Former Clachnacuddin, Caledonian and Inverness Thistle player Peter Corbett hangs up coaching boots after running Merkinch Football Academy for 33 years
Peter Corbett has hung up his coaching boots for the last time after stepping away from Merkinch Football Academy after 33 years.
Back in 1991, Corbett began helping then-Merkinch Primary School head teacher Trish Hossack on the touchline, and that grew into the academy which ran both primary school and street football teams.
Hundreds of youngsters have passed through the club over the decades, but Corbett has decided that enough is enough.
He has handed over the reins to Michael Moffat, and the 71-year-old says it is something of a relief to have stepped away.
“There’s just a lot going on now with organising youth football,” Corbett explained.
“It’s a lot of work. To get coaches you have to get disclosure and coaching qualifications and first aid, then you’ve got your training sessions every Saturday and then midweek we were doing secondary school football too for three hours on a Wednesday night.
“I had been there so long, and I had Michael who wanted to take it on after being with us for a few years, so I knew it was going into safe hands.
“To be honest, I was looking to step back for a few years but I didn’t have faith in leaving it without handing it over to someone.
“All the boys wanted to play football every year, so I felt obliged to keep going, but I’m quite happy to hand it over to Michael.
“It wasn’t difficult once I found Michael, but it was difficult to step away before because I had nobody to take it on and I didn’t want the boys to be left without football.
“33 years is not a bad shift, and there always comes a time for other people to come along and push them into action.
“I’m glad that this has happened, and I’m looking forward to not having to be in certain places at certain times. I can do it when I want to instead.
“The time just goes by to be honest, you don’t think about it that much, you just carry on.
“Between that I was doing disability football too with Highland United, but Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s Community Trust have taken that on board, which has enabled me to step back a bit from that as well.”
After he stopped playing, he would manage Caledonian and Clachnacuddin, and his passion for Merkinch in particular shines through.
Despite his accolades as a player, though, he never took a win-at-all-costs approach with youth football although some of his former players have gone on to make careers for themselves in the game.
Instead, his priority was on building good people through the Merkinch Football Academy.
“There have been so many highlights over the years,” Corbett reflected.
“Merkinch has done pretty well in the Primary League and the Street Leagues, they have won trophies, but to be honest the main highlight for me is seeing these boys coming through.
“Football is not just about the sport – it’s about trying to teach them life skills and how to have a bit of teamwork and discipline.
“I see boys now from 30 years ago and meet them, and I can see they’ve done well for themselves which is nice to see.
“That’s the biggest reward for me, not winning trophies but seeing them all develop into nice, young people.
“A few boys have gone on to play for Clach. Troy Cooper is playing for Clach right now, so is Rorie Macleod, and they both played for Merkinch. We’ve had other ones like Conor MacPhee too.
“Some just fall away from football after they get a bit older, which happens, but quite a few have progressed into the Clach development squad over the years too.
“It was nice to see the comments that some of these boys put on Facebook, because some of them were from years and years ago.
“You don’t do it for that appreciation, you just carry on doing it. If you’re in it for appreciation you will be sorely disappointed, but it is nice when it comes along.
“It’s really just great to see these boys, and I see some of them in the pub now, or on the street or at matches. We still get on well speaking to each other that way.”
Corbett’s passion for football is clear, and he can still be seen standings at the sidelines at Grant Street Park.
Now, though, he finds himself without an involved role in football for the first time since he was a child himself, playing for Merkinch Primary School.
That does beg the question of what Corbett will do next, to which he added: “I really don’t know. I have a choice now, and that’s more what this is about.
“I’m still working three days-a-week with Merkinch Partnership to try and get young people from Merkinch into work, which is a good, rewarding job.
“I’ll probably just relax a bit other than that. I’m sure I will still go to football, but at my own times – although it might be tough to keep me away!
“Football has always been there. I’ve been involved with Merkinch not just through football, but as a councillor here too, so I’ve always tried to help young people one way or the other – including through football.
“I just tried to teach them how to be good people.”