His Saints career was short and sweet..but Ian has no regrets

“But my introduction to what he was like on a game day led to my debut, and that is probably a story in itself.”

With first-choice stopper Ludovic Roy crocked for a huge game with relegation rivals Dundee United, back-up stopper Derek Scrimgour was elevated to the starting spot as McCaldon warmed the bench after being drafted in from West Lothian.

Watching from the dugout however, Hendrie wasn’t pleased with what he saw from Scrimgour, and to McCaldon’s horror... and somewhat delight... the gaffer took the unlikely ensuring you make the most of what talents you have got, and not getting too downbeat on those that you wish that you had.

Not many people have the courage and steel to change career at the drop of a hat, that would be daunting enough.

Then you have telling your World Cup semifinalist gaffer that you are chucking football altogether to become a kayak and snorkel instructor on the other side of the globe, where would that rank?

“I just had to follow my heart,” McCaldon, 44, told Express Sport, “You can’t go through life having any regrets.

“People are going to think I am mental… and they are probably right.

“But I was playing for Chester City and the exEngland defender Mark Wright was our manager by the time the season finished.

“I have always been a fisherman. I love to fish, and it had been my dream to go out to Coral Bay in Australia so myself and a friend went over, a place called Ningaloo Reef.

“It was amazing, like a dream, and I fell in love with the place, and then I fell in love with a girl, and I was in love, and I didn’t want to come home.

“So, basically, I didn’t. route of subbing his keeper.

He explained:“We were playing Dundee United at home and I am sitting on the bench.

“Scrimmy hits a bad bye-kick and I don’t know, he mis-hits it or something and it goes straight out for a throw-in.

“It happens to every keeper but you know that way when you know someone just doesn’t like somebody? Well, I was only in the door five minutes but that was what it was like with Scrimmy and Tom.

“Tom blew a gasket, the kick appeared to be what lit the fuse and

“The sandy beaches, the everlasting nights, the weather and the fishing, it was special.

“When your heart tells you that you should do something then I am a believer that you have got to follow it.

“I wanted to experience life. I was 30, I was happy with the career I had but I wanted to try something else.

“I loved the place, the beach, everything about what I had stumbled upon.

“So, what did I do? I phoned Mark Wright and I told him I needed to do this, that I wanted to do this. I told him I wasn’t coming home

“He was probably angry but I didn’t care. “For the next year I was a snorkel tour guide, I was sitting on the beach all day every day. I was kayaking, I was fishing, I did everything I wanted to do.

“Coral Bay is so remote it’s scary but I got used to it very quickly. I was showing backpackers about the place and it was as far removed from playing football in front of thousands of punters as you could possibly get.

“When I wasn’t working I was just sitting about in the sun. I mean, it doesn’t get much better than that.

“I was loving life and everything was going brilliantly, but all good things have to come to the next thing I know he is roaring at me to go and warm up.

“At first I didn’t know if he was serious, so he yelled at me again.

“I felt bad because here I am running up the touchline just before half-time, and Scrimmy must have knew what was coming... I mean, it was obvious.

“We go in at half-time 1-0 down, and Tom goes through him.

“He loses it, a few minutes into the second half and there I am again warming up, Scrimmy was off and I was on. It was harsh but you need to seize your opportunity.

“Judging by the report, I had an an end.

“And then my visa ran out.”

As he returned back to Scotland in 2005, Eagle, as he is affectionately known by coaches and supporters across the country, didn’t know what was next.

Following a spell training with his former Livingston teammate John Robertson’s Heart of Midlothian, the towering keeper eventually landed a deal with the ambitious Ross County.

However, 10 games later, followed by a short spell at Peterhead, he was already at his wits end and he decided to up sticks once more, a bit closer to home – albeit to London.

“I didn’t know what I was doing,” he adds, “I didn’t know if I was coming or going but I just knew that I had to do something else.”

Something else for a footballer usually means turning to coaching, the media, or for the old fashioned, investing in a local bar.

But not everyone is McCaldon, as he knowingly giggles as he tells his life story bullet point by bullet point.

The excitement and the ridiculousness of it all almost consumes him as he splutters out each and every sentence, but the 44-year-old can’t help it as jumps to the next chapter in what can only be described as a colourful life.