Inverness Caledonian Thistle former defender looking to help Brechin City win Highland League and promotion back to SPFL four years after being relegated
BRAD McKay says Brechin City want to meet the expectations on them to win the Highland League and earn promotion back to the SPFL after the club were relegated four years ago.
The former Inverness Caledonian Thistle defender joined the Hedgemen this season and was in the team which beat Brora Rangers 2-0 on Saturday to move three points clear at the top with six matches remaining.
Brechin will look to give themselves the opportunity of winning promotion to League Two and back to the SPFL for the first time since being relegated in 2021 when they lost the play-off final to Kelty Hearts.
In their three previous seasons in the Highland League, they have only managed to win the title once, which was in the 2022-23 campaign, but lost in the League Two play-off semi final to Spartans that season.
Last season, they finished second to Buckie Thistle on goal difference with both teams finishing on 81 points.
McKay says being a former SPFL team, there has always been pressure on Brechin City to not only win the Highland League every season, but win promotion back to League Two as soon as possible.
But he says the Highland League or Lowland League champions always have to overcome an extra obstacle compared to the team that finishes bottom of League Two, which makes that challenge tough.
However, he believes that Brechin City have what it takes to get back to the SPFL this season.
He said: “Brechin City probably have similar circumstances to Falkirk who were in League One for five years before they were promoted to the Championship last season.
“They had been there for sometime and everyone said c’mon, they shouldn’t be there.
“But it is not easy to win a league title and then face a play-off.
“It is stacked against anyone in the leagues below to go through the play-offs and then take on anyone who finishes bottom of League Two.
“But there is every chance, whoever finishes top of the Highland league, that they can get promoted.”
McKay spent five seasons at Caley Thistle between 2016 and 2021, playing for the club in the Premiership and Championship.
Formerly playing for Hearts, St Johnstone and Dunfermline Athletic, after leaving Inverness, Mckay signed for Falkirk in 2021 and spent three seasons with the club before being released last season.
He then decided to make the move into part-time football with Brechin City this season, inspired with the chance to link up with Kevin McHattie, who also previously played for Inverness between 2019 and 2021, before moving to Brechin City.
Speaking about his move to Brechin, McKay said: “This is my transition period to playing part-time.
“I have known Kevin for about 15 years and have been teammates with him previously at other clubs.
“He spoke about the fantastic time he has had at Brechin and when the opportunity came to join up with him here I took it.
“A shout out also has to go out to former manager Patrick Cregg as he played a big part in getting me here, as well as the chairman, and I have enjoyed my time here.”
Mckay knew about the quality of the Highland League during his time at Inverness Caledonian Thistle as well as on Scottish Cup duty with Falkirk.
He says Saturday’s 2-0 win at Brora Rangers showed the tough test Brechin City have had to face to try and win the title.
He says they are determined to win and earn promotion, knowing how much it would mean to the club.
He said: “It would be massive. The following Brechin brought up to Brora was two or three full buses.
“It would mean everything to the town and the club. You can see it when we play at home as well. As well as it did for Brora Rangers, where it is a big game and a real good one for the league. These were two good teams with quality players and we came out on top.”
“I knew what to expect in the Highland League from when I played for Inverness Caledonian Thistle during pre-season against these teams.
“I also have played against Wick Academy for Falkirk in the Scottish Cup when we won 6-0 and I scored a goal. It has been a journey.”
Brechin City have overcome a tough period to move back top of the Highland League. They sacked former manager Patrick Cregg at the beginning of the month after just one win in five matches.
Ray Mackinnon was appointed as caretaker manager and they managed to get back to the top of the table after their 2-0 win against Brora Rangers on Saturday.
McKay said it was a terrific result against Brora Rangers, who featured former Inverness Caledonian Thistle players such as Cammy Mackay, Shane Sutherland and Wallace Duffy.
Speaking about the win on Saturday, McKay said: “We came up here knowing that they have scored goals and putting teams to the sword. We knew what we were up against.
“It was a good battle in the first half and we got the two goals and we handed over the task to them to see if they could break us down and the answer was no.
“The whole team just grafted and they pinned us back at times and we had to stand up to it which we did.
“They had the wind in the first half and we went in two goals up. The first one was a bit of luck, it was a tackle and went into the goal.
“It feels like the luck we have not been having in the last few months and things have been going against us.
“We had that slice of luck we have deserved in the past few months, the second goal was brilliant. We could have done better in the second half, but at half time we made sure we went out to make sure the job was done.”