July 15th 2024
WAYNE Mackintosh has formally notified the club that he has rejected the offer of a new contract and will leave the club when his current deal expires in July. Chairman Donald Matheson said: "We have been in constant dialogue with Wayne since the Autumn, when he intimated that he would be retiring from football at the end of the season." "The offer of a contract extension remained on the table though and shortly after his Testimonial events concluded in March, Wayne approached us to say that he had reversed his decision to retire and would continue playing but would not accept our existing offer." He added: "Wayne was the first player to agree to a pay reduction when we sat down with the squad last summer and I will always be grateful to him for that." "At the end of the day, Wayne came through our Youth Development Programme and cost us nothing. He did not get to the level he is at by accident though – he is extremely dedicated to his fitness, nutrition and training and we now have to drum that mentality into the young players at the club so that we can bring through similarly successful players in the future." "Wayne has been a great servant to Nairn County down the years and the club has been extremely supportive of Wayne and his family over that period. Unfortunately, that has not been enough to keep him with the club but we will move on and we all wish him well with whatever his next move may be." Mackintosh added: "I would like to thank everyone at Nairn County for making my time at the club so special – the fans and everyone who has been involved in the club during my time there." "I went through some pretty tough times while at the club and I would not have got through it if it was not for the support of my team mates at the time, the old chairman Peter Mackintosh, Peter and Michael Mackintosh and Les Fridge." "I also have to single out Ronnie Sharp for appointing me captain of the club. There can be no greater honour for a footballer in Nairn than to be captain of Nairn County and I feel really privileged to have led the team this last season." "I have won almost everything there is to win in the Highland League in my career but there is one medal that has eluded me – the league championship." "There is no lack of ambition at Nairn and you soon learn that when speaking to the management and the committee – they are all determined to get the club back up the table challenging for trophies again. I admire that and I see no reason why they will not be successful with the effort that everyone is putting in. They are at the start of a long term plan though having started building up the team from scratch with a lot of young players last summer. It is going to take time and I am sure the supporters understand that and will be patient with the team to see it through." "Unfortunately, at my age and with the injuries I have had in my career, I only have a few years left in the Highland League and I am hungry to win that championship medal." "I wish everyone at the club all the best for the future and I will certainly be back at Station Park to cheer the team on in the future. I started out my career as a fan of Nairn County and my first involvement with the club was a ballboy, so I will always be a supporter." Mackintosh debuted for the club on March 17th 2004 in a 4-1 home loss to Inverness CT in the North of Scotland Cup. He has gone on to make a total of 336 appearances, scoring 25 goals and winning two North of Scotland Cups and one Highland League (Morganti) Cup. Graeme Macleod
