After contemplating retirement Ally MacDonald is determined to help Brora Rangers win more silverware.
The defender has signed a contract extension to stay at Dudgeon Park for next season.
However, the 33-year-old admitted he came close to hanging up his boots.
MacDonald became disenchanted with football after the Breedon Highland League was shut down due to Covid in January of last year.
When last season began the former Inverness Caley Thistle man continued playing, but it was only after a period of soul-searching that he decided to commit for next term.
MacDonald said: “I did give retiring serious consideration, I spoke to a number of people about it.
“Last year with Covid we were training three times a week waiting on the Hearts game in the Scottish Cup.
“The Highland League season had been suspended and we were waiting on the Hearts game.
“When you’re training with no games to look forward to at the weekend you can start losing motivation.
“Then we eventually played Hearts and won, then we played Stranraer and then we had the play-off with Kelty.
I became a bit scunnered” – Ally MacDonald
“So we went from January to mid-May training three times a week and only played four games over that period.
“Not that you could do much during lockdown anyway, but I just became a bit scunnered with it.
“And the way the season is now and the time it starts I think we only had four weekends off and we were back into training for last season.
“I wasn’t sure if I could keep doing it all, I was having to motivate myself for every training session and for every game.
📝 Brora Rangers can today announce that Ally Macdonald has signed a 1 year contract extension, taking him up to the summer of 2023. pic.twitter.com/ss5SXS5GJF
— Brora Rangers (@brorarangers) June 13, 2022
“It was like a constant battle and I wasn’t sure why that was if I was getting too old or if the game was getting too much for me.
“I felt jaded from it all and I’ve had the last eight weeks or so as a break and it’s given me time to decide what I want.
“And what I’ve gathered from that is that I still love football and I still feel I’ve got something to offer Brora.”
Chasing more trophies
During his time with Brora MacDonald has helped the Cattachs win four Highland League titles, two GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cups and five North of Scotland Cups.
Looking ahead to next season his target is more silverware.
He added: “Brora’s the team for me and they’re the team that I’ll see out my career with.
“I think there’s a lot to look forward to at Brora. I don’t think we did ourselves justice in the league last year.
“We reached two cup finals, winning one, and finished fourth in the league.
“But I think we can push on from last season and I’m sure the manager will be trying to add a couple of players if he can.
“With the current squad we’ve got I feel we’re more than capable of competing.
“And the feeling I had of being a bit scunnered of football I’d imagine other boys felt the same.
“But we’ve had a good rest and I think we were all disappointed last season and want to try to challenge for the league again.”
