Cup football has given Paul Coutts the chance to face World Cup and Ballon d’Or winners – now he is hoping for some more memorable moments with Inverurie Locos in the Scottish Cup.
Coutts started out with Cove Rangers in the Breedon Highland League, but his fondest cup memories are from the FA Cup and his 15-year stint in England.
With Peterborough United, he took on a Tottenham Hotspur side containing Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe and Niko Kranjcar in 2010.
Six years later, at Sheffield United, Coutts pitted his wits against Manchester United at Old Trafford with Wayne Rooney, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Juan Mata and David de Gea on show for the hosts.
The defender, who used to play in central midfield, joined Inverurie last year after returning to the north-east and penned a contract extension last week.
Coutts was ‘gutted’ to swap shirts with Modric due to £50 replacement cost
Recalling some of the cup ties he’s been involved in, Coutts, 36, said: “Growing up as a Manchester United fan, it was pretty surreal playing at Old Trafford in front of more than 70,000 folk.
“We did well in the game – the disappointment was that we gave away a penalty in the last minute which Rooney scored.
“I was playing against Schweinsteiger that day and swapped shirts with him after the game.
“He was at the tail end of his career but what a player. At the time, I thought: ‘He’s a World Cup winner – what a shirt to get.’
“When we played Spurs, they had an unbelievable team and I swapped shirts with Modric (who has since gone on to win the Ballon d’Or, six Champions Leagues and a host of other trophies).
“Joe Lewis was in goal for us – we got beat 4-0 and he got man of the match, which shows how good they were.
“Modric had only recently come to England and he struggled a bit early on.
“At the time I wanted a better shirt than his – but looking at what he’s gone on to do, it’s the best shirt I could have got.
“I was gutted because at Peterborough, if we swapped shirts, we had to pay to replace our shirt.
“I didn’t really want Modric’s shirt – he asked for mine, and at the time, I thought: ‘That’s going to cost me £50 and I don’t really want yours!’
“The game finished and I was standing right next to him and he said in broken English about swapping shirts.
“I still can’t believe he asked for mine. I’d imagine my shirt went straight in the bin before he left White Hart Lane that day!”
Eyes on the prize
Coutts has relished returning to part-time football with Inverurie.
If Locos can progress this afternoon, it would be the first time in five years that they have reached the third round.
Coutts knows who he would like to play if they were to get that far – but stressed that his full focus is on trying to get the better of Dundee North End.
He added: “I just love playing and competing. I want to win every weekend and I’ll keep going as long as I can.
“From what we’ve seen and heard about Dundee North End, they’re a really good side.
“We know we’ve got to be bang at it or we won’t be able to get through.
“You want to try to go as far as you can – if we could get through to the third round, Cove would be a great draw for me personally because I started off there.
“But the big thing is trying to get through.”
Scottish Cup team news
Elsewhere, Brora Rangers face Formartine United in an all-Highland League clash at Dudgeon Park. Jordan MacRae is out for the Cattachs, with Johnny Crawford, Scott Adams and Kieran Adams missing for the visitors.
There’s another all-Highland League tie at Bellslea, where Fraserburgh meet Turriff United.
Greg Buchan, Connor Wood, Lewis Davidson and Marley Sweenie-Rowe are unavailable for the Broch.
United are set to be missing Callan Gray, Andrew Watt, Reece McKeown, Ewan Clark, Dylan Stuart, Connor Grant, Max Foster, Jack McKenzie, Keir Smith, James Chalmers and Alfie Knox.
Keith have home advantage against Clydebank, but have to do without Ryan Robertson, Craig Gill, Jake Stewart and Jamie Milne.
Buckie Thistle travel to Sauchie missing Lyall Keir, Fraser Robertson and Ryan Fyffe. Sam Pugh, Dale Wood and Hamish Munro are doubts.
Gilmour looks for lightning to strike twice
Mark Gilmour is hoping it will be a case of Dee-ja vu in the Scottish Cup against East Fife.
Banks o’ Dee travel to New Bayview today to take on the League Two leaders in the second round of the competition.
The teams clashed in November 2021 in the third round of the Scottish Cup and Dee came from behind to triumph 2-1 with Gilmour grabbing the winning goal.
Ahead of this afternoon’s meeting, the 25-year-old midfielder said: “It was a really good day for the club – we were big underdogs, but we put in a good performance and managed to get the win.
“That’s what the Scottish Cup is all about. You want to go as far as you can and test yourself against teams from higher levels, so that was a great day.
“It was good to score. I don’t score too many goals and it was one of the easier ones because it was at a corner and I was only a few yards out.
“It would be nice to score again, and if we could have a repeat of the last time we played them, that would be the ideal scenario.”
Progress since last meeting
Gilmour reckons Dee have improved since their last meeting with East Fife.
Three years ago, the Aberdeen outfit were still in the Junior ranks, but now they are sitting third in the Breedon Highland League.
However, the Fifers are also in a good place. In 2021, they were bottom of League One, but this term manager Dick Campbell has led them to the summit of League Two.
And Gilmour certainly isn’t underestimating them as Dee get ready to battle for a place in the third round.
He added: “I suppose we have made progress since that game – at that time we were still in the Juniors.
“But now we’re in our third season in the Highland League, and making the step up, you come up against tougher tests week-in, week-out.
“That prepares you well for the Scottish Cup because the Highland League is a really good standard.
“However, we’re under no illusions facing a side like East Fife will be a different test for us again.
“It will be a really tough game. They’re flying high at the top of League Two, so on paper it’s the toughest game we could have.
“We’ll have to be at our best if we’re to get a positive result.”
In-form Murray and Huntly up for the cup
Huntly’s Callum Murray believes he’s playing the best football of his career and hopes to show it in the Scottish Cup today.
The Blacks and Golds are up against Breedon Highland League leaders Brechin City at Glebe Park in the second round of the tournament.
Winger Murray – who has previously played for Forres Mechanics, Buckie Thistle and Deveronvale – has had an impressive start to the season.
The 27-year-old said: “I feel good – it’s the best I’ve felt in years. I’m confident and I’ve been happy with my overall performances.
“I’d like to score more goals, but I know what I offer to the team, and if I keep doing that then goals will come as part of that.
“I’d say in terms of consistently week-in, week-out, this is the best I’ve played in my career.
“I’ve had good spells and good games in the past, but I feel like this season I’ve been more consistent in terms of putting in solid performances.
“Playing regularly probably helps and that comes from the manager as well.
“I feel comfortable at Huntly and things have felt easier for me at Huntly than anywhere else I’ve been and it seems to be working for me just now.”
Huntly are in a rich vein of form. Since defeating Wick Academy on penalties in the first round of the cup, they have racked up another four straight victories in all competitions.
Murray says they travel to Angus with confidence, and added: “You always get a tough game against Brechin – although our recent games against them have been reasonably close.
“For us this is probably a good time to play Brechin, because we’ve got confidence as a squad and we’ve got good results behind us.
“Winning this kind of game can make a big difference to the season. Getting to the third round would be really good for the club.”
Bunce looks for Clach response
Connor Bunce insists reaching the third round of the Scottish Cup would be the perfect way for Clachnacuddin to bounce back.
The Lilywhites lost 6-1 to Brora Rangers in the North of Scotland Cup final last weekend and return to action today with a trip to Linlithgow Rose.
A place in round three is up for grabs at Prestonfield this afternoon, and Clach haven’t got that far in the Scottish Cup since season 2012-13 when they lost 2-1 to Ayr United.
Attacker Bunce is looking forward to facing Linlithgow, who are fifth in the Lowland League.
The 23-year-old said: “Last weekend was really disappointing, but the key thing now is how we respond.
“It has shown us there’s a long way to go to get to where we want to be – but we’ll work hard to get there.
“I don’t think you could pick a better fixture to try to bounce back in than the Scottish Cup.
“Hopefully we can apply ourselves and learn from our mistakes last week. We expect Linlithgow to be a very good side, so it won’t be easy.
“It would be a great way bounce back if we could get through in the Scottish Cup.
“We’ll need everyone to be at it from the first whistle to give us the best chance.
“It would be a great achievement for the club to get through, because it’s been a while since Clach was in round three.
“We’ve seen other Highland League clubs getting really good ties if you can get through far enough.
“We’ve seen it’s possible and that kind of thing pushes you on in games like this.”
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