Mark Stafford’s six year stay at Linfield will come to an end when the current season finishes this Saturday and it couldn’t end in any better way for the former Ballinamallard captain who will leave with a league and cup double.

The Blues had secured the Irish Cup with victory over Larne last Friday night and they followed it up by sealing the Gibson Cup for a third year in a row with the 1-1 draw against Coleraine at the Showgrounds on Tuesday night.

Stafford has been one of manager David Healy’s trusted lieutenants in the league run in and he was again at the heart of defence as Linfield got the point required at the Showgrounds to take them over the line.

With a number of players including Stafford moving on as the club becomes full time, the big defender says that they were determined to finish on a high.

“The league is the big one at Linfield, it was the main one, and we wanted to try and win it for the group because obviously there is going to be a lot of changes and there is people moving on so it was the last title we were going to be fighting for together for a few of us.

“We wanted to leave on a high and for me to be playing in all the split games against the likes of Larne, Glentoran, Crusaders and Coleraine; it meant a lot to me that the manager trusted me in those big games. To add that to the cup is brilliant,” he said.

Coleraine needed to win to take the title chase to the last day and Stafford admits that they were under pressure at times as Coleraine went looking for a winner.

“My own performance in the first half wasn’t very good; there was a lot of nerves and stuff and conditions were tricky. They pressed us very high and put balls into the corners and it was a real dogfight.

“In the second half they then brought on Eoin Bradley and they had the long throws from Aaron Canning and you just have to dig in and be mentally strong and just try and deal with each ball as it comes. To be fair to them they gave us some rattle but we got over the line,” he stated.

That pressure though he reveals is something that you have to deal with all the time at a club like Linfield.

“You learn a lot about yourself because there is a lot of pressure, it is not just a game of football, sometimes there is a lot of pressure - if you don’t get a good result people are asking questions and all the eyes are on the club to see how you react and respond.

“In my whole time up there we’ve always responded and stuck together and some of the performances the boys produced under pressure at times is unbelievable.

“That is just the standard that is expected there.”

The defender did not feature in the Irish Cup final but knew for some time that he would play against Coleraine and he was delighted to have contributed in the way he did at the business end of the season.

“The manager told me that I wouldn’t be playing in the cup semi-final and that he would see what happens in the final but he told me before the semi-final that I would be playing against Coleraine.

“It was still hard to accept because I wanted to play but I had to think of the bigger picture and I really wanted that league medal.

“It was great to have contributed, especially during the split games, and that’s what you want, you don’t want to be up there to make up the numbers,” he added.

Stafford joined Linfield to win medals and he achieved that goal as he will leave the club having won four league titles, two Irish Cups, a League Cup and a County Antrim Shield.

And he said that a desire to prove that he was good enough to play at that level drove him on.

“I have had doubters my whole career; even when I was at Ballinamallard breaking into the first team and then being made captain there were people who were doubting whether I should have got it.

“Then you had people saying that I only had one good season in the Irish Premiership and that Linfield should be signing more experienced players and winners and people also said that Linfield hadn’t won a league in so many years so it wasn’t the right move for me but all that just drove me on to prove them wrong. I wanted to prove that I was good enough to play at that level for a club like that - and that will be for other people to judge - but I’m happy with my lot from up there. I couldn’t have hoped for much more,” he added.

During that time he also became a firm favourite with the Linfield faithful and that relationship with the fans is something that mean a lot to him.

“I don’t know why but they just took me in as one of their own from the very start and I just tried to give them everything I could on the pitch every time I played and they respected me and supported me for it. It is very humbling,” he commented.

So, one door is about to shut but another one will open for Stafford who feels he still has a couple of years in the top flight in him. Before that though he will have an operation on his knee.

“I’m going for an operation on my knee at the start of June and hopefully then I will be fit to play on for another couple of years. I still think I have a bit to offer,” he concluded.