IF ever the phrase “cup fairytale” came true it was on Wednesday night at the little-known K-Park in Calderglen Country Park where home side East Kilbride secured a famous victory over Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale to bag themselves a fifth-round tie against Celtic.
East Kilbride are only the second team from outside the SPFL to reach the fifth round. And their manager, staff and players spent yesterday trying to come to terms with the enormity of what is to happen to them.
Next month this tiny club will play the current champions of Scotland, the richest club in the land, and a record 36 times the winners of the Scottish Cup.
The tie on February 7 will be broadcast live on the BBC and has given one East Kilbride player a dilemma.
For midfielder Sean Winter has booked the holiday of a lifetime for himself and his girlfriend and son to visit their family in Australia, leaving for two weeks on February 1.
“I will have a think about things but it is really expensive to try to rearrange the flights,” said Winter, who has scored in every round and whose late goal clinched the victory on Wednesday.
“We have been saving for a while now. We will look at everything and try to rearrange things but it is probably going to be too much to do that.
“I did not want to think about it too much until we got through this tie. But now we can look at all the different options.”
For East Kilbride secretary David McKenna, the problems are all delightful ones, not least because the club are rumoured to be going to earn a six-figure sum from what will be by far their most important match since being founded in 2010.
“People think we have the money spent already,” said McKenna, “but I can assure you that it has not been mentioned.
“All I will say is that with all these figures that are being bandied about, I just hope they are all true.”
It was a tough contest against Vale, said McKenna. “For a long time it could have gone either way and they missed a couple of chances but we got there in the end.
“It was tense and I felt we could have played more football but it was understandable in the circumstances.
“To get this far in the Scottish Cup is fantastic — but to get Celtic, well that is the cherry on the top of the icing on the cake.”
McKenna said that club chairman Mark Horner hosted a “small party” in his pub and restaurant in the town after the victory, and manager Billy Ogilvie, all the players and staff have been overwhelmed by the congratulations and good wishes they have received in and around East Kilbride.
“It has been a rallying point for the town,” said McKenna. “The people have come together. The last time was when the local junior club won the Scottish Junior Cup in 1983.
“People have been coming up to us and slapping us on the back, and people from other sports and football clubs have been sending us messages of support. It has been amazing.”
Plans to switch the match to the stadium of Hamilton Academical have still to be formally confirmed. But K-Park’s capacity of 500 is clearly inadequate for what will be a fairytale come true.
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