Fraserburgh chairman Finlay Noble has hailed testimonial man Bryan Hay as a club legend.
The defender’s 16 years of service to the Broch will be recognised on Sunday when St Johnstone visit Bellslea.
Since his debut in December 2006 Hay, 33, has made 494 appearances for Fraserburgh and helped them win the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup and Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield on multiple occasions and the Breedon Highland League title last term.
Noble said: “As a player and a person Bryan is excellent, he’s a lovely guy and always has been.
“He’s been here since he was 14 and played all his days with the Broch.
“Bryan deserves every bit of goodwill he’ll receive on Sunday against St Johnstone.
“He’s one of the best defenders in the Highland League, if not the best.
One Week to go, preparations almost complete for what is sure to be, a great day at the Bellslea! We celebrate Hayzer's outstanding service to the club. Come along and see Broch take on recent double cup winning, premiership outfit St Johnstone ⚫⚪ pic.twitter.com/xv1JRa7qp6
— Matthew west (@matthew5west) November 27, 2022
“But first and foremost Bryan is a genuinely decent individual so hopefully there’s a good turn out and he gets what he deserves.
“He’s close to 500 games for the club. When I was growing up as a young loon the legends were Bertie Bowie, Dave McKenzie and Bobby Forsyth.
“Bryan Hay is a legend of our club there’s no question about that.”
Thanks to Saints
Noble is looking forward to welcoming Premiership opposition to Bellslea and also praised Hay for the way he conducts himself off the pitch.
The Broch chief added: “You could ask Bryan to do anything. I’ve said it before about other players, because they’re all the same, you could ask Bryan to go and do something at four o’clock in the morning and he would do it without complaint.
“We’re very lucky as a club to have the players we’ve got as individuals.
“They’re good, nice lads that their families should be very proud of and Bryan’s family should be very proud of him because he’s a really nice lad.
“It’s brilliant St Johnstone are coming up. We were supposed to be playing another club in the summer.
“But things didn’t work out and it was put off at the last minute.
“So I messaged Steve Brown (chairman) at St Johnstone and asked him and he said absolutely.
“They’ve been brilliant to deal with and it typifies the type of club St Johnstone are.”
‘He’s got black and white blood’
Fraserburgh manager Mark Cowie was also quick to pay tribute to Hay.
He said: “Bryan’s best season in a Fraserburgh shirt from what I’ve seen was last season and it’s no coincidence we won the league.
“If he can mirror that over the next couple of years we’ll do well.
“There are still bits he can get better at and I still maintain Bryan Hay shouldn’t have been a Fraserburgh player as long as he has been because he should have played higher.
“But I’m delighted we’ve got him here, he’s the easiest player to deal with, he’s Fraserburgh through and through, he’s got black and white blood.
“It’s testament to him St Johnstone are putting up a good side to play him and we look forward to that.”
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