Deveronvale striker Ben Hermiston can call for inspiration from grandfather Jim, an Aberdeen Football Club legend who helped Pittodrie club to famous Scottish Cup triumph over Jock Stein’s Celtic
If Deveronvale striker Ben Hermiston ever needs words of footballing advice or support, he’s got an Aberdeen Hall of Fame legend to lean on - his grandfather.
The 18-year-old is grandson of Pittodrie great Jim Hermiston, who helped the Dons to their famous Scottish Cup triumph of 1970 and captained the club before emigrating to Australia.
That’s the reason why Ben was brought up Down Under before moving to Scotland with his family nearly three years ago.
He reached first team level at SPFL Montrose but decided to step down to Highland League with ‘Vale for regular football and has become a fans’ favourite at Princess Royal Park.
His double at Strathspey Thistle on Saturday helped the Banff side picked up their fourth win in a row in all competitions to continue an impressive season under new boss Garry Wood.
“The big thing is all the boys in our team are about the same age and we gel really well,” Ben said.
“That helps, relationships off the field are very good and I think that has brought everyone close and that is reflected in the performances so you can’t ask for much more than that.”
There’s never a week goes by where Ben isn’t in contact with grandad Jim, who is based in Brisbane, Queensland and has become an adopted Vale supporter.
Jim played left back for the Dons for almost a decade, his most famous day being when he played in front of a 108,000 crowd at Hampden Park in the 1970 Scottish Cup final against a Celtic side in the midst of Scottish dominance.
While Celtic’s side contained many of their Lisbon Lions heroes from their European Cup success in 1967, led by the great Jock Stein, the Dons could boast club legends like Joe Harper, Martin Buchan and Davie Robb, who alongside Hermiston masterminded a legendary 3-1 victory over the Celts.
Hermiston later captained the club, then quit professional football to join the police before moving to Australia in the mid-70s, where he also served as a policeman as well as a football boss.
“Grandad is definitely an Aberdeen legend,” Ben said. “I don’t know if football is in the blood, I keep telling myself it is.
“He’s always checking in on me and how I am getting on, giving me his words of wisdom. He’s definitely a major figure in my life, not just in football.
“He’s got so many stories and all of these medals to show, and he tells me who he played against. It’s great to listen to and understand.
“He played some crazy fixtures back in the day against some big teams who Aberdeen used to play and it’s good to listen to them all.
“He’s done so much, won so much and been quite an influential figure for Aberdeen over the years. He’s been a great influence on me too, definitely.”
Perhaps with his grandad’s spirit surging through his veins, Ben has taken to Highland League football like a duck to water and has played his part in Vale’s revival this season.
When both of Ben’s goals were announced on Vale’s Facebook page on Saturday, his grandfather Jim made an immediate comment from Australia, proud of his grandson’s efforts.
Ben’s double strike in Grantown - Olek Dlugosz also netted in a 3-0 Vale success - took his goal tally to eight for the campaign and joint-top alongside Jack Mitchell in the club scoring charts.
The young Aussie described his journey from Down Under to Deveronvale.
“I moved over to Scotland when I was 15 or 16. I came over and played in the academy at Montrose for a year or so and made the step to the first team.”
He debuted for the Links Park club a year ago and netted in his second game in a 2-2 draw at Alloa in League 1 last Christmas.
Ben also began this season with Montrose and scored in a 3-2 defeat at Partick Thistle in the Premier Sports Cup group stages.
But he was keen to gain more minutes, and contact came from Deveronvale assistant manager Scott Bridgewater who was under-18 coach at Montrose before joining Vale in the summer and knew about Hermiston’s talents.
“Highland League is really enjoyable. It’s sort of my first taste of men’s football and I’ve really enjoyed playing week in, week out. There’s a great atmosphere at games and a good team collective so it’s really been enjoyable.”
While some were predicting that Deveronvale would struggled in the lower reaches of the league again this term, player boss Wood has led a resurgence in the club’s fortunes and saturday’s win lifted them to eighth place.
They have already defeated high-flying big spenders like Brora Rangers and Banks o’ Dee in competitive action this term and Hermiston sensed a real belief in the squad.
“I don’t think we’ve got anything to fear. With how we’ve been playing, we don’t shy away from any of the teams at the minute with how we have been battling against the best teams. Long may it continue.
“The way we play, everyone is chipping in with goals and we create quite a few chances up front. As long as everyone is scoring and we are winning games, that’s the main thing and it’s going well.
“I just sort of made that step slightly down to Deveronvale just to try and get that first team experience and try to play as many minutes as I can.
“I just wanted to develop my games as much as I could and I definitely think that is working so far. I feel my game has improved a lot and hopefully I can continue with how I’m going.
“I want to score a few more goals and maybe if I keep progressing, I can make that step back up (to SPFL) over the next few years. That would be the ideal situation.”
The teenager says his best attributes are his work-rate, aerial ability, touch and finishing ability, but he does feel he could have an even better goal tally this season.
“If I've got eight goals by the halfway point, with some of the chances I could have taken I definitely think I can get 20.
“If I can keep going with how things have been so far, I’m confident I’m capable of doing that.”
