Shaun Wood is looking forward to his final appearance at Victoria Park for his testimonial match when Buckie Thistle take on Elgin City on Saturday.
The 32-year-old is hanging up his boots after breaking his ankle in 2022 which led to the onset of arthritis in the joint.
The defender has been a Buckie player since joining the club from Buckie Rovers in 2012 and, after a difficult couple of years, will bring the curtain down on his career this weekend.
He said: “It should hopefully be a good day and I’m looking forward to it.
“I thought about finishing earlier last season as I had started working offshore.
“It is hard to commit to Buckie if you are working offshore and not going to be available every week.
“You need 100% commitment to play for Buckie and I wasn’t going to be able to do that.
“I then found out I had arthritis in my ankle which was the final straw.
“Hopefully we’ll get a good turnout on Saturday. It is a local derby so it will hopefully bring in a few fans.
“It is only a week until the League Cup group games start so both teams will be trying to get sorted for going into that competition.”
Scottish Cup ties to savour
Wood’s final competitive appearance was in last season’s memorable Scottish Cup tie at Broxburn Athletic when the Jags triumphed on penalties. The Jags equalised deep in injury time to send the game to extra time and then deep in extra time to send the match to spot-kicks.
The dramatic victory was made all the sweeter when Buckie drew a trip to Celtic Park in the next round of the competition.
Wood, who was on the bench in the 5-0 defeat against Brendan Rodgers’ side in January, said: “Going to Celtic Park with Buckie last season is the one that stands out the most.
“We have had some good games over the years, such as winning the league in 2016-17 and winning the Aberdeenshire Cup the same season.
“We’ve had some good Scottish Cup games, especially winning on penalties at Broxburn to set up the match against Celtic.
“That was my last appearance for Buckie. I came on in extra time and played the last half hour. It was good to end on a high.
“I remember against Edinburgh City (in 2015) we were 1-0 down with 10 men and came back and won 2-1. That was a good day out.
“We also beat Annan away in the Scottish Cup (in 2012). I’ve got lots of good memories from over the years.”
Quickfire questions
BEST GAME: Beating Strathspey Thistle 9-0 to win the league in 2017. That was the most enjoyable.
DEBUT: That was against Rothes at home and we won.
FUNNIEST TEAMMATE: There have been a few. Kyle MacLeod and Darryl McHardy, who came in last season, are both very funny. It’s always a good laugh in the changing room.
HARDEST OPPONENT: I didn’t like playing against Andrew Greig who is at Nairn County now. I used to always find it tough against him. Scott Barbour at Fraserburgh was another one who was always very difficult whenever you came up against him.
FAVOURITE AWAY GROUND: I always liked playing at Nairn. They have a really good setup at Station Park and a good pitch so I always enjoyed going there for a game.
