I'm a Ballon d'Or hero who went from playing at Seaton Park in Aberdeen to scoring a Champions League-winning penalty
One superstar's rise to the top included a trip to the Granite City in his formative years
From humble beginnings to world stardom stories are not too uncommon in football.
But one former Ballon D'Or winner has a career path that included an appearance at the now-defunct Aberdeen International Football Festival years before he went onto reach the very top.
Andriy Shevchenko was a rising star in the Dynamo Kyiv academy in Ukraine when he was included in the U15 side that made the trip to Seaton Park in Old Aberdeen in 1990 for the tournament, which brought budding youngsters from all over the world together for a weekend of football.
The future AC Milan and Chelsea superstar caught the eye at the event, despite being two years younger than the kids he was playing alongside.
The 2004 Ballon D'Or recipient also stole the show at the Ian Rush Cup in Wales in the same year, and was personally presented with pair of boots by the Liverpool icon after being named as the player of the tournament.
In an interview with FourFourTwo last month, Shevchenko - who scored the winning penalty for Milan against Juventus in the 2003 Champions League final - said: "Later, I travelled abroad with Dynamo.
"We played in two different tournaments: one in Aberdeen and another in Wales, at the Ian Rush Cup.
"Even though the boots were too small for me, I treasured them for years because everyone knew him and he was a Liverpool legend – I tried playing with them once, until my big toes poked through the toe area!"
But while he was crowned top dog in the Aberwsysth, Shevchenko's displays in the Granite City were overshadowed by a fellow future international footballer.
Forward Peter Ndlovu - who went onto star for Coventry City in the Premier League and win 100 caps for his country - was part of a Zimbabwe team that also took part in the tournament and pipped the Ukrainian to the award, as recalled by former Aberdeen Football Festival chairman George Wyatt.
Speaking to The Press and Journal in 2022, former Aberdeen Football Festival chairman George Wyatt said: "I remember well that Dynamo Kiev team coming over.
"They came over because they had a link-up with Rangers. I believe they had a link-up with Rangers, I believe they went to Glasgow for a tour around Ibrox before the tournament.
"I clearly remember seeing Shevchenko, he played extremely well in the tournament. He was a year or two younger than his team-mates but even so he stood out."
"That was an especially strong year because Peter Ndlovu, who went on to play for Sheffield United, was playing for a team from Zimbabwe. He won the player of the tournament and was absolutely outstanding."
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Daily Record
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Daily Record
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I know what Callum McGregor's one career regret will be after notable snub by Celtic Marathon Man
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The National
an hour ago
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To play for the sake of playing in changing amateur scene
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Yesterday, Saxton was named in the Scotland side again as she retained her place for the forthcoming European Women's Amateur Team Championship. She will be joined in that squad by Hannah Darling, the highly talented 21-year-old who is poised for her amateur swansong before making the pro plunge later in the season. Darling, who helped GB&I win the Vagliano Trophy for the first time in 20 years at the weekend, has stockpiled a vast haul of national and international silverware since bursting onto the scene and landing the Scottish Girls' Amateur Championship at the age of just 13. Amateur accomplishments and accolades, of course, do not guarantee professional prosperity. But nothing does in this predictably unpredictable pursuit of complex demands. Paul Lawrie, for instance, had very little amateur pedigree but, through drive, discipline, talent and that special undefined something that you can't bottle, became a major champion, multiple tour winner and Ryder Cup player. Others, eagerly championed and tipped for great things after glory-laden stints in the amateur ranks, disappeared off the face of the earth. There's no one-size-fits-all model for success and someone like Lawrie, as well as Scots like Catriona Mathew, Janice Moodie, Colin Montgomerie, Sam Torrance, Sandy Lyle, Russell Knox, Martin Laird, Gemma Dryburgh or Robert MacIntyre, were and have been successful for very different reasons. Darling has ticked plenty of boxes along the way. Let's hope she ticks a few more when her inevitable move into the paid game arrives. Let's hope, too, that Saxton continues to thrive as a career amateur. And as for this correspondent? Well, let's hope that scientific research is right and I winkle out a few extra years on this earth, even if it merely prolongs the golfing incompetence. Ludere Causa Ludendi, indeed.
