New Morton defender Kirk Broadfoot says he was desperate to return to a full-time environment after revealing the difficulties he experienced during his year with Open Goal Broomhill.
The 38-year-old says he’s finding life at Cappielow a lot better than he did while playing part-time with the Lowland League outfit last term.
The former Rangers defender didn’t hold back when asked about the YouTube-backed project he signed up for this time last year, claiming that there was a lack of professionalism, including drinking on the team bus after games being a regular occurrence.
Broadfoot told our sister title the Greenock Telegraph: “I actually found it more difficult going part-time than I did coming back into a full-time environment.
“When you’re part-time, you’re spending a lot of time waiting and sitting about.
"There’s a lot of dead time that you find yourself needing to fill.
“That’s why I kept on training myself every morning. It wasn’t just for a physical aspect, it also made me feel better mentally that way.
“I’m not going to lie, I found the whole Open Goal project tougher than I thought.
“I found the lack of professionalism really tough, things like drinking on the bus after games and things like that, that’s not for me.
“I just found that people were doing it as a hobby, not as a job and that was difficult especially after working in the way I have for so many years in a professional set-up.
“Boys were just messing about to be honest, I didn’t like it to be honest.
"But at the end of the day I can understand it, they’ve worked all week and like for many people football is their release.
“That just wasn’t for me, I like the seriousness behind it, I feel like I thrive and become a better player when you need to win football matches and I hope I can do my bit here to help Morton do that.”
This is Broadfoot's 24th pre-season and he admits it doesn’t get any easier but still relishes the challenge.
He said: “My first session on Monday was tough, but it’s all part and parcel of being a footballer.
“You’ve just got to enjoy it. That’s something I keep harping on to the boys here about, or even at other teams I’ve been at.
“People pay to go to the gym or a leisure centre and keep fit, so don’t moan about it.
“You’re getting paid to get fit, be fit and run about.
"Just get on with it because a lot of people, especially in the west of Scotland, would kill for a job like ours.”
