An Edinburgh best man has left a groom and his stag party in stitches after recording a cup style draw to pick the destination of the lucky man’s stag do.
Martin Rennie, from Leith, recorded the video with his sister and brother in law at the weekend after picking up some items from Hobbycraft after leaving the Hibs match early.
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Martin, clad in a three piece suit in the video, was chosen to be Brian McDonald’s, 42, best man.
Brian is set to marry his wife Donna Clark in April later this year.
But Martin and Brian’s friendship goes way back, to the very beginning, with the pair also being cousins.
They even lived together - which is where the idea for the stag tournament came from.
As flat mates the pair used to play Football Manager religiously and would choose which team to manage next by seeing who was the first side to score a goal on Soccer Saturday.
This led Martin to design a tournament draw using a whiteboard, ping pong balls and two glamorous assistants - Victoria Murdoch Chris Murdoch.
He set up the draw with 16 sides in a last 16 style Champions League format. Martin chose the 16 teams by including the first 16 teams to score a goal during the Sky Sports Soccer Saturday show at the weekend.
The last 16 ties were drawn as follows: Kelty Hearts vs Barnet; Manchester City vs Lincoln City; Cove Rangers vs Dunfermline; Wimbledon AFC vs Forfar; Crystal Palace vs Colchester; Oxford Utd vs Edinburgh City; Woking vs Torquay Utd; Livingston vs Fulham.
Martin then chose the winners of each tie using a home or away ball. Eventually they work their way to the final: Manchester City vs Torquay.
It was at this moment that Martin - who had his stag do last year in Manchester for which Brian was best man - started to sweat over a return leg within six months of their last stag in the city.
On the draw, the consultant for fire and security, said: “We used to live together when we were younger and are absolute football fiends. We would decide what team to manage together on Footy Man depending which team scored first.
“So I tried to introduce the old tradition with the stag doo. We had been planning on going to Berlin but we were not sure if it would be possible with the current restrictions.
“I left the Hibs game early and headed to Hobbycraft to get the things that I needed. I’m thankful my sister and wife were on hand to be able to help with the mad idea. I tried to convince my sister to dress up as Rod Stewart but she was having none of it.
“We headed back and just designed the tournament out. I have to be honest we were starting to get nervous as the destinations closer to home were pulled out like Edinburgh City and Dunfermline. Before the draw I was really hoping for Torquay as it was the furthest away - I even considered warming up the balls in the microwave.
“It is going to be Torquay vs Weymouth FC derby on March 26 so we are hoping to get the 35 of us into the game and Brian to be the match mascot but are yet to hear back from Torquay.
“It was always destined to be a remote location with a not so well known football team involved but we are all buzzing that it is Torquay. We really didn’t want Livingston or Dunfermline.”
Brian who now lives in Glasgow with his soon to be wife Donna commented on the draw, he said: “Watching the draw was very exciting, the way Martin handles himself on camera and the seriousness of the outcome added to the tension given the options that were in the hat.
“There were a few Scottish options in there which were good as well. We had originally planned to go to Berlin but given the restrictions we decided to have it here but mix it up a bit.
“Torquay was literally the furthest away and I’m delighted to be going there with a great bunch of lads.”
His fiancée Donna added: “I was delighted the way Martin set it up but nothing surprises me with these two, and I apologise in advance to the wonderful people of Torquay.”
Torquay Utd have been contacted for comment.
