Luke McCowan looks to create Celtic 'luck' in Champions League with his memories after growing up on Seville story

-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


As a Celtic daft kid, Luke McCowan watched his Road to Seville DVD so many times he practically wore it out.

The Hoops new boy can still picture it now and hear the commentary from the clubs’ famous run to the UEFA Cup Final in 2003. McCowan was a primary school pupil at the time but can reel off the list of legends from Martin O’Neill’s team with barely a pause for thought. Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton, John Hartson, Stan Petrov, Alan Thompson – who was his hero as a fellow lefty. The magic moments are also imprinted. Larsson’s winner against Boavista to make the final, Thompson’s daisycutter free kick at Anfield under the wall before Hartson’s screamer sent Liverpool packing, they all trip off the tongue.

McCowan lapped up the video as a youngster but he reckons it’s time for Celtic to create some new European tales. There’s been some high points since Seville, such as beating Barcelona, reaching the Champions League last 16, home and away wins against Lazio.

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But there’s not been enough successful campaigns worthy of a new DVD – and McCowan is hoping to put that right as the Hoops embark on this year’s adventure. The deadline day arrival from Dundee said: “I’ve watched the DVD for years. I was young, obviously, when it first came out.

"But it's the commentator's voice. I can't remember who was the commentator who'd done it for Celtic TV back then, maybe Archie Macpherson, but his voice stood out a mile. It was just a really grumble voice that stuck in my head - ‘Hartson!’ – watching those games when I was younger.

“I remember some of the moments, like Henrik Larsson heading it back across to Chris Sutton. To be fair, there's a couple. Thommo at Anfield was another one. Hartson at Anfield as well. He was just bullying boys that night. He was unreal.

“Aye, there's a few big memories in there. You want to create your own. Hopefully now that I've mentioned them, it will give us a bit of luck! It’s about trying to show you are good enough.”

Luke McCowan celebrates his first goal for Celtic
Luke McCowan celebrates his first goal for Celtic

It starts against Slovan Bratislava tomorrow night – but McCowan’s journey to the Champions League began a long time ago. And the 26-year-old’s story could be a Hollywood blockbuster rather than a straight to DVD job.

McCowan is gearing up to take on Bratislava and facing Borussia Dortmund when it wasn’t so long about was the Jaggy Bunnets of Lugar Boswell in the Ayrshire Juniors lower leagues. He laughed: “Oh aye – you wouldn't be able to look at some of the footage – it would be all blurry!

“There wouldn’t be any good pictures of the pitches, that’s for sure. It wasn’t even the likes of Auchinleck, Cumnock and those bigger teams in the Juniors, back then. It was lower than that.

“I was playing even further down the leagues with the likes of Annbank, Lugar. That was through being on loan from Ayr at 18 or 19.

“At that point, I was just trying to show what I could do to get on Ayr’s bench. Then from there, you want to get on the starting team and so forth.

“You kind of just start going up that progression ladder. But no, if you told me back then as a young boy playing in the Juniors that I’d be going to be signed here at Celtic in a few years, it would have been a bit surreal.

“Playing in the Juniors toughens you up. Obviously when you come here to Celtic, it's total football right. In training I just joke with the lads, ‘the goals are up there, no need to pass to me!’

“I get a few funny looks, but it’s a good laugh. It just shows the young boys here they are in a better place than I was at their age, so use it. It’s pretty incredible. Six years ago I was just a young boy in the Juniors. Now I’m here at Celtic and looking forward to my first experience of the Champions League.”

McCowan always dreamt of playing at the top level – but he wasn’t running around with his head in the clouds. He said: “Probably not. My best trait is trying to stay present, not thinking too far ahead or thinking of things in the past. When I was at Ayr, my main goal was to play in the team, get goals and numbers there and see what happened from there.

"The ambition was to play here one day, but it was never a case of 'I'll get there, I'll get there'. I just kept doing what I was doing and progressed up the ladder and I find myself here now.”

McCowan will try to soak it up – but he’s not around just to add to his scrapbook. He said: “It's a bit surreal. I think this year, I'll probably get a lot of things happening for the first time at the club.

“I've had my debut and if I get a chance to play in a Champions League game that will be another big milestone in my career but now that I'm in the door, it's not about feeling happy about that. It's about pushing on and trying to start the next game, be standing in the line-up, helping the team win those types of (Champions League) matches. That's the goal for me.”

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