Ellon United chairman Miller Mathieson was stunned after 16 of his former clubmates travelled to Aberdeenshire for a surprise reunion.
The 84-year-old, also a former athletics coach of considerable standing in the north-east, was presented with the opportunity to meet 16 of his old football friends from Douglas, a village in South Lanarkshire, thanks to his daughter Kath.
Mathieson, who was secretary-treasurer of Douglas Amateurs, who won the Scottish Amateur Cup in 1970, 1972 and 1974, had told his daughter on a visit back to Douglas that he had hoped to meet up with his old clubmates.
She said: “He was obviously serious about meeting his friends of that era, so I stored it away and decided to do something about it when I got back to Ellon.”
The “something” turned out to be a three month major effort of bringing 16 of his clubmates up to Ellon for the Ellon United annual dinner last month.
Her father was completely unaware until he went into the Ellon United hospitality suite and was reunited with his footballing friends.
He said: “It was only when I when I walked into the room that I thought something was up.
“My first reaction was ‘who are all these people?’ but then I recognised some old faces and the penny dropped.
“For the first time in my life I was speechless.
“The day just took off from that point, culminating in a first class evening with my old friends and my contacts in Ellon, including the Ellon United players who had just returned from losing 3-1 in the Scottish Cup in Dundee.”
The Lanarkshire guests shared memories of Douglas Amateurs’ cup wins and the role Mathieson played as secretary-treasurer, including organising 26 buses to go to Hampden.
He said: “At that time in the early 70s Douglas was a pretty demoralised community, suffering the aftermath of pit closures.
“The success of the team brought us all together.
“They were wonderful times. I can only thank my daughter and family for giving me the opportunity to reminisce with my old chums, some of whom were players in the team, which sadly is no longer in existence.”
Since coming to the north-east of Scotland more than 40 years ago the Mathieson family have made their mark on the local scene.
Mathieson has become acknowledged as top athletics coach in the area and his wife Alison has just retired from officiating in international and national athletics events.
Sons Duncan and Miller also pursued the sport line with Duncan representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in the decathlon in Auckland, New Zealand in 1990 and in 1994 in Victoria, Canada.
Miller Jnr was part of the Stenhousemuir team who knocked Aberdeen out of the Scottish Cup in 1995, winning 2-0 on a day never to be forgotten at Ochilview.
And while daughter Kath did not pursue her interest in athletics after school, she has excelled in organising a very special event for her father and his old friends.
Mathieson added: “She has made it one of the best days of my life. I am so proud of her.”
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