Fraserburgh’s Gary Harris is to retire at the end of the season – but he hopes to do so with a Breedon Highland League winners medal.
The 34-year-old striker has decided to hang up his boots at the end of the current campaign.
He started in the Highland League with Keith in 2008 before joining Turriff United in 2010 and then switched to Deveronvale in 2015 before moving to the Broch a year later.
Explaining his decision Harris said: “My anterior cruciate ligament injury a few years ago (2018) has had an impact and I did think on calling it a day at the end of last season.
“But then I decided to give it one more full season. Stopping playing will allow me to spend more time with my two daughters.
“I work in Altens but I live just outside Turriff so there’s a bit of commuting involved with my job.
“At the start of the season I went down to training one day a week because of the travelling and wanting to spend more time with my family.
“In the Highland League you need to be fully committed so I thought it was time to call it a day.”
Highlights to reflect on
Harris could finish his career as a Highland League winner with Fraserburgh one point clear at the top of the table with two games left.
With Keith, Harris was part of the Evening Express Aberdeenshire Cup winning squad in 2008-09 and at Turriff he won the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield three times.
With the Broch Harris featured in their Aberdeenshire Shield success in January 2020 and their 2020-21 Aberdeenshire Cup triumph at the beginning of this term.
Looking back at some highlights the player, who also had a spell at Deveronvale, added: “The standout thing would be playing Rangers in the Scottish Cup on Sky Sports at a packed out Bellslea (in 2018).
“That really stands out, but my time at Turriff was another highlight and I was involved in the three Aberdeenshire Shield wins.
“Seeing them come from the Juniors and have success in the Highland League was really good.
“But the journey we’ve been on at Fraserburgh has been good as well. In my first season we finished fifth and then every season after that we have moved up a position.
“And now we’re a couple of games away from winning the league so it would be great to finish on that note at the top of the league.
“But we’ve got to take care of these two games and hopefully they go our way.”
Broch enjoyment
Harris has thoroughly enjoyed his time at Fraserburgh and hopes to sign off in style having hit 11 goals this season to aid their title bid.
He said: “There’s a great set-up at Fraserburgh and before I went I wasn’t sure if I would settle in because the history of the club is with local players and being from Turriff I wasn’t sure how would I settle in.
“But everyone has been brilliant with me from Finlay Noble the chairman to everyone involved with the club.
“Speaking to people Fraserburgh has always had a reputation for being well-run and the culture of the club is unbelievable.
“Every training session there’s 20 guys there who love the club.
“I’ve finished second in the league three times with Keith, Turriff and with Fraserburgh so I did wonder if it was as good as I was going to get.
“So that was also why I decided to give it one last go to see what happens.”