the biggest surprises in the competition’s history when they overcame the fine Dundee team of the day.

Inside right Jonny Strachan, a gas board clerk, scored what turned out to be the winning goal a minute before half-time.

“The whole game was a battle from start to finish,” recalled outside right Billy Bradford years later. “But when Johnny scored the goal the place went wild. Although it was a big thing, we had enough skill and power in our side.”

Dundee would go on and win the Scottish title three years later.

Date: Saturday, January 28, 1967.

Venue: Shielfield Park.

Round: First round.

Attendance: 13,365.

Scoreline: Berwick Rangers 1, Rangers 0.

This is the daddy of all Scottish Cup shocks.

This game had a definite edge to it despite the apparent mismatch due to the fact that Rangers had attempted to force through league reconstruction three years earlier – a proposal which would have meant Berwick and four other clubs dropping out of the league.

The five clubs at risk of being ousted from the senior game took their case to court and lost. It was only after an appeal to the Inner House of the Court of Session and with the support of then then Celtic chairman Robert Kelly that the move was dropped.

Rangers were the defending champions having defeated Celtic after a replay the year before and fielded nine full Scotland internationalists, including John Greig, Ronnie McKinnon and Willie Johnston. Their hosts were part-time. They were in second place in the First Division. Their opponents were tenth in the Second Division.

As expected, Scot Symon’s side dominated from kick-off in front of a record Shielfield Park crowd of 13,365 and forced 10 corners in the opening half an hour. But it was Sammy Reid who opened the scoring for the home team in the 32nd minute.

The Ibrox club’s chances of drawing level suffered a setback when Willie Johnston suffered a broken leg following a collision with the Berwick keeper Jock Wallace – who would, of course, later go on to manage Rangers – in the second half. The home team held onto their lead until the final whistle.

The 1-0 defeat had huge repercussions for those involved. Neither Jim Forrest or George McLean, who played up front for Rangers, played for the Ibrox club again. They were unfairly made scapegoats for the result and moved on to Preston North End and Dundee respectively within weeks.

Offloading the prolific Forrest and McLean proved hugely detrimental to the Glasgow club. They played in the European Cup Winners’ Cup final against Bayern Munich in Nuremberg that season. Roger Hynd, a defender, played up front as Forrest and McLean had not been replaced. They lost 1-0 after extra-time.

Date: Tuesday, January 31, 1984.

Venue: Bayview Park.

Round: Third round (replay).

Attendance: 6,100.

Scoreline: East Fife 2, Hibernian 0.

Getting held to a 0-0 draw at by part-time East Fife at Easter Road in their third round of the Scottish Cup in 1984 was a painful result for Hibs.

But that was nothing compared to the agony of the 2-0 defeat they suffered at Bayview in the replay. It was the first time a club from the bottom division had beaten top flight opponents since league reconstruction in 1975.

Tom McCafferty gave the home side the lead in the first half and only some outstanding play from Scotland keeper Alan Rough in the visitors’ goal prevented Dave Clarke’s team from building on that.

However, one Stevie Kirk, who would go on to enjoy some more memorable moments in the cup in his career, not least in the epic 1991 final when he scored the winner for Motherwell against Dundee United at Hampden, popped up and bulleted a header into the net late on in the second half to make sure of a sweet victory for the Methil club.

“I expected a lot more from my experienced players, but they let me down,” Hibs manager Pat Stanton said afterwards. “It was obvious that the East Fife players wanted to win the match while my ones weren’t sure. I can have no complaints about the result.”

Date: Saturday, February 9, 1985.

Venue: Kingsmills Park.

Round: Third round.

Attendance: 2,500.

Scoreline: Inverness Thistle 3, Kilmarnock 0.

Long before Super Caley went ballistic and beat Celtic at Parkhead, a club from Inverness recorded off a famous Scottish Cup win against senior opponents.

Thistle were second bottom on the Highland league at the time and were expected to struggle. But goals from Dave Millroy, Gordon Hay and substitute Brian Fraser clinched an emphatic victory – their first at home in seven games – over their Second Division opponents.

It is one of the worst results Kilmarnock have suffered in their 149 year history. The Kingsmills turf was strewn with blue and white scarves at the end of the 90 minutes and Eddie Morrison, the Rugby Park manager, required police protection from irate fans who had made the long journey north from Ayrshire to get out of the ground safely.

Inverness’s reward for the triumph was an away tie against Celtic at Parkhead in the next round. They didn’t fare so well in that match. The eventual champions ran out comfortable 6-0 winners.

Date: Saturday, January 31, 1987.

Venue: Ibrox.

Round: Third round.

Attendance: 35,462.

Scoreline: Rangers 0, Hamilton 1.

Adrian Sprott wrote his name into Scottish football folklore in this unforgettable game.

Rangers, who had brought in England centre half and captain Terry Butcher and goalkeeper Chris Woods and defender Chris Woods that summer at the start of what became known as the Graeme Souness Revolution, were in fine form had been expected to romp to a straightforward cup win at home.

They had won all three of their games against the Douglas Park club comfortably that season and were 22 points clear of them in the Premier Division table.

But Hamilton managed to withstand relentless pressure from their hosts and when they won a free-kick in their opponents half in the 70th minute they took a surprise lead. Gerry Collins floated a cross into the Rangers area, Dave MacPherson failed to deal with it and full-back Sprott raced in to bundle it over the line.

The defender’s strike ended the British record breaking run which Woods had been on without conceding a goal. He had gone 1,196 minutes without picking the ball out of his net.

Collins passed up a chance to make the score 2-0 in the remaining minutes of the game. But his side held on to claim a famous victory. John Lambie, in charge of Hamilton that day, rates it as one of his best moments in football. “It was a great day,” he said. “It’s fair to say that is the best result in Hamilton’s history.”

Alas, Hamilton lost 2-1 at home in the next round to their Lanarkshire rivals Motherwell to crash out of the competition.

Date: Tuesday, February 8, 2000.

Venue: Celtic Park.

Round: Third round.

Attendance: 34,389.

Scoreline: Celtic 1, Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3.

This cup tie was due to be played 11 days earlier, but was postponed when a storm blew guttering off the Lisbon Lions Stand at Celtic Park making the stadium unsafe for spectators.

It was, though, John Barnes’s brief reign as manager which came crashing down when the game finally went ahead with what is one of the most infamous defeats, if not the most infamous, in the Glasgow club’s history.

Barry Wilson put Inverness, who had only been granted entry into the senior leagues after Highland League rivals Caledonian and Thistle had merged five and half years earlier, in front when he nodded home a Paul Sheerin cross in the 16th minute.

Mark Burchill levelled a minute later, but disaster struck shortly afterwards when, of all people, Lubomir Moravcik turned a Bobby Mann header past Jon Gould and into his own net.

Regi Blinker gifted the visitors a penalty 10 minutes into the second half when he brought down Wilson inside his own area. Sheerin stepped up and converted the spot kick to put the result beyond doubt.

Charlie Christie, who had been released by Celtic as a youngster, controlled the game in central midfield as the disbelieving 4,000-strong travelling support chanted "we want four".

It emerged afterwards that the Celtic players had turned on each other in the dressing room at half-time. Mark Viduka had taken exception to a roasting from first team coach Eric Black and had thrown his boots in the bin and refused to go out for the second half. Gould had torn into Eyal Berkovic.

“It was just an accident waiting to happen,” admitted Barnes, who would be sacked two days later, admitted years afterwards.

But nothing should be taken away for Steve Paterson’s team for their immense performance. “It was no fluke,” said Paterson. “The players were magnificent. They deserved to win on the night, there is no question about that.

"It was an unbelievable occasion and a magnificent day for the club. I think this is the moment Inverness arrived in Scottish football.”

Caledonian Thistle would go on to lift the Scottish Cup in 2015, beating Falkirk 2-1 in the final.

Date: Sunday, January 8, 2006.

Venue: Broadwood Stadium.

Round: Third round.

Attendance: 8,000.

Scoreline: Clyde 3, Celtic 0.

Football fans from across Britain and Ireland tuned in to Sky Sports to watch Roy Keane, the Manchester United legend who had just left Old Trafford after 12 years, make his debut for Celtic in this match.

They were treated to one of the biggest shocks in Scottish Cup history thanks in no small part to another player who was making his first appearance for the Parkhead club that afternoon, Du Wei.

The 24-year-old Chinese centre half had arrived in Glasgow on a six month loan deal from Shanghai Shenua with quite a reputation. Indeed, a certain Diego Maradona had raved about him after seeing him play in an under-20 game for his country several years before.

But the game against Clyde turned out to be the only appearance Du Wei made for Gordon Strachan’s side. And he was replaced by Adam Virgo at half-time after enduring a torrid 45 minutes.

He gifted the home team a penalty, which Artur Boruc saved, by needlessly pulling down Tom Brighton, an offence for which he was unlucky not to get sent off, and then failed to clear a Stephen O’Donnell corner ahead of an Eddie Malone goal.

Referee Kenny Clark ruled out an early Brighton and Alex Williams goals, but Craig Bryson put Clyde in front in the 33rd minute when he headed in a Malone cross. Provider turned scorer four minutes later.

Maciej Zurawski pulled one back for Celtic with eight minutes remaining and Strachan’s men certainly pushed hard for an equaliser, but Graham Roberts’s side held on to their lead until the final whistle.

The involvement of Keane was almost forgotten about amid the hysteria. “He did fine,” said Strachan. "But it is hard to talk about Roy Keane because we have to look at a bigger picture than that. Clyde were the best team, they used the conditions well, played with common sense football and we did not.

"We laid the tactics down before the game but they weren't adhered to. The players let themselves down and have to live with that.”