Kynoch Park legend Cammy Keith says there are achievements within reach which make him want to keep playing whenever the new season gets under way.
The 32-year-old Keith skipper was the guest on this week’s Northern Goal podcast, where he discussed the Covid-19-necessitated end of the Highland League season, his multiple spells with the Maroons, playing with Formartine United and collegiate soccer in the United States, as well as going on trial at Nottingham Forest.
A treble winner in 2007, Keith, who is his club’s record scorer with more than 250 goals, is still driven by records and the prospect of returning some long-awaited silverware to the Kynoch Park boardroom.
He said: “At this level of football you do want to keep playing as long as you can.
“But when you get to this age and you’ve got a wife and two young kids, other priorities make their way in.
“I’ve got a good job as well, so the football’s not as high up the priority list as it once was.
“One piece of advice I’ve always been given by ex-team-mates is to play as long as you possibly can.
“I’m only five short of 350 Highland League goals.
“There are targets there in terms of goals and it would certainly be nice to win another trophy at Keith as well.
“It’s been a good long time since the club won anything, which I think was the Highland League Cup back in 2013 before I moved to Formartine.
“So it would be good to give something back in terms of a trophy.
“A lot of guys now don’t realise how successful Keith were in the past, so it would be good to finish with some silverware.”
Cammy Keith explains how his trial at Nottingham Forest ended on Northern Goal:
Aberdonian Keith also explained how close he came to going full-time with English side Nottingham Forest after winning the treble with the Maroons.
He said: “Nottingham Forest invited myself and Jamie Lennox down for a week’s trial, which was an incredible experience and it was amazing to be invited down there to such a big club, who have won the European Cup twice.
“Jamie and I trained, played in a couple of friendlies and held our own.
“But the biggest difference for me – and Jamie I’m sure would say the same – was the physicality.
“These guys, the same age as us, were used to working out in the gym and had physiques that would frighten you, while myself and Jamie hadn’t touched a weight in our lives.
“That was the biggest difference, because technically we didn’t feel inferior.
“It was Colin Calderwood who was manager at the time and he took us into a meeting at the end of the trial and basically said along the lines of ‘we need guys who’ll be pushing for the first team now’.
“But physicality wasn’t really ingrained into young Highland League players at that time.
“That was the main one, but myself and Jamie were both disappointed not to get an opportunity with Aberdeen at that time, both supporting the team and the fact we were in the headlines a lot.
“Nothing materialised with them or another full-time team.”
