Aidy’s now full of Heart as he gets his career back
Aidy White isn’t counting his chickens.
Sure, he’s playing football again, and looking good doing it. But after two years spent wondering whether his career might be over, the Hearts man won’t get carried away.
A mystery hip complaint, which threatened to derail White’s football journey, seems – at last – to have been solved.
He is still not entirely happy with where he is, fitness-wise, after making his first two appearances since January, 2017.
But the former Leeds United and Barnsley star, who is relishing the prospect of taking the field in front of 60,000 fans at Celtic Park today, is grateful to be there, regardless.
“It’s what I have been aiming towards, and playing in this league gives you that opportunity,” said the 27-year-old.
“That’s a massive bonus for me and it gives that love of football back again.
“At Leeds, I played in front of 30,000 at Elland Road. Even though they were in the Championship, they still got really big crowds.
“We played cup games at Old Trafford and the Emirates and places like that.
“So to have that experience again of being involved in games like Celtic – that’s why all the hard work for me, has been worth it.”
Calling it “hard work” seems an understatement.
It took multiple specialists, four operations, a host of alternative therapies, thousands of hours of rehabilitation work, a monstrous medical bill and a whole load of heartache to get to where he is today.
But it has been an experience he is determined to use to his – and Hearts’ – advantage.
“There were points where it crossed my mind if I was ever going to get back,” admitted White.
“I was going to see all sorts of specialists and getting all sorts of diagnoses that either I felt weren’t correct, or weren’t working. I just couldn’t get to the point where I was feeling good.
“I’m glad I can not put it behind me,but probably use it. It’s given me positives, such as a stronger mental toughness and a better outlook on football.
“I probably saw four or five different specialists plus other sorts of treatments such as injections and alternative therapies.
“I tried some stuff that you wouldn’t expect to try with the injury. It’s all part of it. If something was going to help, I was willing to do it.
“I tried all sorts – injections, sugar injections, all sorts of scans to see if there was anything else going on.
“If something gave me 10%, or even 1%, I was willing to try it. I was just that desperate to get back playing again.”
White’s hip problem first emerged after Barnsley’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy win in April, 2016.
Years of toil followed, the last two of which were endured without a professional contract.
Now his physical and emotional battle could be nearing a victorious conclusion – and he believes credit is due to Hearts for backing him to clear the final hurdle.
“This club is suited to me because the gaffer understands, and Austin Mcphee has been brilliant,” said the Yorkshireman.
“They are going to give me the opportunity and the time I need to let me get back to the level that I think I can be at. “I felt this club understood.
“It was emotional. It’s been a long old journey, and I’m just glad that I’ve managed to take that first step in a positive direction.”
BUDGE WON’T BUDGE ON TYNECASTLE CLOSURES – See Page 8
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