A Highland League championship winner has become Wayne Mackintosh’s first new signing as Nairn County manager, 14 years after he initially made his Nairn County debut.
We are delighted to welcome Paul Brindle to Station Park as the boss seeks to beef up his front line. And the 32-year-old has now come full circle having featured for us as a trialist back in 2011.
The experienced attacker has put pen to paper on an initial one-year deal with the club and will be involved in the weekend’s friendly at Culloden Blacksmiths, pending Scottish FA approval.
Speaking as the ink was drying on the paperwork, Toshy said: “Paul is the type of player we want to bring to the club. When I sat down with him face-to-face, I could see he has the passion to come here and do well and still has plenty to give.
“He knows what it takes to win leagues and cups, which is an important ingredient we need more of in the changing room. He will place demands on his teammates and help us to set high standards and that is what we as a Management Team want from the squad this season.
“His pedigree and his track record speaks for itself. He has been at a couple of different clubs over the last few seasons, so we are hoping he can come here, settle in quickly and find a home again. He has obviously missed the first few weeks of pre-season, so it will take him time to get up to speed with the rest of the squad but we will work with him to get him there.”
He added: “Brian Macleod knows him well and had seen him playing for Avoch in the Inverness Amateurs. He was playing there to keep himself ticking over after leaving Strathspey at the end of the season and we then felt that having lost Scott Lisle, we needed another attacking option. We arranged to have a sit down with Paul and I could see straight away he had the hunger to come to the club and give it his all.
“He has a good goal scoring record in the Highland League and he talked about how much he always enjoys playing at Station Park, so hopefully that continues. He is a sharp finisher, his movement is good, he is composed on the ball and he makes different runs to those usually made by the forward players we already have, so I am looking for him to make a really positive impact on our season.
“We did not score enough goals last season in my opinion. Ben Barron did an excellent job but we only had one other player reach double figures and I want that to change. I have challenged players in different positions all over the park to contribute to our goals tally and I expect Paul to be right up there too come the end of the season.”
Reflecting on last night’s 0-0 draw with Inverness CT, the Manager added: “It was a really good exercise and we took a lot of positives from it but we are not getting carried away. It is all about building match fitness at this stage of pre-season – the players have done a lot of really hard work in the first few weeks since we have been back and I think they were glad just to get out there on the park for a game again.
“They all worked really hard, which was pleasing and we created some good chances too. We have a couple of things to work on and need to sharpen up a bit in the final third but we knew that would be the case and it is only going to come with playing games. For the first game of pre-season, I cannot have asked for any more from the players.”
Brindle spent last season with Strathspey Thistle, scoring in the Jags’ 3-3 draw at Station Park in September.
He made his Highland League debut with us as an 18-year-old trialist on May 31st 2011, featuring as a substitute in a 3-1 win away at Fort William having starred in the North Caledonian League for Muir of Ord Rovers.
It was at Clachnacuddin where Brindle made his name in the Highland League though, making the switch to Grant Street that summer. He spent four years at the Merkinch outfit, winning the Highland League (Morganti) Cup in 2014.
His performances for the Lilywhites earned him a move to Brora Rangers in the summer of 2015 and in six years at Dudgeon Park, he won two Highland League championships, one Highland League (Morganti) Cup and three North of Scotland Cups.
He then moved on to Forres Mechanics for a season in 2021 before a second spell at Clachnacuddin for the 2022/23 campaign and then re-joined Brora Rangers in the summer of 2023, winning another Highland League (Morganti) Cup during that year back with the Cattachs.
Now, after spending last season at Strathspey Thistle, Brindle is back with the club where his stellar Highland League career commenced.
Paul is available to sponsor ahead of the new season. Drop us a message on Social Media or email info@nairncountyfc.co.uk if you are interested in finding out more.
Image by Kenny Macleod Photography.
