Jags cement bond with best-selling author Stephen King
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FROM the doyen of horror fiction to Buckie Thistle's latest fan, Stephen King's link with the Highland League club must surely count as the one of the most bizarre tales of recent times.
No-one was more surprised than the Victoria Park outfit when it emerged that the club were featured in Mr King's latest novel, If It Bleeds.
The Jags' debut in the world of the horror master (72), whose long list of works include The Stand, Carrie and The Shining, saw two signed copies of the novel wing their way to Buckie for the club, one of which is due to be auctioned in the coming week.
As a token of their gratitude, Buckie Thistle have sent Mr King a selection of club memorabilia declaring him a "fully fledged fan of the Jags".
There was a pleasant surprise for Thistle's director of football Graeme Tallis when he received a message from the author in which he is proudly decked in a Buckie scarf and the famous hooped top.
Mr Tallis said: "This is certainly one of the most bizarre experiences I've had in all my years in football.
"Some of the Buckie fans alerted us back in April to the fact the club featured in Stephen's new book, which was a big surprise.
"I took it upon myself to email his PA and the next thing I knew I received an email from the man himself. He told me that he went online to search through Scottish football clubs to find one to use in his book and he chose Buckie Thistle as he thought it was such as colourful name.
"We had a bit of back and forth by email and Stephen asked how things were going at the club. He then sent us two signed copies of his new book. We're intending to auction one this coming week, probably putting it on auction for three or four days to see how things go.
"We've already been lots of messages about the book, many from outside the club.
"Stephen's a fully fledged fan of the club now so we sent him some club memorabilia. It was quite a surprise when I got a photo from him wearing the Buckie Thistle's colours
"We're very grateful to Stephen for these books. It's a timely donation as the club needs all the income it can get at this time.
Should Mr King ever decide to take a meander from Maine to Moray, he has an open invitation to pop by Victoria Park where he will certainly be the guest of honour.
However, if he wants to take in a Highland League game, he might have to wait until October – or perhaps beyond – before the season restarts.
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