KILMARNOCK's joy at winning the Scottish League Cup final was immediately tinged with sadness when the father of Liam Kelly, their Scotland under-21 midfielder, suffered a heart attack at the final whistle. Paramedics rushed to a section of the Kilmarnock support immediately to the left of their dugout and a distraught Kelly was seen rushing down the tunnel clutching his head as his father was taken away on a stretcher before being transferred to a hospital close to Hampden.
Kenny Shiels, Kilmarnock's manager, confirmed the awful news in his post-match press conference. "I'm sounding a bit sombre because I've gone from one emotional high to a low," he said. "At this point, we're not sure of the outcome, but he's very seriously ill. It's tough to go from one of the best moments of our lives to this. The dressing-room is very despondent."
"I don't know why the man above sends us down these messages, but we've gone from being up to being down. We're really thinking more about Liam than our triumphalism. That's how we feel at the moment. It's been a tough week as it is and now we're on this rollercoaster.
"I'm all over the place to be honest. It happened beside our dugout so you can understand that I'm only doing this press conference out of respect to you guys. He's very seriously ill, he's had a heart attack, is away to hospital and the family have all gone with him."
Goalkeeper Cammy Bell admitted the players were unaware of the situation as they celebrated their 1-0 win against Celtic courtesy of Dieter Van Tornhout's late header.
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"We have had some sad news coming in, so that has made everything very difficult for us as a team," said Bell, who produced a man-of-the-match performance to keep Celtic at bay. "I'm very close to Liam so it just puts things into perspective for me. If I could take away my performance I would, if Liam's dad was all right.
"I would rather take a defeat than someone's dad dying. You think about your own dad when that situation comes around. I still am quite emotional and we're just praying his dad gets better."
Kelly was told of his father's condition before Kilmarnock lifted the trophy and immediately headed to the dressing room, leaving his teammates to receive their medals unaware of the course of events.
"It was after getting the cup when I found out," added Bell. "We were on the pitch and the kit man told me. The rest of the boys didn't realise. I went straight to Kells and gave him a hug, but there is not much you can say to him. We all wish him the best and we're praying his dad gets better soon."