The Scottish Cup clash with Celtic is one of the biggest games in Buckie Thistle’s history. Yet for manager Graeme Stewart, it’s the smallest in terms of their season.
Stewart knows how prestigious it is to take on Brendan Rodgers’ side – and the financial benefits that come with it. But the Highland League side’s main priority is the chase for the title and to try to play their way into the senior ranks. Stewart said: “I know the magnitude of the game for the fans and the size of the football club we are playing. In terms of the size of the game, it’s the smallest for us in terms of our season.
“It means nothing to our season. They are four divisions above us and the best team in Scotland and one of the best in the UK. If I am being honest, then they should be beating us quite comfortably.
We’ve won by getting to this round and playing Celtic. It’s a tremendous day for the town and good for the players. It’s something they’ll look back on in the next 10 or 20 years and say they remember that game. For all those reasons, we have already won.
“We want to go there and do ourselves justice. We want to do the Highland League proud and ourselves proud. My job is to put a game plan in place that will help us do that.”
People still dream of the romance of the cup and Stewart watched Darvel put out Aberdeen and Highland League rivals Brora Rangers sinking Hearts. However, a trip to Celtic Park is a different ball game and Stewart knows that.
He said: “Yeah but both of them (Darvel and Brora) were at home and Celtic are also a lot better than Hearts and Aberdeen. We dream of getting a result. I dream of winning. We aren’t going in to lose the game.
“We are not pessimistic and I also don’t want to think we are mad either. Me saying that we have a realistic chance is foolish. Me saying keep it under 10 would also be the worst thing in the world. How negative is that?
“I’m thinking of scenarios where we get a win. We might get lucky or put on the best ever defensive performance. Trust me, we have a realistic dream.”
Buckie have been handed around 5000 tickets for the trip to Celtic Park a week on Sunday with Stewart confident their fans will make a significant dent in that allocation. And the proud manager said: “We have sold 1800 so far. There is a lot of interest although I’m not sure if we will sell 5000 – but we will give it a good go.
“It’s a one-off game and unlikely to happen again. Not many Highland League teams get the chance to go away to Celtic or Rangers.”
For Buckie, it is about doing their club, town and the Highland League proud The game is also big for Buckie financially too, as it could help fund their costs for the next season or so.
Stewart added: “At least a year and probably two. That is massive and we can also do other things off the back of it.
“Every football team loses money and we need to maximise the revenues. Financially, it’s great for the club. I’m delighted for Gary Farquhar and others who do so much for the club and the finance they put in. It takes the pressure off them and it is a great day for the fans.”
All the talk in the Moray town has been about Celtic but Stewart hasn’t even started his preparations. He insisted his sole focus is on Saturday and their league trip to Huntly.
The Buckie boss added: “I haven’t done anything on Celtic and I won’t until after the Huntly game. I will watch clips after the Huntly game but that is my focus. I won’t look at them until next week.”
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