Vice-chairman George Thom explained how drawing Rangers in the Scottish Cup provides a tremendous boost to Fraserburgh’s finances.
Former Ibrox season-ticket holder Thom is looking forward to returning to Govan with the Broch.
Thom joined the Bellslea board in May 2022, and became vice-chairman a year later, while the company set up by his wife Vee – VT Wealth – are the Broch’s main sponsors.
A boost the Broch didn’t budget for
A share of the gate receipts from the Ibrox clash, plus competition prize money and a broadcast fee, if the match is televised, mean Fraserburgh stand to generate a significant sum from this tie.
Thom, 63, said: “We’re absolutely delighted. Every club likes ours wants to have a good Scottish Cup campaign, ideally get to the fourth round and then see what happens.
“I’m heavily involved in the commercial and financial side of the club, and there’s no doubt this will make a huge difference.
“We set our budgets every summer for the season ahead and we don’t budget for getting to play Rangers at Ibrox.
“We want to exceed the operational costs of the club every season, our priority is youth development and the team on the pitch, while also making sure Bellslea Park is maintained and improved.
“The comfort and safety of the fans who come to Bellslea is very important.
“We run the club as a business and this tie is a huge boost for us – it’s similar to an oil and gas company winning a contract that they hadn’t expected or budgeted for.
“The important thing is that after the game we are prudent and sensible and invest any surplus from the game in the right way.
“We’ve got strong foundations at the club structurally and commercially. But this may give us the opportunity to accelerate things within our five-year plan and to invest in the club and community.
“It’s a tremendous boost for us and it’s important we enjoy the build-up and the day.”
Thom missed out on last meeting
This isn’t the first time Fraserburgh have faced Rangers in the Scottish Cup.
In January 2018, the Gers triumphed 3-0 at Bellslea, but Thom wasn’t able to attend that fixture.
He added: “I wasn’t long back in the area and couldn’t get a ticket for the game in 2018 – thankfully I won’t have that problem this time!
“At that time VT Wealth hadn’t opened our Fraserburgh office. When we opened our office in Fraserburgh, we wanted to invest in the local community and that’s when the opportunity arose to get involved with the football club.
“I’m a football fan and when the opportunity came up to be the main sponsor, it was a privilege as a Broch fan to do that.
“If you speak to business people about sponsoring a football club, there’s a lot of emotion attached to it rather than it necessarily being for business reasons.
“The first game I went to was Fraserburgh v Celtic in April 1970 at Bellslea, and my first Rangers game was in February 1971 at Pittodrie.
“I was a season ticket-holder at Ibrox for 26 years. Fraserburgh is my team, but my ‘big’ team if you like is Rangers.
“It will be an absolute dream to go to Ibrox with my Fraserburgh scarf.”
Praise for players and management
Thom was also quick to praise Fraserburgh’s players and management team for leading them to the fourth round of the Scottish Cup with victories against Rothes, Turriff United and Annan Athletic.
He said: “I’m genuinely delighted for Mark Cowie (manager), James Duthie (assistant manager), the coaching staff, the players and also the fans. They all deserve this tie.
“The result on Saturday against Annan was terrific. We’ve got a lot of loyal senior players who are great ambassadors for Fraserburgh Football Club.
“We also try to give local players a chance and a lot of young players have been involved this season.
“We have players who I think deserve this moment, and I’m confident they’ll do Fraserburgh Football Club and the Highland League proud at Ibrox in January.”
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