Ethon Varian ready for Celtic test in Scottish Cup with Raith Rovers

CORK footballer Ethon Varian will be off to Paradise later this month to take on Celtic in the Scottish Cup.

The Raith Rovers forward is currently in Scotland on loan from Stoke City, and he hopes to learn everything he can before heading back to his parent club in the summer.

He originally joined the Scottish Championship side in July 2021, and by Christmas, he had scored two goals and grabbed six assists in 25 appearances. The loan was extended in late December, so he will play the full season in Scotland’s second tier.

Varian is playing an important role for Raith Rovers, who are fighting for promotion to the Scottish Premiership. The team are currently fourth in the table, which means they are on course to qualify for the Premiership play-off quarter-finals.

Anything could happen in the league, as it has some big teams like Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Hamilton Academical, and Kilmarnock.

All of this is a learning experience, and the Corkman is loving every moment in Fife.

“Yeah, it’s very good up here,” said Varian. “I’m enjoying the experience. It’s really good to get out and play men’s football regularly.

“We played against Scottish Premiership sides in the cup, so that was very good for me.

“It’s very similar to being in Stoke, so it was very easy to get used to being up here. It’s a very physical league like England, so it took some time to get used to that.”

Almost immediately, Varian’s thoughts drifted to the Scottish Cup clash against Ange Postecoglou and his high-flying Celts.

“When you’re a footballer, you want to play against the best teams and you want prove yourself,” he said. “It’s always good to get out and play against good teams like that. You want to showcase what you can do.”

The forward previously played against Celtic last September in the quarter-finals of this season’s Scottish League Cup.

Varian was crucial to the side’s journey to the last eight of the competition, as he scored the first goal in Raith Rovers’ 2-1 victory over Aberdeen in the last 16.

At Celtic Park, the forward played 63 minutes and his side were beaten 3-0 by the eventual League Cup winners.

While this was a disappointing finish to Raith Rovers’ League Cup campaign, it was still historical as they qualified from the group stage for the first time since they were introduced in 2016.

“That was a really good occasion,” he summed up the quarter-final clash last autumn.

“Unfortunately we didn’t win, and we want to win every game. So, we want to try and cause an upset against them now in the Scottish Cup.”

In addition to scoring goals and creating chances, Varian is tasked with developing as a footballer in Scotland.

“The most important thing for me up here is to play as much minutes as I can and to perform,” he said.

I need to show that I’m capable of playing at that level.”

Everything the forward does is monitored by his parent club Stoke City. Varian originally joined them in 2018 from Greenwood AFC in Cork. 

With The Potters, he played for their team in the U18 Premier League before graduating to their U23 side in Premier League 2.

In addition to playing for Stoke, Varian was sent to Nantwich Town in the Northern Premier Division on work experience in January 2020.

This has all been done to develop the young striker’s talents, and Raith Rovers is the next step for him. As a result, he has to communicate regularly with the coaches at Stoke City.

“My coaches back in Stoke would be in contact with me weekly,” he said. “They would ask me how am I getting on, am I enjoying it, and they would tell me things I can improve on and get better at.”

The forward is currently focusing on an ankle injury, which he hopes to recover from very soon.

“The ankle recovery is going good at the moment, so hopefully I will be back training very soon.

“It’s just a small injury so I won’t be out too long. I was told I’d be out for two to three weeks, and it’s been two weeks now. I’ll be back training soon.”

CONNECTION

While he talks daily to his coaches back in Stoke, Varian also stays in regular contact with his former coaches at Greenwood. He also has a strong connection with St Finbarr's and was in Cork GAA development squads as a teen.

The forward — who was Cork Schoolboy League’s Player of the Year in 2017 — talks frequently with two coaches in particular.

“Yeah, I talk to them regularly,” he said. “One of them is actually my dad and the other one is a very good family friend. So I’m always in contact with them and I see them when I go home. I’m always in contact with my old coaches, even the ones from the Barrs.

“I’d speak to them regularly as well.”

While plying his trade in the Scottish Championship, Varian has been closely following the exploits of the Barrs. He played both hurling and football for the club and helped the club end a 30-year wait for a Cork U14 Hurling Championship title.

This winter the Blues won the Cork and Munster titles before losing to Kilcoo in the All-Ireland semi-final. Varian followed this run from his room in Scotland, wishing he could make it back to Leeside to see his club play.

“Yeah I was following the run,” he said. “I was hoping to get home for a game, but with my busy schedule I didn’t get a chance to. I was able to watch the games.”