Brilliant Billy Gilmour has already ticked off a number of landmark moments in his career.
Now he can add pulling on the colours of Stanley Amateurs to his growing list of achievements!
The kind-hearted Chelsea and Scotland midfielder, a rising star of the game, was special guest in the Perthshire village on Saturday.
He delighted players and locals alike at the Stanley Amateurs versus Stanley Veterans charity exhibition match.
Family friend and Stanley manager Kenny Alexander explained: “We met Billy on holiday in Turkey when he was five or six.
“We’ve all stayed friends ever since. My two boys (Alfie and Harvey) are around the same age. They just kept in touch.
“It’s been phenomenal to watch Billy play for Scotland – and getting man of the match against England was even better.
“We went down to Norwich to see him and I joked about getting him in a Stanley strip. He said no bother.”
Gilmour, fresh from extending his Stamford Bridge stay, was true to his word.
At the weekend he turned up at the local pitch with his dad and younger brother Harvey, who plays with Kilmarnock. He showed off his skills, signed autographs and posed for plenty of photos.
“Some of the lads were starstruck, I’d say,” Kenny smiled.
“You could just see he was different class. One of the boys said it was like he wasn’t playing the same sport.
“His touch is just phenomenal when you watch it in close quarters.
“A couple of our players are Chelsea fans so there were loads of shirts getting signed.
“He also went along early to sign all the shirts for Stanley’s younger team. They were all delighted.”
Gilmour even presented trophies at the amateur team’s end-of-season prizegiving at the Tayside Hotel. The day had started with a tournament for youngsters before the ‘Stanley Challenge Cup’ match.
A successful tombola and fundraising activity helped gather money for the club and Mantalk, a Blairgowrie-based group doing great mental health work in the community.
“We managed to raise money both for the club and for Mantalk, around £250 each,” a delighted Kenny revealed.
“We then had our presentation night and Billy handed out the trophies. We all had a very good night.”
Stanley Amateurs are set to begin pre-season on July 2. Gilmour has been offered an invite back!
