Moray braveheart home to battle for Ricksen
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SUNDAY’S Fernando Ricksen benefit football game will take Scotland’s ‘Braveheart’ hero Colin Hendry back to his Moray roots.
The Keith-born player kicked off his career playing for his home town’s Highland League and junior clubs, before going on captain his country in World Cups and win top domestic honours both north and south of the Border.
In an exclusive interview with ‘The Northern Scot’, Hendry (49) spoke about how he is relishing the chance to return north to his family and meet old school pals, as well as taking to the field against former team-mates and opponents from his heyday.
The man who won an English Premier League title with Blackburn, led Rangers to a Scottish treble and joined Scotland’s international hall of fame after winning 50 caps has fond memories of where his career all began.
He remembers playing in Keith’s maroon and blue shirt at Borough Briggs, and how his time with Islavale juniors led to him being talent spotted by the great Sir Alex Ferguson.
All those memories will flood back for Hendry when he heads back up the road this weekend.
“I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve got a lot of good memories and know a lot of good people from up there. It will be great to meet up with a few of them again,” he said.
“I would expect there might be a bit of a following coming through from Keith to see the game. I’m hoping to see ex-team-mates I might have played with at Keith or Islavale and a lot of school-mates.”
He will be part of a Rangers ‘Legends’ team taking on some former Celtic, Aberdeen and Hearts opponents in a benefit game for Dutchman Ricksen, who revealed last year he is suffering from Motor Neurone Disease.
Hendry was approached by former Glasgow businessman Victor Morgan, who has been leading the Ricksen charity effort, to play in the Moray match this weekend.
He will play alongside former Ibrox team-mates like Andy Goram, Michael Mols and Marco Negri against a team led by Hendry’s former Scotland colleagues Tom Boyd and Tosh McKinlay.
Sunday's match kicks off at 3pm with tickets still available.
The Northern Scot will be at the match, speaking to some of the stars and there will be a full picture special in next week's Northern Scot.
Follow @NScot_cchristie on Twitter for updates and videos from Sunday's big event.
Today's Northern Scot has a full and exclusive interview with Colin Hendry, reminiscing on his glory days with Rangers, Scotland and Blackburn and how his career began in Keith.
