Zach Hemming may have been Kilmarnock’s No 1 all season, but he says his No 1 fan was his girlfriend.
The on-loan Middlesbrough goalkeeper heaped praise on his other half Caitlin and reckons her support was the reason he had such an impressive season at Rugby Park.
Caitlin travelled up and down Scotland watching her man play all season, missing just three games due to giving birth to their second child Louie last month.
But before that she’d take their two-year-old Riven to watch dad Zach play every week, and the full family, including new-born Louie watched Killie win the league against Arbroath.
Speaking exclusively to the Kilmarnock Standard, proud Hemming said: “She is more of a Killie fan than she is my missus!
“It’s good that she’s like that though, knowing she’s settled was ideal for me, if she wasn’t happy then it would be playing on my mind all the time.
“I think for her to have settled as well as she did it made things better.”
Caitlin gave birth to Louie just a couple of days before Killie were due to play their crucial clash in Inverness last month, but she made him head to the Highlands to play rather than stay with her.
Hemming said: “She forced me back playing! I offered to stay around and be there, but she told me to go play and she watched.
“She then brought the little one up to watch the Arbroath game, the full family was there so I loved having that support.
“She’s my biggest supporter to be honest, before she gave birth she didn’t miss a game.
“She travelled to Inverness, Arbroath, I have to give her so much credit and respect for coming to watch me when she could easily be watching it on the telly.
“I don’t say it enough, but she was a big part of this as well by making me happy off the pitch which made things easier on the pitch.
“I knew that she was there watching, it made everything better.”
Hemming admits it was a tough decision to move up to Scotland meaning he’d have to up-root his family – but he says it paid off.
He scooped both the club’s Young Player of the Year Award and also the KFCSA’s version.
“I loved everything about it here, the fans singing my name all the time! He laughed.
“Everywhere I’ve been on my loan spells I’ve got on with the fans, it’s something I like to do because I’d love players to do that with my kids when they’re older.
“My missus always said she wanted to be like that, and she’s part of the Killie family and she says she’d love to come back.
“She’s gutted we are going back home, if we come back next season then so be it, but if not I have loved my time here, the fans have made it special for me.”
He added: “I am delighted about the awards, that’s a couple of different awards I won so I’m happy with that.
“At such a young age I came up here feeling a bit nervous, I had to bring the family up here, my young kid, it was a lot to take on and think about.
“But as soon as I got in that changing room my life became easy, it’s so good when you create a bond with a team and enjoy football.
“I am delighted for myself and my family how it’s turned out this season.
“It hasn’t been easy for the family, moving up here and the kids sometimes not seeing family for a while.
“But sometimes you just have to do what you need to do, full respect to the family for being so supportive and helping me get over the line.”
Hemming admits he will never forget winning his first ever league title.
He joked: “I don’t know who was quicker... me getting up to celebrate or Blair getting his top off!
“But seriously when it gets to 70 minutes or so you wonder if you will get it back or not.
“The lads dug deep, they gave everything they had and we got the win.
“I will never forget that night – there was some good celebrations after that’s all I can say!
“It will live long in the memory, it’s my first ever medal.
“A lot of players go through their career without winning a league, so do it early on it’s really special.”
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