Former Celtic and Hibs striker Leigh Griffiths is relishing life in Australia after becoming sick of rival supporters "pestering" him.
The Scotland cap rejoined Mandurah City having turned out for the semi-professional side in the WA State League Division 1, where he played twice at the end of 2022 following an ill-fated spell in the Scottish third tier with League One side Falkirk. It marks a dramatic fall from grace for the 32-year-old who was on the books at Celtic when Ange Postecoglou under two years ago, but was quickly shipped out on loan to Dundee by the Australian.
However, Griffiths is delighted to get the chance to leave the Scottish football microscope as he looks to kickstart his career in Oz. in an honest interview, the forward told The Mandurah Mail that he had found it tough to receive constant "stick" from rivals of Celtic and Hibs. He said: "I'm not going to be pestered all the time.
"I'm not going to be having people shout stuff to me in the street - it might happen now and again with some Scots here - but nine times out of 10 I can go to dinner, I can go do stuff and just be a number and not a face anymore. For me that's the most important thing. I loved my time at Celtic, I had eight glorious years there, it was brilliant, but when you play for one half of the city in Edinburgh (Hibs) and one half of the city in Glasgow (Celtic) you're going to have opposition fans that won't like you.
"That's part and parcel (of playing for those clubs) and I've had that for the best part of 12 years now. It's something I got used to, but when you're trying to take your kids out for dinner or walk around the shops and people are videoing you and stuff like that, it's not enjoyable anymore. I can walk around the shops here and I'm just a number, I'm not a 'face'. I'm going to let my football do the talking"
He also hoped to launch his coaching career alongside boss John Baird. He added: "Speaking to John (Baird) there's going to be opportunities to stick into football and coaching. "That's an avenue I want to get into. It's come along quicker than planned but I'm looking forward to it. First and foremost it's about the football opportunity to get back playing, get back to putting a smile on my face."
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