For Glenn Main his Nairn County future was never in doubt.
As long as the club wanted to keep him the veteran of 18 seasons and over 400 appearances was always going to remain at Station Park.
And that’s exactly how it has panned out with Main extending his contract until the summer of 2022.
The 35-year-old said: “It was never really in doubt, if Ronnie Sharp and the club wanted me then I was always going to sign on again.
“I still feel fit and still feel I can contribute so I’m pleased to stay.
“Being a local boy it means a lot to myself to play for Nairn.
“I grew up close to Station Park and Ronnie is a brilliant coach and gave me my debut when he was manager first time round.
“Training is different every week and he’s brilliant to play for.
“Around the club itself there’s a good feeling and there’s brilliant people at the club and if you need anything everyone at the club will try to help you out.
“I think you’ve seen that during the lockdowns where they’ve been out helping people in the community by picking up prescriptions and things like that.
“From an early age Nairn has always been my team really.
“Some of my early memories are of going to watch Nairn County with my brother and my Dad and there used to be massive crowds watching Nairn in those days.
“We used to hop the wall to play on the pitch after games and get chased off by the groundsman.”
Since Ronnie Sharp returned to manage Nairn in 2016 he has given youth a chance.
Progress has been steady with County finishing as high as seventh on points-per-game following the Covid-19 shortened 2019-20 season.
Main believes they can progress further and is hopeful they can target silverware in the near future.
The defender, who has won the Highland League Cup and North of Scotland Cup with Nairn, added: “The thing that Ronnie and the staff always speak about is progression.
“When Ronnie took over he put together a young side and over that time it’s developed so now it’s just about progression.
“The club have put in a wage structure where nobody gets paid any more than anybody else and it’s all about building with the youth and trying to progress.
“I suppose you could say winning a cup might be the next step.
“The cups give you great memories, you don’t remember finishing fifth or sixth in the league.
“But you remember winning things and I’ve been fortunate enough to win a few cups with Nairn and also have a couple of good Scottish Cup runs.”
Nairn’s 2020-21 season consisted of only five games before the campaign was declared over last month.
Main says the lack of action has only added to his desire to keep playing and he is already looking forward to next term.
He said: “I’ve definitely still got the hunger. We never really got started this season and it feels like I’ve lost a year.
“But that’s given me the desire to get going again and I’m looking forward to June time and getting back to training.”
