Ready to make his Mark on Ayr all over again
There will be more than one striker named Shankland on the pitch when Auchinleck Talbot host Ayr United.
The Honest Men’s Lawrence has scored 28 times this season to leave Ian McCall’s side three points behind Championship leaders Ross County with a game in hand.
But Talbot’s Mark has also made an impact on Saturday’s visitors.
He became the youngest player in their history eight years ago, but an acrimonious departure has him all fired up for revenge at Beechwood Park.
“I made my debut on the last day of the season at Brechin when I was still 15,” Shankland revealed.
“When that happens at that age, you think it’s all going to be plain sailing.
“But I didn’t make as many appearances as I’d hoped, and it didn’t end the way I wanted it to, either.
“Of course, you realise as you grow up that things don’t always work out the way you’d have liked.
“It was partly my fault – but partly not.
“My contract was due to run out at Somerset Park in 2015. A few clubs were interested in me, and Birmingham City were one of them.
“I wanted to leave but, because I was under 23, there was a development fee involved.
“Robbie Crawford, who’s still an Ayr player, was also supposed to go.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of it all, but the clubs couldn’t agree compensation, and Ayr held on to my registration.
“I was really annoyed. I made it clear that I wanted to go down south.
“I don’t think it was something anyone would have turned down. It was very frustrating.”
That dispute led to Mark playing for three years for nothing.
“Ayr continued to hold my registration until I turned 23, six months ago,” he said.
“I had left them and signed for Auchinleck but, in the circumstances, I had to play as an amateur for three years.
“I was desperate just to play, so I did it for the love of the game and made ends meet by labouring on a building site.
“That was a difficult time because no one is going to pay the money they were looking for to sign me when I was playing non-league football.
“So I can’t understand why they didn’t let me go.
“But I don’t hold any grudges. In some ways, it was good that it happened to me at that age because some players struggle when they’re let go further down the line after years of being a full-timer.
“I’ve no hard feelings – even though that ‘What if?’ is always at the back of my mind.”