Four years on Jason Brown is still grateful to Peterhead for taking a chance on him.
And after agreeing to stay at Balmoor for the next two years the defender is still keen to repay the Blue Toon’s faith.
After leaving Inverness Caley Thistle in the summer of 2017 Brown wasn’t sure what the future held for him.
With older brother Jordon a Peterhead player he joined the Buchan outfit during pre-season to keep his fitness up and impressed enough to win a contract.
Since then the 24-year-old has made nearly 150 appearances and helped the club win League Two in 2019.
Brown remains grateful for the opportunity he was given by the Blue Toon.
He said: “When I joined the club I was really thankful to the gaffer taking a chance on me and I still want to repay him for that really.
“How I ended up joining Peterhead wasn’t really planned, but I came to pre-season to keep ticking over after leaving Inverness.
“I ended up playing a few friendlies and then earning a contract and I haven’t really looked back.
“It’s been a great four years and it’s a brilliant club, how I ended up signing was strange, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Brown still striving for improvements
Brown made 25 appearances during the 2020-21 season and felt he performed well in the main.
However he is conscious he can still make further improvements, with manager Jim McInally having spoken previously about improving his temperament to avoid silly bookings and sending offs.
Brown added: “It was a no-brainer really for me to stay, I’m looking forward to hopefully getting back to normal next season and trying to kick on again.
“Every season I try to improve and I felt did this season.
“I know I can still improve again next season, but it was about trying to get a bit more consistency in my game.
“I’m trying to concentrate on ironing out the mistakes in my game and looking to make those improvements where I can and become an important part of the team.
“I felt I had a good season and played quite a lot of games and overall we had a decent season, although it could have been better.”
Looking up the league
Peterhead finished this season in seventh spot in League One.
Brown believes they can compete higher up the table next season and is optimistic about what the Blue Toon can achieve with the core of the squad already signed up for next season.
He said: “When I look at our squad and the players we have we want to be up challenging at the top end and I think that will be the target next season.
“We maybe could have been there this season, but a few results didn’t go our way and there wasn’t much in it from the top to mid-table.
“We’re looking to build on this season because we know we can challenge in the top half of the table and that will be our main objective to try to mix it with the best in the league.”