NEW footage has emerged showing the inspirational speech Darvel manager Mick Kennedy gave to his players before their historic Scottish Cup win over Aberdeen.
The Ayrshire side, who play in the West of Scotland Premier Division, produced arguably the competition’s biggest-ever upset as they ran out 1-0 leaders over Jim Goodwin’s side.
Footage on BBC Sport Scotland’s Twitter page shows how Kennedy motivated his players to their famous win.
He said: “The next 90 minutes are probably one of the most important 90 minutes of your career.”
🗣️'The next 90 minutes will probably be the most important of your career' 👊 How about this for behind the scenes access! 🎥 Darvel manager Mick Kennedy delivers a passioate pre-match team-talk to his players ⤵️#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/5F78ABjbQs
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) January 23, 2023
The manager then explained how he had read about a man who lived until he was 77, which amounted to “40 million minutes in his life”.
“I’m asking you to give your absolute upmost for the next 90. 90 minutes out of 40 million. That’s all I’m asking for”, he added.
Darvel will now face League One side Falkirk in the competition’s next round.
Kennedy continued: “So when that whistle goes be prepared to give everything you’ve got for each other, for yourself, for your family.
“Be proud of what you achieve and be proud of what we’re going to achieve because I promise you right now we can win this.
“That belief starts inside yourself then it spreads from one another but you must believe. People talk about underdogs. I’m telling you right now we’re not underdogs. I do not believe that I’ve never believed it till the draw has been done.”
Scotland’s national team captain Andy Robertson praised the team’s result on Twitter, re-tweeting the side’s full-time social media post with three clapping emojis.
— Andy Robertson (@andrewrobertso5) January 23, 2023
Kennedy added: “I know it’s in this changing room, I know what’s in your hearts, I know when we’re together we can achieve anything we set our mind to but you’ve got to be hungry, you’ve got to have desire in your belly, you’ve got to draw strength from the crowd.
“You’ve got to draw from one another when you need to find that extra yard, that extra bit of oxygen then look round about you, look to your brothers, look to your family, let’s look to the next round.”
