Jet-set life of Brian is now taking off in Leith

BIRTHDAY parties with the Crown Prince of Brunei, four-night stays in Singapore — ‘a warmer New York’ is how Brian McLean describes it — and being treated like minor footballing royalty during a title-winning celebration in front of 30,000 partying punters. Not a bad old life!

There is no doubt that McLean enjoyed his two seasons playing for one of the world’s most unique football clubs.

Aside from the lifestyle afforded one of DPMM (Duli Pengiran Muda Mahkota) FC’s star imports, he is certain that playing for the Prince’s club — as a ‘guest team’ in Singapore’s S-League — improved him as a player.

Yet the former Motherwell, Falkirk, Dundee United and Ross County regular and Rangers youth player speaks with absolute conviction when he says that it’s ‘a privilege’ to have joined Hibernian.

McLean is back in Scotland to play and hopes to start by helping the Scottish Cup holders into the semi-finals at the expense of Ayr United this afternoon.

Apart from adjusting to the cold the 32-year-old found on returning to Scotland — a bit of a change from the steamy heat of the tiny nation state of Brunei on the north coast of Borneo — McLean seems at ease, despite having joined Hibs only a couple of days ago.

Ready to play if needed at Easter Road today, the defender needs little encouragement to talk about his experiences in far-flung destinations.

Those included daily training sessions under the watchful eye of the Crown Prince, a man whose full title is so long — just the nine different names in total — that it would probably score about 10 billion points in Scrabble. One for every British pound making up the rough net worth of someone next in line to be Sultan of Brunei. Explaining the kind of largesse that kind of money can facilitate, McLean revealed: ‘The last league game, when we won the title in my first year there, was incredible.

‘The Crown Prince, who is basically the owner of the club, just opened the doors and let everybody in free. He also gave everybody raffle tickets to win things like a car, return flights to Jakarta, Bali, Kuala Lumpur.

‘Everything was free, so obviously the stadium was going to be crammed — everyone wanted a chance of winning those prizes. It was unbelievable for us, fantastic.

‘It was a privilege to play for them, in front of a 30,000 sell-out. Can you imagine if I suggested that to a chairman in Scotland — flights, a car? No chance. I never got a raffle ticket on the night, though!

‘The Crown Prince went to training every day. I saw that as a positive because the manager, Steve Kean (the Scot who was Blackburn Rovers’ former boss), oversaw everything on the football side of it.

‘But, when it was the Crown Prince’s birthday party, you would all get invited to the celebrations. You would meet him, shake his hand — and he was fine, asking how you were, how the family were.

‘My daughter was born in Portugal so I was a bit delayed in getting across for pre-season last year. Every time we met, he would ask me: “How is your daughter, how are your family?”.

‘Having Steve Kean there was excellent, too. That’s probably the main reason why I was so comfortable in going. Having another Glaswegian there would help massively. I learned a lot.’

If Kean was instrumental in helping McLean and his family to settle, everyone from His Royal Highness down made an effort to keep the defender happy. It’s a life experience he’ll carry with him for a while yet.

Asked how he was settling in at Hibs’ training centre in windswept East Lothian, he said: ‘How’s it been? Cold, that’s how it’s been!

‘Normal temperatures over there were 30-plus, although we trained at night, when it was down to 28 or 29. It took a bit of Jersey boy: Brian McLean is swapping the shirt of Borneo club DPMM (inset) for the green and white of Hibernian getting used to before I was up and running — and managed to find my lungs.

‘They were good times. My contract ended at the end of December, so my agent and I were on the hunt for other opportunities.

‘Fortunately enough, this came my way — although somewhere like Barbados would have been sweet! No, I’m delighted to be a Hibs player now.

‘Playing in Singapore and Brunei was fantastic. My family came out with me, as well. When you train at night like that, you have the full day with them.

‘We were on the island of Borneo, so we’d fly from Brunei to Singapore for competitions. We were going to Singapore for three or four days at a time. That place is phenomenal — a warmer New York.

‘The lifestyle was great and we were very well looked after. They give you accommodation, a car, expenses — flights for your other half if they can’t stay for the duration, so they can come out for a few months at a time.

‘In my first season, we won the S-League. That was the first time in our history that we’d won it. But the rules on eligibility changed. It was five imports in my first season there but then they cut it down to three.’

Quick to point out he didn’t just fall into the glitter and glamour of a well-funded overseas career, McLean would like to see more following his lead, saying: ‘You do hear people saying: “I’d love to go abroad”. But they never go through with it.

‘I made a decision to leave Ross County. I could have stayed for another year but I left. And I had a six-month period where I wasn’t working. Then I got the chance to go to Brunei in the January — and it developed from there.

‘I would recommend that more players, if they get the chance to go abroad, have a serious look at it. It has definitely made me a better player — and opened my horizons to a different culture.

‘Now, it’s a privilege to be here. The Scottish Cup represents a fantastic opportunity. We need to make sure that we take it.’