LUKE McCOWAN is hoping to make the monumental leap from the mudheaps of Ayrshire Junior grounds to the most glamorous stage of them all – and emulate his Celtic heroes of yesteryear.
The £1million deadline-day arrival from Dundee has already ticked off one of his to-do boxes by signing for his boyhood heroes.
McCowan achieved another target when he made his debut in the famous green and white hoops as he came on as a second-half substitute in the 3-0 derby triumph at a rocking Parkhead at the start of the month.
Another aim was met when he arowed in the champions’ second goal in the 2-0 win over Hearts at the same venue at the weekend.
HOOP HOOP HOORAY…Luke McCowan holds aloft the Celtic scarf of the night of his signing.
Now the 26-year-old dynamic midfielder is preparing to go up another level if he can get out there and mix it with Slovan Bratislava under the lights in the east end of Glasgow in font of a 60,000 capacity crowd when the new-look Champions League kicks off tomorrow night.
McCowan was only three when Henrik Larsson and Co won their way through to the UEFA Cup Final in Seville in 2003 where they unluckily lost 3-2 to Jose Mourinho’s Porto in extra-time.
The team’s latest recruit admits to watch the DVD of the marvellous European run that saw them overcome the likes of Graeme Souness’ Blackburn Rovers – winning home and away – Liverpool, with an unforgettable 2-0 victory on Merseyside, and the Swedish legend’s last-gasp semi-final winner over Boavista.
McCowan revealed: “I’ve watched the DVD for years. I remember some of the moments, like Thommo [Alan Thompson] scoring with a free-kick at Anfield, John Hartson scoring in the same game. 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.”
PARADISE…Luke McCowan looks at home at Celtic Park after bis deadline-day arrival.
The determined middle-of-the-park operator is more than ready to step into the glare of Europe’s elite competition – which is a far cry from his days at Lugar Boswell in the Ayrshire Juniors lower leagues.
McCowan, speaking to the Daily Record, continued: “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 by 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. 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.”
THAT’S MY BHOY…Callum McGregor congratulates Luke McCowan after the new Bhoy’s first goal for the club as he seals the 2-0 win over Hearts at the weekend.
McCowan added: “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.
” It’s a bit surreal. 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 matches.
“That’s the goal for me.”
