Clachnacuddin legend Martin Callum says he retires with great memories.
After 13 years at Grant Street Park the Lilywhites’ captain has hung up his boots.
During his time with the Merkinch club, midfielder Callum helped them win the GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup in 2014 and latterly has also served as a coach.
The 35-year-old – who joined from Muir of Ord – is stopping playing to spend more time with wife Natalie and children Eva, Arran and Marley.
Callum looks back with pride on his time at Clach, but believes the time is right to take a break.
He said: “The main reason for stopping is to spend more time with my family.
“My family and my wife especially, have sacrificed a lot over the last 13 years and I felt it was the right time to have a break.
“I’ve also struggled with injury a lot this season and I don’t think I could have played on at this level for another year, which is another reason.
“Being at Clach it’s been a thoroughly enjoyable time. I look back on it with a lot of fond memories of all the craic you get with the boys and things like that.
“When you’re at Clach it’s not like we’re winning trophies every year so for me it’s more been about how much I’ve enjoyed being part of the team.
“I’ve got so much out of football, it teaches you so much and gives you so much enjoyment of being part of the team.”
Good way to finish
Callum’s finished his time with Clach in style last week. He received a testimonial last Wednesday against Elgin City which raised £1,680 for mental health charity Mikeysline.
Then on Saturday the Lilywhites defeated Lossiemouth 2-0 in their final game of the season.
Callum added: “The testimonial was really good, the club and Conor Gethins went out of their way to make it as special a night as possible.
“It couldn’t have been a better night, I really enjoyed the game and we managed to raise a bit of money for charity.
Tonight’s squad to face @ElginCityFC in Martin Callums well deserved testimonial 👏⚪️⚫️⚪️ pic.twitter.com/Zq6ToFnDVo
— Inverness Clachnacuddin FC (@clachfc) April 17, 2024
“Then it was nice to finish with a win on Saturday, I wanted to end on a high and thankfully we did that.
“When you know it’s your last game you want to try to enjoy it and I did.
“Deek (Derek Arris, goalkeeping coach), who has been involved at the club longer than I have was stopping as well and he was getting a bit emotional.
“He deserved his moment and his recognition even more than I did, he’s an absolute legend of Clach.”
