They had been invited to take part by the club sponsors who had recently donated four sets of new strips.

Gala were one of only nine clubs - the only Scottish representatives - to join the parade and 14 players were selected to walk around the pitch as part of the pre-match build-up.

Gala youths co-ordinator Fred Blackie said: “We got a great reception from both sets of fans and it is something we will never forget.

“We had to be their early so got a good chance to have a good look behind the scenes.

“Wembley is a fantastic stadium and it was pretty special to walk out in front of 71,000 people.

“It was a great honour for the club to be invited to take part and we are grateful to McDonald’s for their support.” A 40-strong delegation departed from the Gala Fairydean Rovers FC car park at 2am on Sunday to be in time for the parade.

After arriving in north London on schedule at 10.30am tickets were sorted out and the club’s representatives went into the stadium with the rest left to savour the pre-match atmosphere in surrounding hotels and shops.

Following the parade at 2.50am the Gala group were united together in the City end of the ground to watch the match, which Arsenal comfortably won 3-0.

Apart from a predictable hold-up trying to get out of the coach car park - which also had its entertaining moments - the Gala bus headed straight back to Scotland after the game and eventually rolled into Gala shortly after 2am to conclude a memorable trip.