John Gemmell has brought the curtain down on his latest Cambuslang Rangers spell.
The veteran forward was brought back to the club last year and played a key role in helping them win West of Scotland Football League Conference B, gaining entry to this season’s Premier Division.
But Gemmell won’t be joining them on that journey as co-bosses Billy Campbell and Paul McColl look to sustain the Somervell Park club at that level following a successful 2021/22.
Retirement may not quite beckon for the 37-year-old who first joined Camby in 2017 before departing two years later for Troon. He’s also turned out for Queen’s Park, Albion Rovers, Partick Thistle and Stenhousemuir amongst others in a career that began in 2001.
He hopes to play on at some sort of level and says ending his Camby career on a high is the perfect way to bow out.
Gemmell explained: “I am going to keep playing another season, but I am not going to be re-signing for Cambuslang. I have signed with an over 35s team to keep myself ticking over when I can, if I am not working.
“I think that will be my pre-season. I don’t have the time to do a proper one this year. I have never had the legs to do it right enough! I did a session every two weeks last summer and it doesn’t make much difference to me.
“I’ve always been my size and I have always had the same level of fitness. But every season I have still managed to play.
“I definitely want to play but it will just be whatever works best with my work commitments. We will see.
“It has been brilliant. I came into Cambuslang when the club was in the third division and we got two promotions in a row. I came back in the summer even though I had a few other offers, mainly to help Paul.
“He was struggling to get a few players in but it has obviously worked out great. I can’t complain as we all end it on good terms. It has been a good run.”
The striker featured for a Cambuslang legends team against a Rangers legends XI in May and said that match showed his legs weren’t quite where they once were.
He reckons the two gaffers will try and retain much of the squad that earned promotion, even if he proves to be an exception.
Gemmell added: “I think I was the only player that was still playing, but after that, I have to think about whether I am still playing or not!
“I was feeling it. I just got back the night before from being away so I was glad when I was taken off, put it that way.
“When you win a league, it’s kind of expected that you keep the whole squad. But I can’t really train that often because of work and stuff like that.”
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