Buckie Thistle ticket demand for Scottish Cup clash at Celtic amazes cup hero Josh Peters
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Buckie Thistle top scorer Josh Peters is amazed by supporters’ demand for tickets for the big Scottish Cup clash at Celtic on January 21.
The Jags' request for 5000 tickets for the fourth round tie - which is also screened live on Viaplay - was granted by the Scottish champs.
The first batch were put on sale through the club’s online shop and over 1000 were snapped up within the first 24 hours.
Considering the ticket allocation represents more than half of the population of Buckie, Peters is delighted that so many want to go to the game.
“I think it’s amazing the response that the game has had,” said the Aviemore man.
“They sold 1000 tickets on day one which is unbelievable.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime game and the ticket prices are pretty good. The kick off time was up for debate but it’s such a big game, it doesn’t matter what time of day.
“From the fans’ point of view, you will get yourself down if you possibly can and obviously a lot of them will be there. I don’t know if they will sell the 5000 but the ones who are there will make a big difference for us I’m sure. They will create a great atmosphere.”
Peters was the man who earned the biggest match in Buckie’s history, scoring stoppage time equalisers in regulation and extra time at Broxburn Athletic in the last round before the ten-man Jags progressed on penalties.
He knows what the big Celtic draw means to everyone at Victoria Park.
“It’s a huge day for the club and directors, guys like Garry and Daniel (Farquhar) who have invested a lot in the club out of their own pocket. It shows all the hard work they have done that has created the outcome.
“Hopefully make things a bit better for the club in the future.”
Peters and his Buckie team-mates have been forced to miss a lot of game time due to the weather, and a drainage problem currently affecting Victoria Park.
Saturday’s clash with Formartine United was the fifth home league game to be postponed since the start of October, and with two away matches also called off during that time, Jags have fallen way behind in fixtures.
They will have to play 21 league matches between now and April, and miss at least one more Saturday in that time due to the Celtic cup clash.
“It’s been a struggle to keep going,” Peters added. “Obviously we want to be playing every week and don’t want to have to play catchup later in the season but it is inevitable now. It’s not ideal.
“We thought was our best performance of the season at Forres when we had played hardly any football for a few weeks before that. That shows the boys are still motivated to keep fit.
“We have this huge game coming up in a couple of weeks but the league is our priority and we don’t want to drop any points. We have games in hand but a lot of games to catch up on so we just have to power on through.”
Buckie are scheduled to visit Huntly on Saturday and Peters added: “We can’t afford to let fitness levels slip.
“You need match fitness and hopefully we can get a game or two before the Celtic game.”
