Annan may be 3-1 down from the first leg of their Play-Offs Semi-Final with Stirling Albion however they are far from out. Should the Galabank men need any more motivation to win through to next week’s final they will look at team-mate Chris Jardine and say that things do not have to end on a downer.
Jardine is bringing the curtain down on his playing career when Annan’s season comes to an end and neither his Chairman nor manager want that to be this weekend.
The 35-year-old is a long term Annan player having first joined them when he was 18 and Chairman Henry McClelland would like his final contribution to be part of a successful, promoted team.
McClelland added: “Chris has been with us since 1997 when we were still playing in the East of Scotland League. He was released by Rangers after Dick Advocaat carried out a bit of a cull. He was, and still is, a local boy from Dumfriesshire, and he palled around with Barry Nicholson who is still playing as well with Kilmarnock.”
“He has been with Annan ever since although we have had some pretty interesting debates over re-signing throughout the years. Part of the deal for him to re-sign for what we thought would be another season in the East of Scotland League in 2008 was that we got him a ticket for the UEFA Cup Final between Rangers and Zenit St Petersburg.”
“We managed to get four tickets in total and I went down with him and on the way we were offered a £1000 per ticket by a fan desperate to get to the game. If he had handed it over it would have been a record signing-on fee at Annan.”
“The following year he wanted tickets for T in the Park so whilst we didn’t haggle much over money with Chris we did have some interesting discussions when it came to him re-signing.”
There was a breakdown in negotiations once as McClelland admitted: “We did let him down one year as he was after tickets for an Oasis gig and we could not source them. We probably got him tickets for a Rangers game.”
“Ironically enough we ended up playing against them four times last season so he didn’t need any tickets.”
Jardine has proven to be popular at Annan with McClelland saying: “He has always been a good player here and a good person. A real genuine guy and whilst it is rare for any player to spend their entire adult career at the one club we are delighted that Chris has done it.”
“He has been a fixture about the place and everyone knows and likes him. He has worked hard for Annan and remains committed to us as we are to him. It is terrific that we have shared our journey into senior football with him as he was a key part of it.”
McClelland continued: “He has been the club captain at various times and helped us win leagues and cups. Winning the Qualifying Cup was a special success as it was the last season of the competition and we had never won it before.”
“The celebrations of that victory in 2008 were tremendous and I think we lost Chris and Gary McMenamin for a couple of days afterwards before we found them again.”
Jardine will always have a place in Annan’s history on the field as McClelland explained: “Chris has played in hundreds of games for us and gave me my proudest moment in football in July 2008. We had just been elected to the SFL and played our first game away to Clyde at Broadwood in the ALBA Challenge Cup and Chris led the team out.”
“It was a great moment for us as a club as we had finally achieved our long standing aim of being a senior side. It is amazing to think less than 5 years later he was helping an Annan side beat Rangers at Ibrox.”
“It will be a sad day when he finally hangs those boots up but hopefully it will be a glorious day as it may be after a victorious Play-Offs campaign.”
Jardine may not be lost to the Black and Gold’s with McClelland adding: “We have spoken to him about a coaching role and he knows that remains open to him. He is taking a break over the summer as his partner Kirstin is due a baby soon and he wants to handle that life changing event before committing to anything else.”
“We made a presentation to Chris last Saturday when we played Elgin as we wanted it to be his day as opposed to having the Play-Offs overshadow things. Hopefully the Play-Offs are the main focus for the next few days.”
“Chris can then have a break but he knows he is welcome here any time.”
Manager Jim Chapman was a long-time admirer of Jardine as he explained: “I was obviously aware of Chris when Annan first came into senior football as I was in charge of Dumbarton in the Third Division at that time. We won the league at Galabank and I remember Chris as a player that always caused us problems.”
“When I came into Annan just over a year ago I targeted him straight away as a player I wanted involved in the changes I wanted to make at the club. He had the reputation of being a good honest professional and I am pleased to say that is the case. Not only was he of great use to us as player he started doing some coaching as well.”
“That is an area he should look into for the future and hopefully we will see him back here at some stage doing that. Our door is open as Chris has been a pleasure to deal with. He trains well and is enthusiastic and his approach rubs off on youngsters about the club.”
“He still has role to play as he could be a big player for us in the Play-Offs. Annan have been in the Play-Offs before and never made it through but hopefully Chris can be part of history and help Annan through this time even though we are behind at the moment.”
Chapman added: “That would be a great tribute to a great figure at Annan.”
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