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Wednesday 1st April 2015

SPFL Spotlight: Mark Burchill

Livingston player/manager Mark Burchill is hoping to guide the West Lothian club to victory in the Petrofac Training Cup Final on Sunday.

Livingston player/manager Mark Burchill is hoping to guide the West Lothian club to victory in the Petrofac Training Cup Final on Sunday.

Livi have already knocked out Queen of the South, Hearts, Peterhead and Stranraer and now face Championship rivals Alloa at McDiarmid Park.

The 34-year-old goes under the SPFL Spotlight as he looks ahead to the big game…
 
What is the best goal you have ever scored?
That would be my first goal in Cyprus for Enosis Neon Paralimni, which came in my first game. It was an overhead kick after controlling the ball on my chest. It was nice playing in the sun and it was good to get the fans on board early. The game ended 2-2 and I scored the other goal as well.
 
What is the best game you have played in?
The Euro 2000 play-off between Scotland and England in 1999 at Wembley. We won 1-0 and coming on as a substitute in that match was a tremendous experience to have at just 19 years old. We lost 2-1 on aggregate but left the pitch with our heads held high as we went for it in that second leg after losing 2-0 at Hampden - we almost made it.
 
What is your favourite ground?
Celtic Park. To play there in Old Firm and European games was tremendous due to the atmosphere that is generated. I remember one game at home to Lyon and the atmosphere was amazing.
 
What is your favourite other sport?
I like golf but as a parent and a manager I do not get a great deal of time to play. I had a handicap of 14 but have not kept that up so it would be higher now.
 
Which player in the world would you bring to Livingston?
Henrik Larsson - the guy was phenomenal. It was a real honour to play alongside him and he could win games for you single-handedly.
 
What is your favourite pre-match meal?
I have kept that pretty plain throughout my career by sticking to boiled chicken. It was the same when I was playing in Cyprus and Thailand, despite the Thai players having frogs' legs and curries before the games there!
 
What is your favourite music?
I am not a big music fan but the players are big into stuff for the dressing room. The funny thing is that a lot of it is re-mixes of songs from the mid-1990s  and I know the originals!
 
Who is the biggest moaner you have played with?
I played with a few but it is a tie between Alan Stubbs at Celtic and Arjan de Zeeuw at Portsmouth. 'Stubbsie' hated losing at anything, including games of snooker, whereas Arjan had an unbelievable desire to do his best at everything. He did everything at 100% and wanted the same from his team-mates - it was no surprise he was playing in the top flight in England aged 38.
 
Who has been your most skilful team-mate?

There were three players in my career that were absolutely top class in terms of skill. Lubo Moravcik was a fantastic team-mate at Celtic and it would have been great if he had been there aged 23 and not 33. Paul Merson was similar at Portsmouth as he was there after a terrific career at Arsenal but he still had great skill and to play with Robert Prosinecki, who was twice the most expensive player in the world, was amazing.
 
Who was your worst dressed team-mate?
I have had a few of them over my career but I will go for one of my Dunfermline team-mates. It has to be Scott 'Nipper' Thomson who wore some pretty crazy gear, including zipped up cardigans with no shirt underneath and the zip pulled down. Not a good look, especially when you don't have the body for it!
 
Who was the best trainer?
Henrik Larsson and Arjan de Zeeuw - both of them trained the way they played, which was at an incredibly high level.
 
Who was the best dancer?!
Shaun Derry, who was a team-mate at Portsmouth and was recently the manager at Notts County. He was always the life and soul of a night out - he was the first on the dancefloor and the last off it!

Craig Stewart