Innes happy to be a home loving player

Nov 6 2008 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

CHRIS Innes could have been lining up against David Beckham this season in the MLS after receiving a bumper offer to join New York Red Bulls.

Instead he has forged a thou shalt not pass ethos with skipper James McPake at the heart of the Livingston defence.

Innes admitted to the Courier the chance to pull on the shirt of his hometown club and his reluctance to uproot his young family convinced him to turn his back on the glamour move.

He said: “I was very close to making the switch and the offer of a four year deal was there to join the Red Bulls.

“It was a very tempting offer but it was too big a change for my family as my wife and I had just had a second child.

“So we had to decide whether to take a chance on making the big move or stay closer to home and look at it again in a few years time.

“I’ve signed for two years here at Livingston and I’d like to stay at the club as long as I’m performing and the team is succeeding.

“We’ll see what happens and time will tell as I’ve kept my contacts over there.”

Innes is a hometown hero who has come good and a long way from making his football name in the junior ranks to being a captain in the Scottish Cup final.

“I grew up in Livingston and was 21 years here before I left and my football career actually began in the county with Blackburn in the junior leagues.

“I’m a local lad and my main memory of playing with Blackburn are the rough challenges,” he joked.

“No seriously I’ve a lot of good memories and I played with a lot of good players there.

“I learned a lot and how to handle myself and it certainly toughened me up and I’ve a lot to thank the people at Blackburn for.

“I played there for a year and half and I found it quite easy.

“Stenhousemuir took me on trial and after a match the manager Terry Christie asked me if id like to join.

“I was at university at the time and it was better than working so I went for it and after another 18 months there I went for a week’s trial at Kilmarnock under Bobby Williamson.

“After three days he offered me a three year deal and I made the leap from the Second Division to the Premier League.”

Last season Livingston had the unwanted statistic of one of the league’s worst defensive records but this season Innes has helped shore the Lions up and has cemented a berth alongside skipper James McPake.

The 32 year old admits he is loving life playing at Almondvale and is confident there is more than enough quality in the dressing room to secure promotion.

“It has been great to be at a club with a bit of stability. I’ve been welcomed with open arms by the players and the staff and that's made the move easy.

“To be fair the first year was always going to be one of consolidation and it is great to be doing so well at this stage.

“But that shows what football is all about and you can be surprised at any time.

“I don’t see why we can’t go up as there is no reason why we can’t although I would err on the side of caution so we aren’t so despondent if we don’t.

“All we are doing is taking it game by game and we’ll see where we end up at the end of the season.”

The Lions roared back to form on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Morton and Innes reckons that was always going to happen and nobody at the club was panicking after slipping off top spot.

He continued: “I always had every faith in the team that we’d turn the corner. I think the fans were a bit disgruntled with our recent results but to be fair we could have got points from the games.

“The Clyde game was a shambles and should never have been played. The game against St Johnstone was a scrappy game with no real quality and could have gone either way.

“And the Queen of the South game was a complete one-off.

“Last Saturday showed the level of commitment in the squad and it was important three points.

“We talked about it at half-time and I said to (goalscorer) Callum Elliot it may take something special to win the game and the big man stuck away a wonder goal.

“I hope Callum stays at the club as long as possible.

“Looking at his performances here and what he contributes to the team you can see how important a player for us he has become but that is up to other people.

“I travel in from Edinburgh with Callum every day and as far as he is concerned he is delighted to be back playing regularly and to the standard he knows he is capable of.”

The form of youth team graduates Murray Davidson and Leigh Griffiths has been a massive bonus for Livi this season and Innes admits to being wowed by the talent packed youth team at Almondvale.

“The biggest thing for me has been to see that level and quality of the young players here at the club.

“Murray Davidson, Leigh Griffiths, Mark Torrance, Gordon Smith and even some of the younger boys who are just starting to train with the first team are a credit to the scouting system and coaches here at the club.”

Innes also had a few words for former Gretna owner Brookes Mileson who sadly passed away this week.

The colourful chairman was a breath of fresh air for Scottish football but Innes jokes he smoked a few too many cigarettes.

Innes was Gretna’s skipper when the club were promoted to the SPL and he led the side out at Hampden when they came within a whisker of lifting the Scottish Cup.

Innes added: “He was a very eccentric man and a man of great passion.

“There was a lot of confusion and misunderstanding towards the end of his time at Gretna but I think he was always a man who was trying to do the right thing.

“I’ll always have fond memories of him even though he smoked too much and I’m very sad to hear the news.

“The proudest moment of my career was when I captained Gretna and led them out at Hampden in the Scottish Cup final.

“We came so close to lifting the cup and that would be the highlight in most players careers.”