AN "emotional day" saw clubs from across Scotland came together on Sunday in memory of a Dunfermline Water Polo Club stalwart.

The inaugural BMC Cup took place at Carnegie Leisure Centre in memory of Brian Campbell, a life member of the club, who died in December 2019 at the age of 61.

A former Scotland international, Brian, who lost a battle with cancer, was described as a "pillar of Scottish water polo" who held several administrative roles with Dunfermline and coached them to a British Cup win at under-16 level.

He also coached with Scotland and Caledonia boys, the latter being a composite team featuring players from Dunfermline and other Scottish clubs to compete in British Water Polo League competitions, and, following his death, Scottish Water Polo praised the “enormous time” he had invested in “coaching the younger generation”.

Brian's three sons – Alasdair, Darren and Chris – who themselves play for Dunfermline – organised a tournament in his memory and it proved to be a huge success.

In what was the first tournament to be held in Scotland since COVID-19, under-18 boys' teams from Dunfermline, Warrender, Portobello, Stirling, Menzieshill and REN all took part.

Backed by the Press – who sponsored the MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the Tournament award, the hosts reached the final, defeating Warrender 15-5 and Portobello 15-6, where they took on Stirling, who had beaten Menzieshill and REN in the group stage.

A 10-3 win saw Stirling take home the very first BMC Cup but, for Alasdair, the day couldn't have gone much better.

"What a day, it was just fantastic. The amount of support we had was incredible; the balcony at Carnegie (Leisure Centre) was full pretty much all day," he said.

"It was brilliant to see that support for the tournament but also people out attending events, especially as this was the first since COVID in water polo.

"We've had so many messages from people saying that they had a great time, and that's what we wanted. We want it to become a long-term, annual event, so the more we can get people to support it, the better it is.

"We had six teams from all over the country whose parents came along but people were even coming from all parts of the country who didn't have a connection to any of the teams and came because they knew my dad.

"It makes us so proud to see people coming along for him.

"It was an emotional day but a positive one for sure."

Alasdair continued: "He'd probably be saying not to make such a big fuss but he deserved that.

"It couldn't have gone much better. Stirling won – they were the favourites going into it – and, unfortunately, they beat Dunfermline in the final. There were a lot of close and exciting games during the day.

"We want to grow it and I'm already thinking about next year. We want to make it a two-day event and expand it so maybe teams from England and Ireland can take part.

"Competitions at that age group don't happen often in the UK for clubs, so it ticks that box.

"We'd like to thank everyone for their support."

Individual awards were presented to James Miller (Stirling), Dunfermline Press MVP and top goalscorer; and Noah-John Charlett Blyth (Menzieshill), best goalkeeper.