Latest news with #Milne
Otago Daily Times
4 hours ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Fundraising to start as St John station consented
The Waitaki District Council headquarters in Oamaru's Thames St. Photo: ODT files Fundraising for Oamaru's new ambulance station starts next week. The Waitaki District Council has granted resource consent for the long-awaited project. The new Hato Hone St John station will be built on an area of land that will be subdivided off the northwest corner of 4 Weston Rd. The charitable organisation hopes that construction of the new station for Oamaru will start in the 2026 financial year. Otago Southland district operations manager David Milne said the new station would also have a public training facility. "The team is very excited about getting a new station as once it is complete, it will future-proof our operations. "Having a new station will have an incredibly positive impact on Hato Hone St John's people and services in Oamaru and will ensure the organisation can support the town and its surrounding rural district for years to come." "Once it is finished, the new station will also ensure our team can continue operating through any disruption or natural disaster. "We still need to fundraise for this project, though, so really do appreciate the continued support of the North Otago community," Mr Milne said. The Oamaru project will form part of St John's annual national fundraising campaign. This month, the organisation hopes to raise $4.5 million for the building and urgent repair and rebuild of 13 ambulance stations around New Zealand. Chief executive Peter Bradley said this year's appeal was about more than just raising money for bricks and mortar. "This is about future-proofing our stations, the home base for our emergency crews, so that no matter what tomorrow brings, our teams will always be there for communities when they need us most," Mr Bradley said. "For our ambulance officers, they [stations] are also a home away from home and a place to reset, recharge and connect with each other after attending a callout." Ambulance stations were also often a vital community hub for volunteers including those delivering first-aid training and running St John Youth programmes. Hato Hone St John staff and volunteers will be out on the streets of Oamaru with collection buckets on June 14 and June 15. Schools and businesses will be supporting them with local fundraising activities. • To donate online, visit the Light the Way Annual Appeal website at
Press and Journal
28-05-2025
- Sport
- Press and Journal
Aberdeen's breakout Scottish Cup glory hero Jack Milne reflects on 'the best day of my life'
'It's the best day of my life.' – Aberdeen defender Jack Milne's words sum up perfectly the feeling he, his team-mates and no doubt thousands of Dons fans had following Saturday's Scottish Cup glory against Celtic at Hampden. In his first start in the competition, Milne – the surprise choice of manager Jimmy Thelin to play in a three-man defence – did not led the Dons boss down as he produced a magnificent display to help bring the cup back to the Granite City. He is only 22, but Milne, a proud Aberdonian, knows the importance of what they have achieved. He said: 'I honestly can't put it into words – it's the best day of my life. 'It's the club that my family and I, and all my friends, have grown up supporting, and to go and win this, it's just incredible. 'It means everything to all of us. We know the history of the club. 'It's a massive club and that comes with responsibility and pressure – but pressure is privilege, and we turned up and made history.' Milne had hoped he would play in the final but did not know for sure until Saturday when the team was announced. Perhaps it was for the best, as the late call ensured the defender had little time to let nerves take hold. After all, there was a cup to be won, and focus was required. Milne said: 'I officially knew I was starting on Saturday, but I had a feeling all week. 'We practised on it all week. 'He said in the meeting, the manager: 'We're going to change it. We're going to change our system, to try and counter what they do.' 'We did a lot of stuff on the shape, kind of tactical stuff and I was doing a lot of that, so I had a bit of an inkling. 'I told mum and dad earlier in the week, I was like: 'Don't get too excited or anything, but I think I might be playing.' 'Saturday was when it was officially confirmed – I just saw the team sheet. 'After the team meeting, I dropped them a text, and they replied with: 'All the best, good luck. Go and do your thing.' 'The feeling was just excitement. I just wanted to go and win the game, that was the most important thing.' The change in formation from 4-2-3-1 to 3-5-2 was pivotal in Aberdeen's success at Hampden. Manager Thelin had utilised the same formation for the entire season until his dramatic tactical change at the National Stadium. Milne said: 'It worked, I would say – from open play, I don't think they really created much. 'I don't think we were too troubled. 'They scored from the set-piece, but apart from that, we defended well. 'I thought, for most of the game, we were pretty comfy, pretty solid. 'We knew a lot of it was going to be us soaking up pressure and them having a lot of possession, but we shifted well, we moved side to side, we defended well, and yeah, we kept them at bay pretty well. 'I think that's down to all the boys and the manager as well, and the staff – the way they set us up. 'At half-time, the chat was: 'We're still in this, keep calm.' 'There's been times where in the game – like the one (against Celtic) a few weeks ago – there was one goal in it and we've come out for the second half and then lost a sloppy goal, and another sloppy goal, and been out of the game. 'We just knew we had to keep it at one, stay in the game and try and hit them on the counter – and that's what we did.' The Dons and Celtic were tied at 1-1 after 90 exhausting, exhilarating minutes, but as much as he wanted to continue, Milne's race was run as he was duly replaced four minutes into extra-time. Cramp had taken hold and Milne had nothing left to give. He said: 'I haven't played as much football recently and I was completely gone by the 90th minute. 'It was one of those moments where I had to make a decision. 'I was thinking: 'I'm not moving very quickly here.' 'I was running like I was in quicksand, so I just knew that was me done.' A break, and watching from the sidelines, proved to be a torturous – and at times unbearable – experience for the young defender. Milne had come off the bench to net his spot-kick in the penalty shootout defeat by the Hoops in the 2024 Scottish Cup semi-final following a 3-3 draw. But he says the role of nervous spectator was far more nerve-wracking. Milne said: 'Honestly, I don't know why, but it felt different this year. 'When it went to penalties, I was so confident. 'I was confident in (goalkeeper) Dimi (Mitov), I was confident in the boys stepping up. 'I just had a feeling that it was going to go our way, and all the lads that stepped up showed great composure – they were calm and all of them did brilliantly, while Dimi with his two saves was fantastic. 'To be honest, it was harder standing watching. Horrible – I couldn't stomach it. 'I felt sick, I couldn't watch the penalties. I was looking at the floor. Looking everywhere but the goal. 'I was more comfortable last year in the semi taking one. 'It was horrible to watch. Some of them I couldn't watch, but that last one was incredible.' The relief, quickly turned to euphoria for everyone as Hampden became a sea of red joy. For Milne, it was the realisation of a moment he and his team-mates had dreamed about coming true. He said: 'I shared my room with Dante (Polvara), and I said to him: 'Look, this is our moment.' 'All of us, every single player in there believed that we could go and win the game. 'I know a lot of people didn't. They thought we were going to get turned over, but we turned up and proved a point.' Cup glory has made memories which will last a lifetime, but Aberdeen's Scottish Cup victory also brings guaranteed European group stage football next season. Milne is already looking forward to that added bonus. He said: 'We're delighted with that. I think that was our objective at the start of the season. 'I know we technically got European football with fifth place in the qualifiers, but to go and make sure we're guaranteed Europe is special – that was our objective. 'We knew what we wanted to do. As soon as we won that semi-final and we were in for this, it's always been in the back of our minds. 'We were disappointed with the way the league ended, but to win this is just incredible.'
Daily Record
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Jack Milne on his Celtic feeling before completing Aberdeen rise from proud fan to Scottish Cup winner
The Dons' academy graduate was in the crowd as the triumphant Dons' team paraded the League Cup in 2014 Local lad Jack Milne admitted lifting the Scottish Cup and making history with Aberdeen made it the best day of his life. It was a dream come true for the lifelong supporter who progressed through the academy and straight into the Pittodrie history books. The 22-year-old was also an unlikely hero as he came in for his first start since December and played a key part as Jimmy Thelin went with a 3-5-2 formation for the first time that nullified Treble-chasing Celtic. Milne said: 'I honestly can't put it into words. I've said already, it's the best day of my life. It's the club my family and I, all my friends, have grown up supporting. To go and win this, it's just incredible. 'It means everything to all of us. We know the history of the club. It's a massive club and that comes with responsibility and pressure. 'But pressure is a privilege – and we've turned up and made history.' The versatile defender, who signed a new deal earlier this season, didn't know he was starting until a few hours before kick-off. But since then he has seen his friends and family savour Aberdeen's first Scottish Cup win in 35 years on a weekend that culminated in the squad going down Union Street on an open-top bus on Sunday. Milne had been on the streets as a fan and aspiring Dons youngster after Derek McInnes' side lifted the club's last trophy, the League Cup, in 2014. He revealed: 'Yes, I was there. I would have been in the academy. I was at the bus parade but I can't remember too much about it. 'I officially knew I was starting on Saturday but I had a feeling all week. We did a lot of stuff on the shape, tactical stuff, and I was doing a lot of that so I had a bit of an inkling. 'We practised on it (a three-man defence) all week. He (the manager) said in the (earlier) meeting that we're going to change it. 'I just saw the teamsheet. The feeling was just excitement. I just wanted to go and win the game, that was the most important thing. But putting on a good performance and to come away with the trophy, that was the best.' Aberdeen were written off in most quarters but Milne's hotel room was 100 per cent sure the Cup was going back to the Granite City. He said :'I was sharing my room with Dante (Polvara) and I was just saying, 'Look, this is our moment.' All of us, every single player in there believed we could go and win. 'I know a lot of people didn't, outside noise, thinking we were going to get turned over but we turned up and proved a point. 'It's been an up-and-down season and we've taken some heavy defeats from Celtic. But even the heavy defeats, if you watch the game early, they could have gone either way. 'I remember the game at Celtic Park and we missed two, three golden chances early on and then we found ourselves 3-0 down. 'But it was one of those where we would soak up pressure, try to hit them on the counter and just take our chances.' Milne was unable to see out the game because of cramp and didn't want to be the villain of the piece. He said: 'Yes, cramp. It tends to happen. I haven't played as much football recently and I was completely gone by the 90th minute. 'It was one of those, I kind of had to make a decision. I was thinking, 'I'm not moving very quickly here.' I was running like I was in quicksand So I just knew that was me done.' It meant he had to watch the extra-time and penalties from the bench, struggling to see it out until Dimitar Mitov's final save. He laughed and said: 'Horrible. I couldn't stomach it. I felt sick. I couldn't watch the penalties. I was looking at the floor, looking everywhere but the goal. I did see Dimi's final save... between my fingers. 'It was a bit funny, trying to block my eyes, but I saw both of them. I think with him saving that first one it gave us a real boost and that was brilliant.' There was the glory and a medal but also the added bonus of European group stage football to look forward to next season. Milne got a taste of it two seasons ago, playing against sides such as Eintracht Frankfurt, and is keen for another go at it. He said: 'Delighted. It was our objective at the start of the season. I know we technically got European football with fifth place in the qualifiers. 'But to go and make sure we're guaranteed Europe is special, that was our objective.'
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Aberdeen savour the most perfect game ever played'
At the end, the pent-up frustration of 35 years came tumbling out, three and a half decades of waiting. It takes its toll. The Aberdeen fans, 20,000-strong and deafening, blasted out their joy while midfielder Ante Palaversa approached a live radio microphone. How do you feel, Ante? A swear word! Followed by another, followed by a hastily abandoned chat. "Apologies to the listeners. You can understand the emotion. Back to you in the gantry." Another attempt soon after. Jack Milne, heroic at the heart of an Aberdeen defence that performed a miraculous metamorphosis from mistake-ridden chumps to hugely resilient champs. What does this mean to you, Jack? A swear word! Milne apologised, but you could understand the agricultural language amid the merry bedlam. Raw emotion. Nothing like it. There was delight and shock in his voice, there was an air of surreality. There was noise thumping in his ears and a beaming smile on his face. If you wanted to know what happiness is then Milne defined it in that moment. Aberdeen end 35-year Scottish Cup wait after stunning Celtic in shootout Player ratings - who was the hero & who was left in tears? Shinnie 'could retire today and be a happy man' This was a day of days for the Dons, a seismic occasion for the club if not a stunning final. It was scrappy, it was sloppy, it was incredibly tense. It was gloves off, bare-knuckle stuff in all its ugliness. Looked at through a prism of red, it was just about the most perfect game ever played. Aberdeen had the kind of courage that few thought they had, they had belief that nobody could have detected beforehand, they had bottomless fitness levels. It was a win that very few saw coming and it was riotously celebrated because of that. There was a visceral aspect to it, a power that only comes when something momentous has happened. Aberdeen have won plenty of trophies over the years, but looking at their fans it almost felt like a first. For some, of course, it would have been. For many, a first Scottish Cup final win, that's for sure. Willie Miller was in the twilight of his career when Aberdeen last won this trophy. At the end, you looked to him to see if there was any emotion. A grin was the extent of it. On their biggest day in 35 years, Miller kept his shape. When club chairman Dave Cormack joined him on radio, Miller gently chided him about his poor technique when lifting the trophy. "You need a bit more practice, Dave." Win a few more was the happy jist. Not that it was uppermost in their thoughts at the time, but this was a £6m win for Aberdeen - maybe more - for it is they and not Hibs who are now guaranteed European football until December. Of course, the portents of doom were written all over it for Aberdeen. They were outlandish underdogs. Celtic, with their 5-1s and their 6-0 in games against the Dons this season, were seemingly invincible. Their capacity to score quickly and often against Jimmy Thelin's side was flagged; two in three minutes in one game, three in 11 minutes in another, two in six minutes in a third meeting this year, three in nine in the most recent debacle. Celtic had the scent of a treble in their nostrils and Brendan Rodgers had the air of invincibility in his demeanour. Played 14, won 14 at Hampden. The abnormal had become normal, as he put it. Aberdeen only had vibes. The year of the upset. Crystal Palace, Bologna, improbable finalists in the German Cup, Hibs women winning the league. Maybe there was another shock in the offing, but how many shocks have we actually seen in Scottish Cup finals in the last half century and more. Two. Dundee United beating Rangers in 1994, Aberdeen beating Celtic in 1970. The magic of the Cup rarely stretches to the denouement. There were mutterings about Thelin. Another shellacking and where would he stand? Since the end of November, Aberdeen have been statistically the worst team in the Premiership. If Celtic did what most expected them to do - win in a relative or complete canter - then Thelin would have lost the faith of many fans. He needed something different and he found it in his formation and in his psychology. A back three for the first time. Milne into the defence after only three starts all season. An end to the Graeme Shinnie at left-back experiment, the veteran having being turned inside out in the tempest of Celtic's attack in recent weeks. None of the tweaks would have made a blind bit of difference had Aberdeen not brought with them a resilience, a concentration, a discipline and a work-rate that was unending. Their organisation frustrated Celtic. Rodgers said later that his team were too safe, lacked speed, slickness, precision and personality. What they also lacked was the wit of Reo Hatate and Jota. They were not themselves, but even still they hit the Aberdeen woodwork twice and failed with a glorious one-on-one when Dimitar Mitov, a hero on an afternoon of heroes, saved from Daizen Maeda seven minutes from the end of moral time. Celtic had 21 shots to Aberdeen's five, 81.5% possession to Aberdeen's 18.5%, 15 corners to Aberdeen's four. None of it meant anything, not when Thelin's defence was in the mood to defend with their last breath. You lost count of the number of blocks they had, each one chipping away at Celtic's karma. It wasn't supposed to be like this - and it rarely is. Celtic hadn't lost to Aberdeen in 30 matches. Having conceded an unlucky goal, the Dons then scored one of their own. Two own goals reflected the flawed, madcap nature of this final. There was little shape, little rhythm, little accuracy. There was chaos, there were bodies colliding, players on the floor, coaches going bonkers. In chunks, it was like an under-eights game. Everybody running about with abandon. And it was hard to take your eyes off it. When it went to penalties, the odds were still stacked in Celtic's favour. They don't mind a penalty shoot-out at Hampden. They've won a couple in recent times. Even at that late stage, they were favourites to pull off the treble. Then Mitov saved from Callum McGregor and everything changed. Celtic's brilliant leader laid low. Their aura not the same anymore. One by one the Aberdeen men held their nerve, not just scoring but rifling in their penalties with an authority. Kasper Schmeichel, on a grim day, went the wrong way for the first three of them. Mitov was the man in the end. In recent months he's been criticised for some of the weaknesses in his game, but he's an immortal now, along with the rest of them. Open top bus tour now. European football to come. Hope where before there was dread. The phoenix has risen from the flames. And the party will last a while.
STV News
18-05-2025
- Business
- STV News
Scottish fishermen fear new EU trade agreement could have a catch
It's 9am in Peterhead, and most business has already been done for the day. Boxes of fish have been unloaded and sold at the largest white fish market in Europe, and the boats don't hang around. They're refuelled, the hold is refilled with ice, and then they're I needed to walk at a brisk pace to speak to skippers before they headed back to sea. On Monday, a summit between the UK and the EU is taking place in London, and fishing rights are on the agenda. Both sides have abided by the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement since Brexit five years the agreement, 25% of the existing EU quota in UK waters has been transferred to the British fleet over a five-and-a-half-year period, which ends in June next the clock ticks down on the current arrangement, fishermen are taking stock of what a new deal could look Milne, a former skipper and chairman of the Scottish White Fish Producers Association, said: 'We've had a bit of stability created with this current arrangement. The guys have just gotten on with it because at least we know what's been happening.'We could negotiate annually going forward, but if it's a five-year deal the EU want, they're going to have to pay for it, they won't get it for free.'Reports suggest the UK could trade some of its fishing rights for a multibillion-pound defence deal with the EU and that a four-year deal could be Cabinet Office has tried to dispel the rumours, but they are already causing concern within the fishing fleet.A short drive away in Fraserburgh, William Reid is making last-minute tweaks on his new said: 'If we're linked in with a defence deal, that would be a disaster for the fishing fleet.'I campaigned for Brexit, but nothing has improved. We've not felt the benefit.'With the quotas, there are more restrictions, and we can't get any youth back into the sector, which is the biggest problem, as there's no confidence in the sector.'There was initially hope that Brexit would allow UK boats to increase their quotas, taking a greater share of fish than they did some fishermen fear they'll be able to catch less, and are concerned about the knock-on effect for Scotland's coastal have raised safety concerns, arguing there have already been incidents of foreign boats coming dangerously close to Scottish boats while they're trawling. As we enter the re-negotiation period, a Cabinet Office spokesperson added: 'We will protect the interests of our fishers and fulfil our international commitments to protect the marine environment.' The Scottish Government have not been invited to next week's Mairi Gougeon, cabinet secretary for rural affairs, said it was essential 'that we see an outcome that delivers benefits to our entire seafood sector'. There will be a lot up for discussion at the UK EU Summit on Monday, not least of all fishing. Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
