Cove Rangers captain Eric Watson is preparing for an emotional farewell to his 12-year spell at the Highland League club.
The 37-year-old could make his final appearance for the club in tomorrow’s SPFL pyramid play-off final against Berwick Rangers at Shielfield Park.
Cove won the first leg 4-0 at Balmoral Stadium last week and Watson would love to sign off in style by helping the club become the first Highland League club to win promotion to the SPFL through the play-offs.
He said: “It would be great to get on the pitch. I actually said to the guys after Saturday’s result that if we were able to score a couple of goals without reply then I might be able to come on for the last 10 minutes down at Berwick.
“That would mean a lot to me but it is a serious game with a huge prize at the end of it. We will just have to play it by ear and if it’s not to be, so be it.
“It goes without saying that I will have mixed emotions at about quarter to five on Saturday.
“I have had my ups and downs at Cove but thankfully the ups far outweigh the downs. For the majority of my time with the club, Cove Rangers have been the team to beat and I have been very lucky in that respect.
“If we were to create a bit of history by becoming the first Highland League club to be promoted to the SPFL through the pyramid it certainly wouldn’t be a bad way to end my Cove career.
“Our manager John Sheran spoke about this day 12 years ago when I arrived at the club. It all seemed like pie in the sky at that time. We sold Allan Park but it took so long to build our new stadium but it’s all in place now for us to make the move.
“I don’t remember the last time we lost four goals but, barring a disaster, I think the club will go from strength to strength if we get into League 2. I don’t think we’ll need to change much for Saturday.
“We have a couple of guys carrying knocks but I think we’ll set-up the same way down there on Saturday.”
Watson is keen to keep playing and isn’t short on options for next season.
He added: “If we do go up it’s been well documented that I will be going elsewhere next season. There have been quite a few clubs in contact over the last few weeks.
“I had thought of going back into the junior ranks but there has been so much interest from Highland League clubs that that’s where I see myself playing next season, but we can start to speak about that next week.”