Kenny Crawford - BBC ScotlandMon, December 1, 2025 at 8:43 PM UTC·2 min readAuchinleck Talbot manager Tommy Sloan replied "I haven't heard otherwise" when asked if their compact Beechwood Park will host Celtic after being drawn on Sunday at home to the Scottish champions in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.
But he confirmed that "all the hospitality has already sold out" for the tie scheduled for the Ayrshire village's 4,000-capacity ground on Saturday, 17 January.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAuchinleck, currently playing in the sixth tier of Scottish football, are no strangers to taking senior scalps and the latest was an impressive 4-0 win away to League 2 promotion hopefuls Dumbarton.
It set up a tie against the 42-time record winners and will present the biggest tie of Talbot's history - and Sloan's career.
"You don't get any bigger than that," said the 61-year-old who has lifted the Scottish Junior Cup seven times.
"It's great for the club, with the publicity and whatnot, it's great for the players especially, playing against Celtic, who last week beat Feyenoord away in Europe.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"It is the biggest tie I have been involved in, there is no question of that. They are the champions of Scotland, so I don't think they will worry about coming to Beechwood."
Auchinleck sit second in the West of Scotland League Premier Division, five points behind Troon but with three games in hand.
"To be honest, the Junior Cup is one we can win," Sloan added. "That's the most important competition for me, whereas we love being in the Scottish Cup, but we know we are not winning it.
"We have a load of games before then. I will need to keep on to the players that we need to try to win these games.
"It's not a case of taking it easy. We need to guard against that.
"Hopefully the [Celtic] game is an incentive for them and we can keep the form up."
