IT wasn’t going to matter too much who Amy Macdonald and David Weir pulled out in the draw for the fifth round of the William Hill Scottish Cup. The biggest thing for Brora Rangers was that they were in it for the first time in their 140-year history.
It just so happened that the former Rangers captain (the Ibrox version) paired the Highland League team with Kilmarnock, meaning another away trip for the Cattachs after ties against Civil Service Strollers, Stranraer and East Fife.
For one of their ranks, full-back John Pickles, away days are nothing new, indeed, it is the norm. The 24-year-old hails from Orkney (although his accent does have a spattering of Yorkshire mixed in), which means, without a sponsored helicopter, jetpack or Tardis, regular weekend trips to the mainland by ferry.
“Brora are great about it; they took me on, and, subsidise my travel. It’s largely because of them I’m able to play Highland League football. And, they trust me,” says John, electrician (and currently house-moving) by day, part-time footballer and tourist the rest of the time.
“It’s a massive thing for me that I’m able to travel and play at this level and now play in big cup ties. Obviously, I can’t prepare with the boys, so I train Tuesdays and Thursdays with Orkney FC, who I used to play with. And I do train. There isn’t any point in going to all the effort to travel hundreds of miles a year for games, and for the club to be assisting me doing that, and then let them and myself down by not putting the fitness work in on my own.”
For away matches (ie those not in Brora), John finishes work and departs on the ferry to Scrabster before 5pm on the Friday, drives to Brora where he spends the evening, then travels with the team wherever they are headed on the Saturday. He gets a Saturday night in Brora as well, before heading home on the Sunday.
For home matches, at Dudgeon Park, the journey there and back is done on the day, weather permitting. This has been his weekend diary for three years as a Rangers player, and before that while with Wick Academy.
An Orcadian by birth, John’s accent suggested an influence from further afield. “My mum and dad are from Yorkshire and moved up here before I was born.”
This extended run in the Scottish Cup, kicked off with a 5-0 home win against Girvan, has added to his journey time, not that he is complaining after two wins over SPFL clubs.
“To be honest, our expectations were higher for the East Fife game than they had been for the Stranraer tie. Going all the way down to Stranraer (a 600-mile, 14-hour round trip, plus interest for John) we didn’t know what to expect.
“After beating them, I was much more positive about what we might do in the East Fife game. It was easily the biggest game I’ve played in, and probably the most enjoyable for what it has meant to everyone at the club.”
Not that the players – one being his brother James – will be on their own for the Rugby Park date. “It’s been a surprise how many of the supporters have travelled for the games. And they’ll be quite excited by this match. I was when the draw was being made. I’d never anticipated a cup draw like that before because you knew there was the chance of getting a big name, although I wanted Celtic away,” he laughed.
“But it still is a cracking draw for the club. I don’t see what’s happening in the town from one week to the next. But there has been a buzz about the place because Kilmarnock is such a big game for us. They are a couple of divisions up again from who we’ve played and beaten previously which makes it a bit harder again.”
While Brora are in uncharted
territory, their manager Ross Tokely has seen it all before, most famously as a member of the Inverness “Caleythistlegoballistic …” – aye that team – which knocked Celtic out this competition in 2000.
“The experience that Ross has from his days as a player is fantastic for us,” says John. “He’s done it and knows what it takes, particularly in cup games. We are lucky in that input.”
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