IT wasn't quite the sales pitch Mark McGhee was hoping it would be.
Back in May the Motherwell manager had gifted two tickets for the club's final game of the season to Ryan Bowman, the Gateshead striker he hoped to lure north of the border to Fir Park by giving him a glimpse of what the Scottish game had to offer.
Instead of being impressed by the free-flowing football of a Fir Park side that had stormed its way into the top six, the 24-year-old and his partner were left stunned as Celtic rampaged to a 7-0 rout at a raucous Parkhead on what was a dismal afternoon for those in claret and amber that withered in the Glasgow sunshine.
While McGhee may have feared the afternoon's events would act as a deterrent to the player he had been keeping close tabs on, it turned out to be the moment Bowman knew he wanted his future to lie in Lanarkshire.
“They gave us tickets for the Celtic game at the end of last season," he said. "I’d spoken to the manager a few times and he said he’d be really interested in bringing me in.
“It was a case of trying to get some money and seeing if Gateshead would let me go or not. All through the summer it was dragging on and Motherwell were saying they were still interested.
“When the season started I thought I’ve got my mind set on Gateshead but it all came about last minute. They sold the lad Marvin Johnson and got money for that. They then put in a bid that Gateshead accepted and luckily it all got done.
“It was the 7-0 game I was at. It didn’t put me off, the atmosphere was brilliant.
“The girlfriend and me were just looking at each other in shock. To get a chance to play at that level you have to take it with both hands."
Bowman will be hoping Motherwell has the same comforting influence on him as it has with so many who have walked through the glass doors on Fir Park street in recent years.
The former York City man has had more than his fair share of clubs over the years, but is keen to finally settle in the Ladbrokes Premiership in a bid to establish himself in professional football once more.
A family club is the term generally used by many to describe Motherwell and those within it. After all, winger Lionel Ainsworth, who previously had played for a dozen teams during his career, is now entering his third year of stability here.
Speaking ahead of today's game away to Ross County, Bowman said: “I’ve had seven different clubs in seven seasons so some might say it looks bad, others will say it’s good.
“I’ve scored 19 to 20 goals each place I’ve been, but this is a different kettle of fish for me up here. Playing in English football I’ve not had the chance to look at other leagues but I’m relishing the opportunity. I don’t know much about Scottish football but obviously you’ve got Rangers and Celtic. I’ve had a quick look at Ross County in their recent performances and they score and concede goals, so we need to be at it from the start on Saturday.
“Louis Moult has come up from non-league and done really well, Marvin Johnson as well has got his move.
“That is definitely in your mind if you come up here and do well against the likes of Celtic and Rangers you never know where you are going to end up."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here