Family tragedy brought forward a mission to visit all 42 senior Scottish grounds for Eddie McCluskey who stopped by Aberdeen and Cove Rangers on a recent charity fundraiser.
Eddie, 59, visited Pittodrie with Dons legend Willie Garner before pitching up at Cove’s Balmoral Stadium in his bid to raise cash for Alzheimer Scotland.
He has set up a Justgiving page to raise funds for a charity that is very close to his heart having lost family members to the disease.
Eddie said: “I wanted to do this anyway when I retired.
“Then I had a wee lightbulb moment one night when I thought why don’t I do this for Alzheimer’s as it is close to my heart.
“I have lost two aunts, an uncle, two sisters and a brother to it.
“The latest was my aunt in February this year.
“This is for them and for everyone affected by this illness.”
Pittodrie great Garner, who won the 1980 league title with Aberdeen under Sir Alex Ferguson, is Eddie’s friend and visited Pittodrie and the Balmoral Stadium with him.
Eddie is set to go one better than the 42 senior grounds as he also visited Highland League champions Brora Rangers – just in case they were promoted to League 2 via the pyramid play-offs.
Brora lost out to Kelty Hearts in the play-offs.
He said: “I did all the North clubs and they were all very welcoming.
“Willie (Garner) has been so supportive since I decided to star this.
“I started at Brora just in case.
“I am glad I went up to Brora because I got a great welcome and it is such a lovely place.
“Brora gave me a club jersey so it was a great start.
“I started at Brora then went to Ross County, Inverness Caley Thistle, Elgin City, Aberdeen and Cove Rangers who were all very welcoming.”
Eddie then travelled to Arbroath’s Gayfield Park where he met Amanda Kopel, the wife of late Dundee United star Frank Kopel, who died aged 65 suffering from vascular dementia.
She has campaigned for more than a decade to highlight the dangers and long term health ramifications of footballers heading heavy balls.
Eddie, who lives in Motherwell, said: “Amanda has been brilliant.
“She sadly lost Frank to it and she has been encouraging me.
“I thought why not do something to try to raise funds for Alzheimer’s and try to make people more aware.
“People have maybe heard of it but if they are not affected by it they are not thnking about it- that is human nature.
“It is to make people more aware of how terrible this illness is and the affect it has on people and their families.”
This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.