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Sport
Andy McGilvray

New England Patriots legend drops in to East Kilbride FC on Scottish visit

Three-time Superbowl winner Matt Light will be a guest of East Kilbride FC this afternoon as they host Lowland League rivals Caledonian Braves in the Scottish Cup second round.

The New England Patriots legend is a friend of director James Kean, and is over for a visit, which saw him take a tour around the Raer Scotch Whisky distillery, before heading to K-Park this afternoon.

Light, 44, from Greenville, Ohio, says team-work is key to success, having gone to Patriots as a rookie and ended up with a glittering career.

He told East Kilbride's website: "[Team-work] is huge. Team-work today is a lot different to what it was when I got in the league 20 years ago. I spent 11 seasons playing for a coach who was very demanding, and he put us in a position where we had to all band together.

"When coaches are tough on you and they drive a very disciplined approach to doing business, it forces you as a player to say this is how we have to do our job, these are the things that are required for us to be successful.

"So much of that is down to the relationships that you form in a locker room, during practices, and during the study and as you're doing your craft, but how you bring the guys in around you."

Light added: "Today it's so much more difficult, because you have social media platforms and everybody's trying to manage their image or their brand. What I would always stress to young people or anybody who is in the sports realm is that's all great, and you can do those things, but what's most important is that you trust the guy next to you.

"That team-work, that camaraderie, and doing things off the field as much as you do them on the field creates a bond.

"I've seen that play out successfully in so many organisations. We won championship after championship because we won things as a team, not just on the field.

Light will take in East Kilbride's Scottish Cup tie against Caledonian Braves this afternoon (EAST KILBRIDE NEWS)

"We fought. It wasn't always friendly. Our practices were tough, but we always came back together, and I think that's a Hallmark Signature thing that happens with all good teams."

Light was drafted by Patriots in 2001 and spent his entire 11-year NFL career at Patriots, saying he learned a lot in that time.

He said: "In 2001 I was a rookie; as my coach would say, I didn't know if the ball was pumped or stuffed, I had no idea what I was doing, and we had never won a championship in New England.

"Fast forward to the end of that season there were a whole bunch of misfits that came together, but we came together because of the experience of some of the veterans, the guys who had been there and done it.

"Not necessarily winning championships, but they understood what it took to perform at a very high level, and they held everybody around them accountable. I think that's what great leaders do.

"People who have been there, they've had the success, they've won, and they know what it takes. It's not just enough for them to do that, they have to be able to convince the people around them that if we want to sustain this, this is what it takes.

"Then there's doing it back-to-back, and how difficult it is. You win one year, it doesn't happen very often that you win it the next year, and there's a reason for that.

"We all get complacent but what great leaders and guys who are selfless in their approach, you can do that to a great degree.

"Having leadership is a huge component, but the buy-in, and that camaraderie and that team-work is the ultimate part of the equation that really sends you over the edge."

Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.

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