Callum Maclean has today announced that he will be retiring from football this summer.
The defender joined us initially as a centre midfield player from Fort William in the summer of 2015, giving a total of 11 years service to the club.
The 34-year-old also played in the Highland League with Fort William and represented St Anthony’s and St Cuthbert Wanderers while at university in Glasgow after being a youth at Inverness CT.
He said: “It has certainly not been an easy decision but ultimately, I think it is the right one for me and my family.
“We welcomed our first daughter back in December and people outside of football can sometimes forget how big a commitment it is to your time, so I just wanted to have the flexibility to spend as much time with her as possible as she is already growing up so fast!”
Looking back on his time at the club, he added: “Winning the North of Scotland Cup in such dramatic fashion against Ross County has to be the main highlight.
“Given I started in two cup finals in my first season at the club, I never thought it would take another 10 years to get to a cup final again but I guess it was certainly worth the wait!
“For me, there are also plenty of one-off games that live in the memory such as beating Huntly 6-4 away after being 3-0 and 4-1 down in the game. We also seemed to go through a spell of having epic games away at Deveronvale with a 5-4 last gasp victory particularly sticking in the memory.
“Overall, it has been an absolute pleasure playing for the club over the last 11 seasons. A big thank you to all the players, management and club staff past and present for making it such a great experience both on and off the pitch. Also, a special thanks to the supporters, who have been brilliant with me and my family over the years. The words ‘family club’ get bandied about quite loosely but it definitely applies to Nairn County.
“What made this decision particularly difficult was that I genuinely think we have got a great group of players and coaching team going into next season, so it would not surprise me one bit if a trophy or two are coming back to Station Park over the next couple of years. I will hopefully get along to a few games when I can, so I can see it first hand.”
Manager Wayne Mackintosh said: “It has been a pleasure working with Callum both as a teammate for many years and as his manager over the last season.
“He has been a model professional throughout his time with the club. Nothing really knocks him out of his stride whether it is being asked to play out of position to do a job for the team or if we have a bad day at the office, he always bounces back and gets on with it without a fuss.
“As a manager, that reliability is a huge asset to have as we knew we could trust him to do any job to the best of his abilities. He has always been a consistent performer on the pitch and we will miss him both playing-wise and among the squad.”
He added: “We totally understand his reasons for stopping playing and I would like to thank him for everything he has given the club during his lengthy career here. We wish him all the best for the future and he will certainly be more than welcome at Station Park in the future.”
Callum represented the club a total of 269 times and scored 22 goals. He was signed by previous manager Les Fridge from Fort William in July 2015 as part of a triple swoop, which also saw Kenny McKenzie and Andrew Hardwick make the move to Station Park from the Lochaber club.
Initially a central midfielder, Callum was moved into a defensive role after Ronnie Sharp took over as manager in 2016, bringing a calm assurance to the back line. During Steven Mackay’s tenure, Callum was then deployed more at full back, proving his adaptability even late on in his career.
He played in three cup finals for the club, winning the 2023 North of Scotland Cup and playing an important role in that achievement by scoring in the quarter final success away at Forres Mechanics with one his trademark near post runs to head home off a corner kick.
The club will confirm plans to mark Callum’s time at Nairn County in due course. We would all like to thank Callum for his exemplary service to the club and wish him the very best for the future.
