Buckie Thistle scoring comeback is 'Super' John McLeod's dream for his family after re-signing for the Victoria Park club
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Buckie Thistle goal legend John McLeod would like nothing better than making a scoring return to the Jags’ first team at the age of 35.
The striker last played for Buckie in November 2017, just months after his 47-goal haul helped the Victoria Park side to their last Highland League title success.
Persistent injuries in both hips looked likely to bring the curtain down on his career, although he did make a comeback in the North Caledonian League and Inverness amateur ranks in the past year.
But a chance to turn out for Buckie’s under-21 side to regain fitness led to interest from another Highland League side, prompting Jags boss Graeme Stewart to tie the forward down on a one-year deal and resurrect his Buckie dream.
McLeod knows he is a long way away from reaching the standard required to feature in Stewart’s line-up, even though he was granted a place on the bench for Saturday’s 4-0 Scottish Cup win at Tayport.
“Ultimately the goal was always to get myself back to Buckie.,” he said. “Now I’ve had three 90 minutes with the 21s in their last three games, and one of the clubs we played phoned me up and tried to sign me.
“It maybe opened Spider’s (manager Stewart) eyes and he signed me for the rest of the season. At the same time I am still quite far off the level of boys who are playing for Buckie. So there is a long way to go yet.
“I know Spider’s expectations, I know what he needs from his players. He said I was overweight and I still need to do stuff so I will work with that!”
McLeod was a late developer in Highland League football before scoring heavily in spells at Fort William and Brora Rangers, prompting a move from Buckie to sign him in 2016.
He made an immediate impact, with Buckie fans’ chant of ‘Super John McLeod’ heard every week as the prolific front man played a huge part in the 2017 league success - the last trophy won by the club.
But a rash of fixtures both in north football and national competitions at the start of the following campaign identified a problem initially in McLeod’s right hip.
“It ended up being too much, I think we played about 25 games by November with the League Cup and Challenge Cup, it was almost an overload.
“I’ve had both hips done now and my recovery has been terrible. Even now the body still struggles but when you are on the pitch it is forgotten about, it’s just the struggle afterwards that I need to control.
McLeod said he consulted current Nairn striker Conor Gethins, who turns 40 next month and admitted he finds it difficult to recover after matches due to his age.
McLeod would love to add to his Buckie goal tally in front of his two daughters, aged eight and three.
“I said a couple of years ago that the ultimate goal was to play for Buckie again, score for them and do it in front of the girls.
“I will leave that on course just now. There’s still a long way to go.”
