Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Wallace delight at leaving Bully Wee
Cairn new boy backs ambition of Airdrie juniors
Tony Wallace reckons he was never played in his best position at Clyde after joining Airdrie juniors Gartcairn.
The forward ended a short sixmonth stint at the Bully Wee suddenly in January.
After training with English nonleague sides, he has made the move to MTC Park on an 18-month deal.
The 29-year-old made his debut in the 3-1 Champions Cup semi-final victory over Lanark.
He admits he has a bit of a sour taste in his mouth from his spell at Broadwood as he was never played in his favoured role on the wing.
Wallace said: “The way I left Clyde was right at the end of the window and a lot of clubs had already done their stuff for the window.
“To be honest, I enjoyed the break. I had a chance to get back in the gym and work on my fitness after training with four of five clubs.
“I wanted to get back in and get something sorted and now I’m looking forward to the final.”
He added: “At Clyde, to be honest, I wasn’t really enjoying it.
“When I signed I felt like I was signing for a big club and moving my career forward.
“I thought I would be played out wide where I had scored 14 goals for Annan, but when I came in I was played in centre midfield.
“I wanted to kick on in my career so I was disappointed to be playing there. I was in and out of the team as well.
“You don’t mind playing out of position if you are playing on a consistent basis, but I wasn’t.
“I was really disappointed with how it went.
“I spoke to Danny Lennon about it and he was happy to keep me, but couldn’t guarantee me that I would play out wide or say that I would get my chance.
“Honestly, it seemed like the right move at the time, but I told him I needed more game time and that was it really.”
With the prospect of the new era of a West of Scotland juniors arriving next season – with a tier six below the Lowland League – Wallace is looking forward to starting life in Airdrie.
The attacker hopes to make an instant impact by earning a cup final spot and avoiding the drop to League One.
He said: “I’m enjoying being at Gartcairn, they are an ambitious club and are similar to when I was at BSC
Glasgow with their youth set-up.
“If I’m being honest, going to the juniors from League One is something that played on my mind; I had other options.
“I went down to train with Blyth Spartans and some other clubs in the National League but none of them really made sense.
“I think now I have joined a club that is going to be success.
“I can see them doing something similar to BSC Glasgow. They have coaches that are of a high standard who have came from Partick Thistle and I know I’ll enjoy it.
“I’m quite confident in the boys from what I’ve seen in training. I want to be a big part of the club.
“The main ambition is to stay in the league; but it’s an ambitious club and an exciting time.”