Lewis Mackinnon works as a project manager for Places for People during the day, and he is situated in the Tornagrain housing complex in the Highlands. However, on Sunday, he will be facing Celtic FC, a legendary team, in front of 60,000 spectators at Celtic Park.
center-back Lewis joined the Moray town of Buckie-based football team Buckie Thistle in 2006; the team plays in Scotland’s Highland Football League. In 2015, Lewis became assistant manager in addition to being a player.
When Lewis’ teammates were chosen to play Celtic in the Scottish Cup’s fourth round—a competition the Glasgow team has won 41 times—videos of them became widely popular on January 16. In addition to being the first football team from Britain to win a championship in Europe, Celtic has won the Scottish League 53 times.
Eight miles east of Inverness in the Highlands, Lewis works as an overseer and manager for the Tornagrain project, which is constructing a new sustainable town with 5,000 homes eventually dotted with green spaces and neighborhood squares, as well as local amenities and job opportunities.
“This may be my last season as a player, but I’ll stay as assistant manager,” Lewis stated. “It feels surreal that I’ll be walking out with my team in front of 60,000 people to play Celtic, a huge and iconic club.” Lewis is 39 years old. He has played for Buckie Thistle for 17 years.
I was shocked to learn about it. In terms of our revenue and profile as a club, the pull is simply enormous, and I’m incredibly happy to be a part of something so historic for such an incredible club and community.
“Like the players for the Celtics, we all have regular day jobs that we will resume on Monday. While building houses and being a football assistant manager are quite different, both are genuine hobbies of mine, and I know that everyone at Places for People will be rooting for me on Sunday.
“I am so proud to lead an organization made up of so many incredible people,” said Places for People CEO Greg Reed. “What Lewis and his team mates have achieved in earning the opportunity to play on such an enormous stage is remarkable.”
“We’ll be rooting for you all the way on Sunday, Lewis, but I’ll have to be careful not to upset any of our staff or customers who support Celtic.”
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