Celtic midfielder Luke McCowan says the magnitude of becoming a Scottish Premiership champion is only just beginning to sink in, with the emotional weight of the achievement sure to hit home when he celebrates the title with his family at Celtic Park.
The 27-year-old, who joined Celtic from Dundee last summer, has been a key squad player in Brendan Rodgers’ title-winning side, capping off a remarkable personal journey from cleaning saunas in his early twenties to lifting silverware with the club he supported as a boy.
“When I can sit down and talk about it I will get really emotional about it,” McCowan admitted to RecordSport.
“Me and my fiance will probably be sitting and greeting on the pitch but it’ll be a nice moment. I might need a hanky in the back pocket!
“It’s probably because at 19 and 20, 21, I was working in a sauna, cleaning people’s sweat off a glass cabinet, and now six years later I’m with the champions of Scotland.
“Even this time last year you’re battling away in a top six fight. You’re obviously delighted that you’ve got top six with Dundee, that’s a massive occasion for the club.
“But then a year later you’re becoming champions of that same league.
“It’s scary and you need to actually relish it and not think about it too much.
“That’s when I’ll probably get emotional because I would have never got this far thinking about it. I would have never told you that would happen.
“You’d have been motivated to get here but as life goes on, it’s always harder with the older you’re getting.
“I probably thought maybe I missed my window to get here with the age I was at.
“I know 27 doesn’t even seem old but it’s just been amazing, an amazing season.”
The former Ayr United and Dundee midfielder is especially looking forward to sharing the moment with those closest to him:
“When I see my family and finance holding the trophy with my medal around their neck, it’ll be a brilliant moment.
“I think that’s really what it’s all about, having the people around you.
“My fiance especially, who’s been with me since I was 17, knowing the struggles I went through and knowing the mental challenges it takes just to battle away every year.
“Then to go to Dundee and move away from home and go through all that, and then you’re coming back to Glasgow or where you’re from and coming back to play with your boyhood club – and also her club as well. It makes it a bit special.”
It truly is one of the brilliant stories that fans love to hear. One of their own has worked hard and got themselves to a place where they will life a league title for Celtic and will hopefully be part of a treble-winning squad.
The midfielder did miss out on a League Cup medal, cup tied with Dundee, but he’s played a massive role in Celtic’s league title and Scottish Cup run.
Luke McCowan is a role model to the younger generation, who will no doubt look to his hard work that has paid off.
