THE WELL READ ARMY
Reynolds is study in concentration when he’s on the pitch and off it
Work experience at BT or checking out the latest engineering innovations in Aberdeen’s oil and gas industry.
They’re not the stereotypical habits of a footballer on his day off but Mark Reynolds is not your average player.
As a teenager, when his Motherwell mates were signing YTS contracts at Fir Park, he was at school getting straight As in his Highers.
Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised to discover that while his Pittodrie team-mates have been playing video games in their down time, he’s had his head in a book.
In a year, Reynolds will have a Bachelor of Engineering degree and a CV most students crave.
Inspired by former Dons boss Craig Brown, he began his educational journey in 2012.
At the same time as holding Aberdeen’s defence together, he was trying to safeguard his future when he eventually stops playing.
That’s still a long way off for Reynolds who, at 31, still feels he has plenty to achieve on the park.
It won’t be happening this season as he has been left devastated by a cruciate knee injury suffered in a pre-season friendly that means he will miss most of the campaign.
On a positive note, he should have time to ensure a first class graduation in mechanical engineering.
As well as former gaffer Brown, he’s grateful to current Dons boss Derek McInnes for supporting his studies.
Incredibly, Reynolds’ last exam was just 48 hours before the club’s vital win over Celtic on the final day of last season at Parkhead, which secured second spot in the Premiership.
The defender hopes more players will follow his lead in having something to fall back on and while Reynolds isn’t set on becoming an engineer when he stops playing, he’s determined to at least give himself an option that most people in the game won’t have.
He said: “I thought about life after football six years ago when I started doing the part-time degree in mechanical engineering.
“I’m always pestering people up here, trying to cadge work experience to go and see how their company works.
“I went to the North East Scotland College for four years doing two nights a week.
“I did an HNC then an HND in mechanical engineering. Last year I went to Robert Gordon University and did the first year of the degree.
“I’m there again this year and I have four units left to complete.
“When I was at school I was going to go and study maths and physics. Those were the courses I was accepted on at Glasgow, Caledonian and Strathclyde Universities.
“It was obviously put on the back burner. I’ve always been interested in how things work and why they are what they are. It wasn’t until I came up here that I realised it was engineering specifically that really interested me.
“Craig Brown used to go on about footballers having too much time on their hands and he would encourage me to do something with it.
“He had a pal in Aberdeen, Colin Manson, who was the CEO of an engineering company called Xodus. Craig phoned up and asked if they’d sponsor me through a degree. I spoke to Colin and he was delighted to do it.
“One of their head guys, Frank Smith, is a big Aberdeen fan. I expected him to put the onus on me, in terms of what I wanted to do, but Frank said if he wanted to hire a guy, here was the CV he’d want him to have.
“He basically enabled me to build this CV. I couldn’t have asked for better help.
“I have also been out to see a few of the BT sites up here. Aberdeen’s a brilliant place to be when you’re studying that industry.
“It has been a few years in the making but it’s something I wanted to do, completely separate from football.”
Of course, as part of the Dons’ first-team squad studies and football were inevitably going to overlap at some point.
Reynolds was dreading the trip to McInnes’ office in May to inform him he wouldn’t be at training two days before they faced Celtic in their most critical game of the season. Thankfully, the Aberdeen gaffer put his trust in him and the cent re - back played his par t in a stunning 1- 0 win at Parkhead.
At first, his decision to go to university prompted a ribbing from team-mates.
But Reynolds claims that a few of them are now thinking about taking a similar path.
He said: “I took a wee bit of stick from the boys at the start but I just batter them back so it stopped quite quickly.
“It actually spurred a few of them on and made them go and look at doing some courses themselves.
“For me, it’s just about having options. I stayed on at school to get my Highers so I’d have choices if I didn’t make it as a footballer.
“Being at Aberdeen has been perfect for doing the degree and the current gaffer has been great.
“My last exam actually fell on the Friday before we played Celtic at Parkhead on the last day of the season when we had to win to seal second spot.
“I had to chap his door and tell him that I couldn’t train on the Friday because of the exam. He wanted to work on team shape that day. To be fair, he has been nothing but supportive and completely understood.
“He encouraged me to do it and just told me to make sure I was right for the weekend.
“Luckily we beat Celtic. Maybe I should do that before every game against them!
“I’ll do my coaching badges to have another option but the biggest thing in football for me is playing. The way I feel now is that when football finishes I ’ d rather just hang up my boots for good.
“I coach my wee boy’s team and I enjoy that. Whether I’d want all the hassles of doing it at f irstteam level, I don’t know if I could put up with that.
“If there is a silver lining to his injury it’s that I might get a bit more study time.” Even that one positive can’t ease Reynolds’ dejection at being forced to sit out the rest of the year.
The boys gave me stick but now they’re checking it all out for themselves
An innocuous turn on Cove Rangers’ new astroturf pitch in a friendly caused ACL damage to his knee.
He had played second f iddle to Scott McKenna most of last term but the youngster’s hamstring injury against Rangers would have given Reynolds a window of opportunity.
He said: “I was never a fan of astroturf pitches but this has definitely put me off them for life.
“I was excited about the season ahead. I sat down for a chat with the gaffer and he told me I was definitely part of his plans.
“He wanted me to play more than I’d done last season. McKenna went in last season and was brilliant. He deserved to play but there were times when I stepped in at the end of the campaign for big games like Celtic so I still feel like I played my part.
“The manager understood I wanted to play more and I believe I’d have got more game time this year. The squad was depleted and big McKenna is now injured.
“The manager likes having me there because he knows he can trust me,.
“It’s really disappointing but I just have to get on with it.”