Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Draw for 2021/22 Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup revealed as teams set to contest 125th edition of historic competition

(L-R) Elaine Farquharson-Black, Frank Gilfeather and Willie Young draw the ties for the 2021/22 Aberdeenshire Cup. Picture by Kenny Elrick

The draw for the 2021/22 Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup has been revealed, with Buckie Thistle v Formartine United and Dyce Juniors v Hermes the pick of the first-round ties.

Delays thrown up by the Covid pandemic have the meant the 2020/21 edition of the Shire Cup is still only at the semi-final stage, with Keith and Fraserburgh’s clash over the weekend postponed due to positive cases at Kynoch Park, while Formartine United and Buckie Thistle are set to meet at North Lodge Park on Wednesday.

Buckie and Formartine will now get the chance to square off twice in two weeks after being drawn in the opening round of the 2021/22 competition at Victoria Park, with the ties set to take place on July 27 or 28 (8pm kick-offs) – just a few days after the Highland League season begins.

Dyce’s home tie against Hermes is an all-Junior affair, with the latter outfit set to play in the Aberdeenshire Cup for the first time.

The opening round will be completed by Turriff United v Inverurie Locos and Banks o’ Dee v Keith, with Huntly, Deveronvale, Fraserburgh and Aberdeen University all receiving byes to the second round.

Aberdeenshire and District Football Association secretary Willie Young, who oversaw a draw carried out by veteran journalist and Evening Express columnist Frank Gilfeather and Scottish Amateur golf champion and Curtis Cup hero Elaine Farquharson-Black, is hoping the competition for 2021/22 can run without any delays.

Frank Gilfeather and Elaine Farquharson-Black. Picture by Kenny Elrick

He said: “Covid has brought all sorts of problems to association football, but I am delighted we are getting the 2020/21 competition finished and there will be a good final.

“In respect of this coming year’s trophy, there’s some exciting ties and it was interesting the first names out of the hat were Buckie Thistle and Formartine United – who are already playing on Wednesday in a reverse fixture.

“The other one that’s interesting is Dyce versus Hermes, with Hermes being new to the competition and Dyce their Junior rivals.

“But they’re all good ties and I’m delighted Aberdeen University are back in the competition. They’ve got a tough draw playing 2019/20 holders Fraserburgh in the quarter-finals, but I’m sure they won’t be overawed in that, will put on a good performance and, who knows, football’s a funny game!”

The quarter-final ties of the coming season’s Shire Cup will be played on dates to be agreed in August – the same month it is hoped the 2020/21 final will be able to take place in front of a crowd – while the semi-final matches of the 2021/22 competition are scheduled to be played on August 31 or September 1.

The 2021/22 Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup draw in full:

First round: 

Buckie Thistle v Formartine United;

Turriff United v Inverurie Locos;

Dyce Juniors v Hermes;

Banks o’ Dee v Keith

Quarter-finals: 

Banks o’ Dee or Keith v Turriff United v Inverurie Locos;

Buckie Thistle or Formartine United v Huntly;

Deveronvale v Dyce Juniors or Hermes;

Fraserburgh v Aberdeen University

Semi-finals:

Buckie Thistle or Formartine United or Huntly v Deveronvale or Dyce Juniors or Hermes;

Fraserburgh or Aberdeen University v Banks o’ Dee or Keith or Turriff United or Inverurie Locos.