SOLWAY Sharks' player Bobby Chalmers got up close to the Stanley Cup as ice hockey fans laid siege to Glasgow Airport when the iconic trophy arrived in Scotland.

American soldiers were among fans allowed to have their photograph taken with the championship trophy awarded each year to the team which wins the National Hockey League.

Dubbed Lord Stanley's Mug, it has triggered fierce rivalry especially between Canadian and American opponents.

The trophy was later taken to Dumfries to help promote the International Ice Hockey Federation's Under 20s World Championship which is taking place in the town this week. The Cup is on public display at Dumfries Ice Bowl today.

The trophy was commissioned in 1892 by Lord Stanley of Preston, when he was British Governor General of Canada.

Phil Prichard, senior curator at the Hockey Hall of Fame where the cup is kept, said: "Everybody who picks up a hockey stick dreams of winning the Stanley Cup wherever they are from."