Buckie Thistle hero Andy MacAskill will say an emotional goodbye to Highland League football and retire after final match against former club Keith
“I’ll be telling the creative players it’s their job to get me a goal in my last game - nothing else!”
Andy MacAskill hangs his football boots up after this weekend’s Highland League match for Buckie Thistle against his former club Keith - and what a career it’s been.
Still a star performer for Jags just weeks before his 33rd birthday, the Aberdeen-based social worker has decided to retire from the game and give his body a rest.
Buckie fans haven’t seen it, but MacAskill suggested he has noticed a “decline” in his ability in recent months and wants to go out on a high.
He explained how winning last season’s Highland League title with Jags was the final piece in the jigsaw, and he looked back on 16 memorable years in football.
“To be honest, it's something (retirement) that's been on my thoughts for about 18 months or so,” he revealed. “I spoke about it at that time with Spider (former manager Graeme Stewart) depending on what happened over that season. And, of course, we won the league, which probably made the decision a lot easier.
“How my form has been and how I've felt over that time as well - football-wise, I've maybe felt a sort of decline in my abilities over the last year so it just all adds up to be the right time for me.”
“When you've performed at quite a consistent level for a while and you notice that change, it's difficult to then enjoy your football because you're maybe not playing as well as you'd like to.
“And I'm very aware that once you get to my age, I actually feel that the commitment level needs to increase. You need to be doing more gym work, more recovery work. And I just lacking in the motivation to do that.
“Because we won the league last year, maybe I don't quite have that hunger to try and recapture those levels if it's even possible. I always felt if I was going to do this and play at this level that you should do it properly.
“My form this season has been OK and I could probably keep going for another year or two, but I don't think I would really enjoy it if I was not playing as well as I feel I should be. I don't think that would be too fair to Buckie or to my team-mates to do that.
“I'd like to finish where I still have that relationship with football, where I’ve spent a massive part of my life and something I've loved doing. I wouldn't want to get to the point where I feel I'm not enjoying it or that it feels like a chore.”
MacAskill’s career began at Inverness Caley Thistle, took him on loan spells to Formartine United and Clachnacuddin before making a permanent switch to Keith.
A successful spell at Turriff United was followed by a stint in Australia which he looks back on fondly.
He came back to Scotland and signed for Buckie just after their 2017 title triumph, expecting to win trophies with the Victoria Park club but enduring a seven-year wait for silver by clinching his first-ever league winners medal.
The final curtain on a memorable time in the game comes down at Victoria Park on Saturday, and MacAskill wants to go out with a bang.
A prolific scorer throughout his Highland League years, goals have been harder to find in more recent times but he would love to finish off on the scoresheet.
“I'll be telling Lyall Keir and all the other creative players that it's their job just to try and get me a goal - nothing else!
“It might be an emotional day, because it's the end of quite a long season and I’m quite looking forward to the break.
“Perhaps I might feel it and starting itching when it gets towards pre-season time. It might be around then that it really hits.
“I'm not expecting to kind of be emotional about it on the pitch on Saturday, but I guess you never know until the day comes around.
“It’s been seven-and-a-half years at Buckie and I feel we should have won more in that time. But it was nice to finally achieve that (title success).
“There’s been so many people at the club who have been really nice to me and I'm really grateful for that. Hopefully we can go out with a win and maybe a goal to finish would be nice, but there's not been too many of them recently.
“I probably did see myself as more of a creator than a goal scorer. But I had a couple of seasons where I got over 20 goals, which I felt for me was quite good because I was never really someone who was brilliant at getting in the right place at the right time and scoring a lot of tap-ins or whatever.
“But I’ve had a few goals and assists over the years and it would be good to finish with a goal.”
MacAskill has long been regarded as one of the most skilful and creative players in north football, a strong and stocky ball player with an ability to deliver dangerous setpiece kicks and crosses as well as a powerful shot.
His first taste of Highland League was at Formartine United on loan from Caley Thistle for three months. “I played about four or five minutes of football in that whole time - I was maybe just a wee bit young,” he recalled.
“It was a team of old-school footballers like Mark Simpson and Kenny Coull, and maybe just a bit early for me.
“But in the second half of that season, I went out to Clach and played kind of every week and got a taste for what the league was about.”
After another year at Inverness he was released and joined Keith under Darren Still, a manager he had a lot of admiration for.
“It was a really nice set of guys that I got on amazing with. I kind of just fell in love with the Highland League from there.
“And I listened too, to guys like Derek Nicol and Cammy Keith talking about all of their great memories of playing over the years.
“Turriff was a really positive experience and we managed to win the Aberdeenshire Shield there. And then it was on to Australia.”
MacAskill was based in Queensland, playing for a club called Holland Park Hawks.
“Australia was a lot of fun and the football was good as well. I was there for two years and to be honest, it was more about the kind of lifestyle and experiencing something different rather than the football.
“But I played with a lot of good players and met a lot of really good guys and the football was different.
“It was quite a bit slower-paced and a bit more technical. So it probably actually suited me a little. I really enjoyed it over there.”
He doesn’t expect to get into coaching, but hopes to enjoy a break from the game and watching matches.
“I love football, but I'll enjoy some time away and then, you know, see what happens.”
