Little rules out return home

The former Ballinamallard youth player spent eight years at Ibrox and had become a first team regular in recent seasons, but he was left to search for a new club when manager Ally McCoist informed him they were not going to extend his contract. Since the end of the season Andy has been weighing up his options, and although he admits there was interest from Linfield, he is determined to remain in full time football.

“I think you have to play professionally as long as you possibly can,” he said. “If I ever did come back later in my career I had always thought of maybe Linfield as a club and there was interest from them. I will maybe have a decision on my hands to choose between playing for Linfield or Ballinamallard at some stage, but for now I would like to stay playing professionally. Right from the day I left Rangers I have had bits of interest from various clubs from Scotland, as that is where people maybe have heard of me, and some from far away like America. I have had a couple of proper offers on the table, but the English clubs are not long finished their season so I might just have to be patient and wait a bit longer. I am still looking at options. I’m going to have a couple of weeks at home in Enniskillen now and keep myself fit and see what offers come my way. There are a lot of players out of contract but I will be doing everything to make sure I am fit and ready to go whenever I get a concrete offer I’m happy with.” Andy was Rangers’ top scorer in their League Two campaign with 22 goals, and although he only found the net five times from 21 appearances last season he was still hopeful that he had done enough to earn another contract at the club.

“Rangers are a special club and I was gutted,” he admitted. “Through the season I had spoken to the manager a couple of times and I was fairly sure I would be staying at the club and there would be a new contract coming my way, but things changed towards the end of the season. There wasn’t as much talk and the gaffer said that he would speak to me at the end of the season. I went in on the Tuesday after the season and had a meeting with him. We sat down face to face and he said unfortunately the club couldn’t offer me a new contract. He said he would like to keep me at the club but with the budget and finances the way they are he had to think who he really needed and that was it for me. If you are anywhere for eight years it’s a long time and you make a lot of friends. You get used to the city, and I enjoyed the city and the club. I was disappointed to leave but at the same time it’s a fresh start and that is the way I am trying to look at. I got a nice response from the fans and it was nice to know that they were full of support for me. Everyone that I have spoken to and everyone that has sent messages to me have said they were disappointed to see me go, but unfortunately that doesn’t get me a new contract!” Despite ending his Rangers’ career on a disappointing note Andy can look back on a spell with plenty of highlights, topped by scoring against Celtic in an Old Firm derby. “There is no better thing you can do as a Rangers player,” he said recalling his Ibrox strike. “Also, to be the club’s top scorer the season before last was something I thought I would never do. It took me a long time to get into the squad and when the big players left I was delighted that I took my chance and winning that top goal scorer award is something I will always remember.” When Andy gets his club career sorted out his next target is a return to the International squad. He came close to making the current end of season tour to South America with Northern Ireland, and although Michael O’Neill did not select him in the end, Andy is hopeful of forcing his way back into contention. “I was in a provisional squad for the tour that is on at the minute and I did speak to the manager last week about being out of contract,” he said. “Although I wasn’t in the squad in the end it was nice that I am still in his thoughts. He understands that I need to get a club sorted and then I can try to maybe get my way back into the Northern Ireland squad. It is disappointing when I’m not involved. A lot of the time I seem to be the spare man in the standby list and if I get my move I would love to get back involved, but I have to put club before country in some ways. Your club is your job and your livelihood and I think until I am settled and playing regularly I need to think about that first.”