Dundee and Scotland striker Craig Wighton couldn’t believe his eyes when he started kicking footballs into the crowd before the young Scots’ first match against Portugal in the recent European Under-17s Championships in Malta.
There in the stand, right in front of him, was a group of fans wearing the dark blue of Dundee FC, waving cheerfully at him as they tried to catch one of the complementary balls.
Craig had no idea why the group of strange faces were smiling back at him, but all was explained after the match when he emerged from the dressing-room to be met by members of the Gozo five-a-side league team, who play under the name of Dundee FC.
As he happily posed for photographs with the delighted locals, Craig was told the story of how Dens director Dave Forbes sponsors the team, sending them strips and keeping them up to date with all things Dark Blue.
Dave’s contact, Raphael Axiak, had heard Craig was heading out to play on their own island of Gozo in the championships and asked Dave if he could arrange for him and his fellow Maltese fans, including his son Nathan, to meet their favourite player.
Dave contacted Craig’s family and everything came together on the island of Gozo, where Scotland’s first match against Portugal was staged.
Raphael said: “It was great meeting Craig, we all know about him from seeing what he’s done in the first team this year, and it was really exciting to know that we could see and speak to him out here.
“It made our day, he was really nice and was happy to speak with us and get photographs taken.”
Raphael also sent news later saying the local media had reported Craig’s progress through the tournament, stating that the Dundee striker had come on as a substitute against Switzerland and changed the game (the Scots were 1-0 down at half-time but Craig scored once and laid on another in the eventual 3-1 victory).
He was also full of praise for the young player’s performance despite their heavy defeat by Holland in the semi-final.
Raphael and some of his team-mates are now planning a visit to Dens Park to see Dundee in the Premiership next season.
He said: “We are looking forward to that but we’ll maybe wait until next April as it might be too cold for us before that.”