Beechwood Park is a special place. It’s a crying shame Auchinleck’s Scottish Cup tie against Celtic has been moved from their spiritual home, insists Gary Keown

Beechwood Park is such a special place. A place where ambition finds a way to remain faithful to tradition. Where a community’s heart still beats strongly. Where you can still enjoy a pint in the Social Club at prices from another decade.

How desperately sad it is that its terraces will remain silent and empty on the evening of January 18 when Auchinleck Talbot ‘host’ Celtic in the Scottish Cup, a good 15 miles up the A76 at Kilmarnock’s Rugby Park.

The reasons for the decision being made are clear. Police Scotland, in correspondence with the club and the SFA, wanted it shifted for safety reasons.

David Mitchell, chief governance officer at East Ayrshire Council, explained it to the Cumnock Chronicle earlier in the week.

‘Although Auchinleck Talbot’s park was deemed suitable for the game, the decision to move to Kilmarnock was based on a question over the outer limits of the park being able to sustain the dynamics of a high profile match like this,’ he said.

The natural thing to do in these circumstances is nod the head sagely and agree that keeping everyone safe and sound is the most important thing.

It’s not as simple as that, though. Talbot have spent money getting their ground up to the SFA Club Licensing system’s Entry Level criteria. Yes, that’s because they have intentions of working their way up the pyramid, but part of it is surely to allow them to host games like this in the cups.

Auchinleck is a small place. There is no doubting that. There are houses all round the ground. Yet, the venue is a straightforward walk from the train station. The village was capable of handling supporters’ buses – and the sizeable support on them – when Hearts played there in January 2022.

Apparently, though, Celtic coming to town is a different story. You can read into that what you will. Whether you believe it is something else again.

What is clear, though, is how awful it is that the romance of the old tournament, all the excitement created by this draw, has been destroyed. All talk from Auchinleck is of supporters being upset by this showpiece affair being switched. Of some of them now planning to stay away completely.

By all accounts, it’s now just another game. Nothing to divert the mind from the bigger goals of competing for the West of Scotland League and winning the Junior Cup.

Auchinleck will instead face Celtic at Kilmarnock’s Rugby Park

What a loss. Having attended more than one of these special occasions at Beechwood, it is possible to state that Scottish football is most definitely the poorer for this game not being permitted to go ahead in its rightful home.

Oh, how the heart soars when reflecting on that memorable 1-0 win over Ayr in the fourth round in 2019 and the invitation from those splendid folks on the committee to have a few celebratory cans and the lion’s share of a bottle of Grouse with them after the final whistle in the Portakabin behind the goal.

What noise there was from the aforementioned Social Club later in the evening, too, as your humble correspondent tried to negotiate his way past it to the aforementioned train station for a decidedly woozy journey home.

The die is cast, though. There will be no noise and pies and pints and banter and revelry there in three weeks’ time.

Talbot’s admittedly slim hopes of winning have now been kyboshed totally. They’ve been forced to give up on a night for the ages. All, it seems, because the supporters of an entirely different club supposedly take too much looking after.

That might be an overly simplistic take, but it doesn’t change the fact it feels wrong and quite dispiriting.