Kilby deal for Chris
Ex-Motherwell winger ditches retirement plan
Chris Humphrey has revealed East Kilbride provided the perfect solution for him to perform a retirement U-turn.
The ex-Motherwell winger signed for Kilby on Saturday just days after announcing he was hanging up his boots.
A shin injury had become too painful for him to continue his 12year professional career and his thoughts started turning towards coaching.
However, he has explained the shock switch to K-Park came out of the blue when Kilby made a last-ditch offer to prolong his playing career.
And it’s a move that has paid off for both parties with Humphrey making his debut in Saturday’s Scottish Cup win over Spartans.
Humphrey told the News: “It has been a hectic week, but it’s been a thoroughly enjoyable one.
“I put out on Twitter I was retiring because my shin isn’t able to do full-time football anymore. Using it constantly was too painful.
“I never wanted to retire this early because it’s my life. But there’s more to football than playing with pain.
“The main thing for me was making sure my shin gets enough rest and I couldn’t really find a club that would offer me that.
“But East Kilbride have been fantastic.
“After my message on Twitter, (EK director) Paul Kean got in contact and offered me the opportunity to come up and train on a Thursday and play on a Saturday.
“That way I have a week to recover and training on a Thursday isn’t too strenuous.
“So I spoke to him, trained with the team and it was like I knew the lads my whole life. They were brilliant and welcomed me in.”
Humphrey, who is based in Preston and currently coaches their under-16s, will make the trip from England each week to play.
And after spending five years in Scotland during spells with the Steelmen and Hibs, both he and his family are delighted he’s back playing north of the border.
The 31-year-old father-of-three said: “I love Scotland and it’s my second home.
“I really enjoyed it before and my two eldest children are Scottish. They were born up here when I was at Motherwell, so they were buzzing when I told them.
“Potentially they can come back up and watch me play here again. My son Cody especially, he loves Scotland, so it was a no-brainer.
“It takes two hours or so to get here from Preston so it’s not a killer of a journey. I’m up here to enjoy my football and help the team as best I can.”