As he opened it to read the message of good luck, it brought a smile to his face as he read the message from his former Harris FC team mates with whom he had helped with the Lewis and Harris league title only the summer before.
Benbecula's Colin Campbell has enjoyed an excellent career in football on both professional and amateur levels but his debut for his home town club arrived ever sooner than anyone could have predicted.
"I started with Benbecula as a youngster playing in midfield. I don't know if you could call it my debut but the first time I played for Benbecula was as a ten year old.
"We used to play behind the goals at the games and one week they were really short of players and I was called into the team. I don't know if that counts as my debut but I remember my Dad laughing about it when he came home to hear I had been playing for Benbecula at the weekend," revealed Colin.
Soon his talents brought him to the attention of Harris who signed him up to play in the Lewis and Harris league. The Hearachs had been crowned league champions for the first time in 1976 and when Colin joined the Harris ranks a year later the side went form strength to strength and Colin and his talented team mates regained the league flag in 1978.
"I'm not sure how we ended up playing for Harris but I think my cousin Neil Morrison and myself were asked to play by 'Nula' and we would regularly travel up to play for them.
"We were well looked after by the Harris captain 'Brownie' Morrison. He would give us regular bonuses after the games of a salmon. There aren't many players who were paid in salmon after a game," added Colin with a smile.
"We had a very decent team with Harris but I don't think they had ever won the league before and I don't think we expected to then but as the season progressed we knew we had a chance.
"I loved that summer and I would say my time with Harris was the time in my career where I enjoyed my football most.
"We were always treated so well with Harris and a newspaper article at the time featured myself and my cousin Neil calling us the 'Flying Footballers'. We got that nickname because we would be flown up sometimes for games when there wasn't time for us to make our way up by ferry.
Arriving in the Airport for a game always made us feel very privileged and it shows how keen Harris were.
"I only played a year in Lewis and Harris football but looking back at the Field of Memories publication the name of Rasper rings a bell. I think he was just coming through when I was playing with Harris and he was a good player and I rem-ember 'Charlton' Murray. Within the Harris side I have fond memories of Roddy Morrison and Brownie but also of 'Nula'. He was the pick of the bunch in footballing terms and he was a very classy midfielder.
Iain Anderson was another very good player for us."
Colin's natural football ability did not go unnoticed on the mainland and he was quickly drafted into the Edinburgh University team and it was while on a tour with this side which brought him to the attention of Hibs.
"I signed for Hibs in 1978. I had gone to Edinburgh University four years earlier and was playing local football during my summers off. With the University team we used to go off for an Easter tour where we would play against under 19 teams from around England.
That year we played Leeds and their manager phoned the Hibs manager Eddie Turnbull and suggested he take a look at me. A scout came to watch and I signed for them in 1978.
"I made my debut that pre-season during a tour of the Highlands. I was really involved with the first team straight away and I made my professional debut in October in midfield.
"You never forget your first goal and I'm no different and I remember my first Hibs goal coming in a 3 – 2 away win over St Mirren. I think it was my second appearance as a striker.
"I had never played upfront before I signed for Hibs and up until then had always been a midfielder. It was during my first season that the manager Eddie Turnbull moved me upfront. I was quite big and he saw me as a target man."
It was a remarkable rise to the pinnacle of Scottish football for the Benbecula man but the icing on the cake was still to come when Hibs reached the Scottish Cup final.
Colin commented: "At the end of my first season I was in the Hibs team which reached the Scottish Cup Final against Rangers. The match famously went to three games after the first two finished 0 – 0 and I was fortunate enough to play every minute of all three finals.
"To this day Hibs fans still come up to me regarding a chance I had with five minutes to go in the first game. I don't feel it was a chance as I was taken down after knocking the ball past Peter McCloy.
"I had knocked the ball past him and would have scored but I was taken down and never got the penalty. It was a sickening feeling to lose a cup final like that after two replays."
Colin's second season with Hibs didn't scale the heights of the first as the Edinburgh club were relegated from the top flight but he feels a decision to offload a team mate the previous summer had a significant impact on the club's fortunes.
"We had finished fourth in my first season but the next summer we sold Des Bremner who really was a key player for us.
"He went to Aston Villa and ended up winning a European Cup with them. Losing him set us back quite a bit. He had forged a terrific central midfield partnership with Ally Macleod. Ally was the ball player while Des did all the running.
"I went on to Dundee United under Jim McLean and I spent a year with them. This wasn't a time which I particularly enjoyed as I found myself on the fringes of the team.
"They had a really good team then who went on to win the league and reach the Cup Winners Cup Final and it was good experience but I didn't enjoy it too much.
"I then signed for Airdrie and spent a couple of seasons with them in the Premier League before I began to suffer with ankle trouble. I never really got it fixed and I more or less stopped playing at 28.
"I was only part-time with Airdrie and I had just started my shop so I gave up. I always felt very fortunate to get the chance to play professionally and there is no doubt in my mind there are good enough players in the isles. There is a lot of potential but the players don't get the chance. I only got my chance because I was in University in Edinburgh."
The late, great George Best is widely recognised as one of the best players of all time and although he most had to be content to admire from afar, Colin was fortunate enough to line up alongside him in the Hibs side.
"It was a great experience to play alongside George Best. I couldn't believe how balanced he was. He was so comfortable on both sides. I thought he was right-footed while others thought he was left-footed, he was equally strong on either side.
"There was absolutely no big headed-ness about him and he always mixed with the boys. He was absolutely brilliant and I can only imagine how frightening he was in his prime. It was brilliant to be in the same dressing room as him."
Despite contesting the Scottish Cup Final with Hibs, lining up alongside George Best and being part of the Jim McLean revolution at Dundee United Colin's most treasured football memories are of his time with Harris and he recalls his title winning season in Tarbert with genuine affection.
"Like I said earlier I think my time with Harris was the time when I enjoyed my football the most. Playing professionally was hard work, there is a pressure as it is your job on the line.
"One of my fondest memories of football was in 1979 while I was at Hampden for the Scottish Cup Final. All the boys were busy reading their telegrams when I received one. It was from the Harris team, who I had been playing with the year before, wishing me all the best. That really meant a lot to me and was a lovely gesture.
"I am proud of the fact that I played for Hibs but my favourite times would have been with Harris while starting out with Benbecula was also special.
"I must also give a special mention to 'Tosh' who was the Benbecula captain when I was young. His party piece was to get himself sent off in cup finals. Benbecula were always in the finals when I played and more often than not we would win them.
"Well Tosh would always get himself sent off with about ten minutes to go so that he could get the drinks and the champagne ready on the side of the pitch.
"He was a real character but every cup final he would be off before the end.
"He would have to be in my dream team and I've gone for a mix of professional players and guys from home. Hamish Fraser would be my goalie as none of the ones with Hibs every really stood out.
"I would have to put my cousin Neil Morrison on right-wing and I have to say that I have never seen a player since who could score as many free kicks as him. I remember one game he put one in my his right foot and then another with his left foot.
"Up front I would go for Mr Best, of course, and Paul Sturrock. He was a terrific player and I have yet to see a player who could take the ball with his feet and turn a defender as well as he could.
"I'd also like to include 'Nula' Morrison as he was a great player and also from Harris 'Brownie' Morrison.
"Iain Anderson as well as he was as quick as anyone and also Iain Stewart from Benbecula. He was very much like Ted McMin and if you know him then you'll know what I mean. He played on the left-wing but he didn't seem to have a clue what he was doing so what chance did a defender have. Sometimes he would go off on a mazy run and beat seven players but he wouldn't know how he did it."