Shane McCabe says that the length of time it was taking his body to recover from games and training has been the main factor behind his decision to call time on his Irish League career.

McCabe has enjoyed a successful career which has included winning a league title with Glentoran as well as the Irish Cup with Glenavon while he has recently been a key figure for Ballinamallard as they secured their Premiership status.

Mallards boss Gavin Dykes made it clear that he would have loved McCabe to stay on for another season but the Belcoo man feels it is the right time to go.

“It is wear and tear on the body and it takes a lot longer to recover,” said McCabe on his reason for stepping back from Irish League football. “There is great facilities at Ballinamallard but we train on the 4G which wouldn’t be good to my body and I haven’t been training as much as I would have liked.

“I played a lot of matches this year but a lot of matches I was struggling towards the 70th or 80th minute with fitness and knocks and I pride myself on being fit and able to get around the pitch. There was just times when I was missing tackles that I knew if I was fit I wouldn’t have missed so it is something I have been thinking about this last couple of months and myself and my wife sat down and had a chat and I made a decision.”

McCabe’s presence and experience was vital throughout last season and Dykes made it a priority to get him to stay on but he had his mind made up.

“Gavin knew it was coming as we spoke a few times about it and he tried to get me to stay on but I think that he has more than enough there to build and push on from this season and I’m sure he’ll get someone to come in and take my place. I’m sure Gavin will be on the phone to meet up for a cup of coffee but at the minute my mind is made up and that’s it for now,” he laughed.

McCabe has enjoyed a long Irish League career with the likes of Dungannon, Glentoran, Portadown, Glenavon and finally the Mallards and he says that he has had some great experiences.

“I have experienced everything there is to experience in the Irish League from being relegated with Glenavon to winning the title with Glentoran. There was an Irish Cup with Glenavon and a League Cup with Glentoran and I think I’ve also suffered defeats in all the finals as well.

“I’ve played in Europe I think seven years in a row and there are stories that you will always remember and maybe stories that you can’t publish!

“I also played under some great managers like Ronnie McFall and Joe McAree; Joe gave me a great insight into what the Irish League was all about and then towards the end Gary Hamilton at Glenavon. I’ve enjoyed some great moments and made some great friends,” he said.

So what next for McCabe?

“I will take a month off to recharge the batteries and spend a bit of time with the family and then I’ll play a bit of Gaelic for the club and see if I can help them going forward.

“Then maybe around October or November I might look at things and see if if can do a bit coaching or whatever. I still want to be involved in some way and if it is not playing then I’m going to have to fill that gap somehow,” he added.