Aberdeen midfielder Dean Campbell wants to create League Cup memories of his own after having cheered the Dons to glory the last time they lifted the trophy.
Campbell was one of 43,000 members of the Red Army who travelled down to Celtic Park to see the Dons end a 19-year wait for silverware by beating Caley Thistle on penalties in the 2014 League Cup final.
Derek McInnes’ side begin this season’s League Cup campaign with a tricky tie against St Mirren in Paisley this evening.
Campbell would love to play his part in helping the club emulate their success of six years ago.
He said: “I was at the final in 2014. I would have been 13. It was an amazing day, such a memorable experience for the club and the whole city. It’s a day I’ll never forget as a fan.
“When I went to cup games as a fan, my parents and my mates used to rent out a bus and we’d all go together and stop for lunch on the way down to games. We did that with all the semi-finals and finals we got to. It was another one of them that day.
“I can’t really remember where we used to stop, just some of the regular places. Just somewhere the dads could get a pint, and we just got dragged along! There are plenty good memories from those games and some great memories as well.
“I missed the bus parade on Union Street. I had a youth academy tournament that day. I think it was the St Andrews tournament and we always went there with the youth academy. It was a round robin tournament and a lot of the SPFL teams were there. I think we won it that year.
“A lot of my friends and family did go and they said it was a great day. The cup is such an important thing for this club and we want to try and get that again this season.”
Campbell made his first start since August during Wednesday’s 1-1 draw against Hamilton Accies following a foot injury.
His return is a welcome boost to manager Derek McInnes, who has a depleted squad for the last-16 tie, with midfielders Dylan McGeouch, Lewis Ferguson, Ross McCrorie and Connor McLennan among those set to miss out.
Campbell said: “It was a broken metatarsal. I just had to let the bone do the healing itself. I couldn’t do any sort of exercise while that was healing, I just had to do work in the gym. It was a boring few months and I’m just delighted to be back.
“It was a frustrating few months for me watching from the sidelines. It’s never great. It was my first 90 minutes in a few months so, on a personal note, I was delighted to get back on the pitch.
“The hardest part was that it was such a stop-start season for us. I got back into pre-season with the club and then there was the situation with my foot which really wasn’t great timing. When I was out, the boys were doing really well, and it’s good to see them doing well, but obviously you want to be a part of it.
“It was just a case of getting my head down, working hard, and making sure I got back healthy.”