Sean Winter hopes he is remembered as an East Kilbride legend, after retiring from the game at 34.
But the way he left K-Park, 11 goals shy of 100 at Lowland League level, still leaves a sour taste for the striker.
Winter says a combination of work commitments, family life and “his body not doing what he wants to” means the time is right.
The ex-Stranraer star said: “Retiring is something I’d been thinking about for a couple of years, and not something I took lightly.
“A big thing for me was my fitness. You’re coming up against these young boys who are fit and can run all day, and I didn’t feel that I was performing to the levels that I know I can, and it was frustrating.
“My mind wanted to do things that my body couldn’t do any more, and I just felt the time was right. I have a wife and two kids who are at an age where I really want to be starting to spend as much time with them as I can.
“At my work as well, I’m a manager at Arnold Clark, my responsibility in the last couple of years has gone up 10 times what it was pre-Covid.
“I just felt the time was right. I’m young enough and I’m still able-bodied enough to do a lot of things that I want to do, away from football.”
Winter, who was loyal to the clubs he played with, started out in the Juniors with Ayrshire side Arthurlie before stepping up to senior football at Stranraer in 2010. He spent five years at Stair Park before a move to the Lowland League beckoned in 2015.
During a six-year stint with his hometown club, Winter helped the club to two Lowland League title, scored in the vital win over Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale that earned their famous Scottish Cup clash with Celtic - a game he missed himself due to a family holiday in Australia - and won seven cup competitions.
As his time at K-Park neared its end, a loan move to West of Scotland League side St Anthony's came during the pandemic in 2020. A few appearances followed before his EK exit was confirmed with his final season coming at Cumbernauld Colts.
Winter spent six years at EK, playing under six different managers. But his time came to an end under Stevie Aitken.
Typically, he scored in a 2-0 win for Colts against Kilby in his first match against his old side in September 2021.
But he hopes he has a lasting legacy at K-Park.
He added: “I hope I’m remembered as a legend at East Kilbride.
“When I first sat down with the owners and I had left Stranraer – I was only 26, going on 27 and had offers to stay in League One or League Two – I really bought into the whole idea of getting East Kilbride up.
“Everybody mistook us for EK Thistle, we didn’t have a clear identity, but we got a run in the Scottish Cup and ended up getting Celtic, which brought in massive amounts of money for the club and definitely put us on the map.
“I certainly think I helped give the club their identity.
“Myself and [ex-captain] Barry Russell took the risk, and if I’m 100 per cent honest, I don’t think EK would be in the same place that they are just now, attracting the players that they’ve attracted, if we didn’t.
“I think I left my mark, I think I’m still their record goal-scorer, and can look back with pride.
“But the way it finished at EK... I didn’t want to leave, but felt that I was kind of edged out a wee bit, and didn’t really get a fair crack of the whip.
“I was desperate to get 100 goals for East Kilbride. I could probably have retired then.
“In the first four seasons I had racked up about 80 goals, in my second-last season I got nine, and if I had managed more game-time I think I would have done it.
“I wanted a full season at Cumbernauld Colts to show that I’ve still got something to offer, to show that I wasn’t on my way out.”
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