January 20th 2025
Nairn County can today announce the return of Paul Macleod to the club.
The 33-year-old has agreed a deal until the end of season after just over five years at Rothes.
Manager Ronnie Sharp said: “We are delighted to add Paul to the squad and we feel he can bring a lot of the qualities we have been missing over the last few games.
“It has been clear that we have needed to shore up our defence and Paul can hopefully allow us to do that. He is a quality player and he has learned from his experiences over the years in the Highland League.
“Paul is a big character, a strong personality and will bring added aggression to our defence. He places high demands on his teammates and has a great winning mentality, whether that is at training or in matches.
“It is great for us to be able to bring Paul back to the club and I know he is eager to get started.”
Director of Football, Graeme Macleod, said: “When I spoke to Paul, he took about five seconds to decide that he wanted to come back.
“We have been monitoring his situation closely over the summer but his work commitments have impacted upon his availability and we have had to respect that. He played for our Reserves Team as a trialist in pre-season to keep himself ticking over and has joined us for training. He is more readily available for matches now, which is great news for us and I am delighted that he has agree to re-join us.
“Paul is a Nairn boy and even though he has been away playing for Rothes, he has still kept in touch – he is now coming home and he is desperate to get stuck in and help us to turnaround our season.”
Paul made his Nairn County debut as a 20-year-old on May 2nd 2009 in a 0-0 draw with Buckie Thistle at Station Park on the final day of the 2008/09 season.
He played in the 2011 Highland League (Morganti) Cup winning team and grabbed his first goals for the club the following season with two in three days in away fixtures at Fort William on April 4th 2012 and Brora Rangers on April 7th.
He ended his first spell with us with four goals in 162 appearances before moving on to Rothes, where he scored a dramatic injury-time winner against Buckie Thistle to secure a 2-1 victory in the final of the 2020 Highland League Cup to take the Morganti Trophy to MacKessack Park for the first time in the Speysiders’ history.
He added a North of Scotland Cup winners medal to his collection last season as Rothes defeated Brora Rangers in the final to play his part in two of the five major honours won by the MacKessack Park club in their 84-year history.
Paul is available to sponsor for the season – email us info@nairncountyfc.co.uk or drop us a message on Social Media if you are interested.
Image by Kenny Macleod Photography.
