Nicky Devlin has one word to describe wild Aberdeen season as star reveals his gutted mum missed trophy celebrations
Aberdeen won the Scottish Cup at the weekend but poor Nicky Devlin's mum missed it as she was travelling back from holiday
Nicky Devlin has revealed his gutted mum missed Aberdeen 's heroic Scottish Cup success.
Anne Marie has travelled the length and breadth of Scotland to watch her boy play, even taking off for Europe after the Dons embarked on continental football in Devlin's first campaign at the club.
However, she missed his crowning glory as Aberdeen humbled Celtic at Hampden – because she was away on her future daughter-in-law's hen do.
The right-back admits she did not even get the chance to watch it on television since she on a flight out to Tenerife when the drama was unfolding.
Devlin said: 'Johnny is my wee brother, he gets married in the summer. His partner Kelsey, it was her hen weekend.
'They flew out on Saturday afternoon so she actually never knew we had won until she landed.
'She was in Tenerife so it's a four-hour flight or something like that. Even with extra-time and penalties, by the time she landed she didn't know what had happened.
'Then she looked at her phone and saw the celebrations, probably saw most of the messages and texts.
'I've spoken to her but I felt bad because she's said it as well, 'I'd love to be in Aberdeen'.
'These things don't come along very often so you have to appreciate them when they do. I tried to limit the contact because I knew the more contact she had, the worse it would be for her.
'I'm sure my dad, who was here, has probably sent her pictures.'
Aberdeen's season has been a rollercoaster, which pretty much captures his own campaign – or, as Devlin describes it, 'mental'.
He had the highs of a 16-game unbeaten start to claiming his first Scotland cap at home to Portugal last October.
The Dons' season then collapsed and, come January, Jimmy Thelin brought in Alexander Jensen as Devlin found himself out of the team.
He finally got himself back in in time for Hampden, his third start in five games, and crowned it all by lifting the trophy.
Devlin said: 'It's so bizarre, the full season's just been mental. I'd admit at one point in the season, it was probably the worst I've ever felt in my career.
'In terms of not playing, it was the hardest part of my career for a couple months. But it's the same season – it's been the best part of my career so it's hard to judge.
'It's just mental, the whole season's been mad. This is how we've finished it so it's a good way to finish.'
Devlin's lack of recent activity resulted in him cramped up in the showpiece and had to make way in the final minutes of normal time before he cost his team. The 31-year-old said: 'I just felt both calves screaming.
'I didn't want to almost be selfish in terms of playing on. We had someone there in Jack MacKenzie who was more than capable of coming on and probably doing better than me in that position. It was thinking about the team more than what I wanted to do.'
Devlin was unselfish and it all turned out for the best as the Dons dispatched Celtic on penalties. The enormity of it all did not sink in until the following day when 100,000 descended on Aberdeen city centre for the open-top bus parade.
The former Livingston man added: 'It was amazing seeing so many people here, it was incredible.
'It was weird because we were on the bus and I was happy for myself but seeing Graeme Shinnie and what it meant to him... he was there but you could see he was taking it all in.
'He saw how much it means to people. He's obviously lost a good few finals, especially against Celtic, so you could see him soak it up.'
The added dimension for the Dons is they will be back in the group stage of Europe after a season out, with Devlin having got his first taste of it in 2023 against teams including Eintracht Frankfurt, HJK and PAOK.
Thelin's side go into the Europa League play-off draw, set to happen on August 4, knowing that if they fail to negotiate that double-header, a six-game league phase in the Conference League beckons until December.
Devlin said: 'Yes, it's mad that as well. You probably don't think about it and then it's when you go on the bus or you start talking to the boys, it's group stage now. It's equivalent of finishing third.
'That's where everyone wants to be. It makes it difficult in the league but hopefully the manager and us all will be more prepared this year.
'We'll be ready to go in the summer. The players the managers signed, most of them all have experience of playing in Europe, so it's not a new thing for anyone.
'We're in a good position because we want to go and compete. We don't want to just show up and turn up for games, we want to go and do well.'
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