Erskine turns down new EK deal
Midfielder Chris Erskine has turned down a new deal at East Kilbride and revealed he has SPFL clubs chasing his signature for next season.
The 35-year-old is in the twilight of his playing career as he mixes football with a new full-time job as a fire-fighter and he had hoped to strike a deal to stay at Kilby next season, who play just a short distance from his base at EK Fire Station.
However, talks with Kilby gaffer Kevin Rutkiewicz last week collapsed after both parties failed to reach an agreement.
While Erskine is disappointed he won’t be staying with his hometown club, the Lindsayfield man is keen to secure something else soon – and hasn’t been short of offers since announcing his exit on social media on Sunday.
He told the News:“I spoke to the manager over the last week or so, they offered me a deal and it just wasn’t right for me.
“It’s nothing personal or bad, it’s just one of those things in football and we wished each other all the best. A bit of it was about fitting around my job and a bit of it was about the terms I was looking for.
“They just didn’t match, unfortunately, because I would have liked to stay.
“It would have suited me well being close to the fire station, but even more than that, I’m from EK and I genuinely wanted to help the club get promoted so it’s disappointing.
“Once I tweeted [he’d left], I’ve had five or six folk on to me and a couple from the professional leagues, but it will come down to what suits me best. My fire service job in my number one now.”
Erskine has plenty of top-flight experience having played in the Premiership for Partick Thistle, Dundee United and Livingston. He has had three spells at the Jags during his career, which started in the Juniors with Kilbirnie.
And he insists he doesn’t mind what level he plays at next term.
He added:“I’m definitely going to play on. I missed it in the few months I was off for the fire training. I’m not fussed about what level it’s at but I’d like to go somewhere that has a wee bit of ambition, wants to win something.
“If I can be close or within 30-45 minutes of the station that will really help me. I’ll be on night shift two weeks out of 10 but if I’m close to home I’ll still make them and won’t need to get shifts covered for football, basically.
“That narrows down where I can go but I just want to keep playing as long as possible.”
Boss Rutkiewicz said:“I’m disappointed Chris has left. It was something we couldn’t come to agreement on, with the structure of the deal.
“The finances were there, Chris’commitment was there, but the timing of it all just didn’t suit.”