THREE hours up the road cup final fever is gripping a city.

There was a time when Aberdeen FC were habitual visitors to Hampden, often leaving with silverware as a memento.

It's been too long since my hometown club won a cup, but that could all change this weekend at Celtic Park.

On Sunday, Glasgow will be turned red for the day as 40,000 Dons fans flock to the East End to take on Inverness Caley Thistle in the League Cup Final.

Flock is the right word given that shops in the north-east are doing a roaring trade in sheep masks.

One Aberdeen chip shop even has the sign up: "The sheep are on fire just like our fryers."

You see we've been chanting for years that the sheep are on fire. They haven't been. But now they are. Without a shadow of a doubt, they are.

You might think it doesn't affect you - unless you're a Dons fan living down here - because Glasgow is used to packed-out stadiums.

To put it into perspective: the excitement is on the same level as Celtic's Champions League games, or Rangers' 2008 Uefa Cup Final.

I'm not saying that Peter Pawlett is the equivalent of Messi, but you get the picture.

Somebody's even gone and made a League Cup Final song with Pittodrie legends Eoin Jess and Joe Harper sending messages of support.

There is a generation of success-deprived Dandies who are longing for this win. What makes it even better is that we are in with a chance of scooping two trophies this season. Almost unheard of just six months ago.

I won't pretend that I'm a diehard game goer nowadays, although plenty of my friends are.

But football was a massive part of growing up. Long before my Evening Times days I had my own little journalistic project on the go.

My homemade Aberdeen FC fanzine is still a treasured possession, even with its cringy farewell piece for Stewart McKimmie, who was transferred to Dundee United at the time.

Growing up my hero was, wait for it...Billy Dodds... and his floppy locks.

Now you understand the significance of this weekend I thought I'd give you a mini guide to Aberdonians in case you come face to face with a fiery sheep.

1. When we ask for a roll we mean a flaky, flat thing, sometimes called a rowie or buttery, with enough salt and fat to give you a heart attack. A north-east bakery has even created a Cup Final buttery with Aberdeen Angus beef flavouring. I wouldn't eat that if you paid me.

2 If we say: "wifey", we mean "hen". "Min" is "man" and "fit" is "whit". "Nae" is "naw".

3 And COYR is Come On You Reds!