Andy Aitken, the Queen of the South defender, will live out a boyhood dream when he lines up against Aberdeen in today's Scottish Cup semi-final.
The 30-year-old has supported the Dumfries side all his life and grew up in the shadow of their Palmerston Park home, but Aitken never imagined he would have the chance to play for Queens in the Scottish Cup at Hampden.
He said: "Without a doubt it is one of the biggest games of my career. I have played games at Hampden before, against Queen's Park, but it will be a different story when we come up against Aberdeen.
"I used to live around the corner from Palmerston Park and used to go past there every day on the way to school. I remember some good times then but I never thought at that point I'd be playing in a semi-final. Even just to play professional football for any club is an achievement but to play for the club in the town where you were born is a massive thing."
Aitken is in his 10th season with Queens, who currently sit in fourth place in the first division. It is now his testimonial year but he almost never made it this far in his career. After having last season wrecked by knee ligament damage, manager Gordon Chisholm told Aitken he was free to leave the club, but he decided to stick in, making this semi-final appearance even more satisfying.
"Last year was a hard year for me, with sustaining that injury," he said. "I just had to get back in pre-season and knuckle down, but to be told that I could find another club was obviously a little bit hard when it was going to be my testimonial year.
"I sat down with the manager and told him I wasn't prepared to leave the club and I'd be happy to see out the season.
"I'm happy the way things have worked out and I've now played more than 30 games this year and have a semi-final to look forward too."
A meal to celebrate Aitken's testimonial year was originally planned for tonight but has now been move to the week before the final. He said: "We had a meal planned for April 12 and we contacted the restaurant before the quarter-final just to say, What's the scenario should we get to the semi-final?' "They said we would be better cancelling it then. It's been rearranged now for May 17 which is the week before the final, so it will be a good week if we could get to the final as well."
Aitken, who moved to local rivals Gretna for two seasons in 2003, believes Queens can beat Aberdeen and said: "I think they are a team who can run hot or cold. We'll give them the respect they deserve, they are an accomplished Premier League side.
"They have some very good players in their team, but I think on our day we are capable of beating them."
He admits he will be nervous playing in front of the big crowd as the 12.15pm kick-off looms. "There are a lot of experienced lads in there such as Steve Tosh, Jamie McQuilken and Jim Lauchlan who have done it all before," he said, "so they'll help some of the younger boys in the side."
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