Ayr Utd striker Gareth Wardlaw on revenge mission

Sep 30 2011 by Stuart Wilson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

GARETH Wardlaw felt like quitting football when St Mirren dumped him on the scrapheap.

Now he’s ready to settle the score – and help Ayr to Hampden.

Wardlaw was in dreamland when he scored the goal that kept the Buddies in the SPL.

But his world fell apart when Saints boss Danny Lennon showed him the door after just 12 months in the top flight.

And Gaz is now desperate to repay Ayr after they rescued him from his lowest moment in the game.

He said: “I loved my time at St Mirren and wouldn’t say a bad word against the club.

“But it definitely ended on a sour note and being released was my worst experience in football.

“I picked up a hernia last November and played through it because we had a heavy schedule of games at Christmas time.

“Eventually I couldn’t even train, but I was told not to worry about my future at the club and that I’d get a new deal sorted once we were safe from relegation.

“So when I was called in and told the deal was no longer on the table, it was absolutely devastating.

“I got home from training that day and I was so distraught that my wife thought someone had died.

“I could probably have chucked football at that moment. I just didn’t see the point.”

But Wardlaw, who had given up his job to go full time with Saints, was a man in demand during the summer as Ayr beat Falkirk to land his siganture.

Now he’s loving life at Ayr second time around – and is ready to lead The Honest Men to the League Cup semis.

Gaz, 32, said: “It would be amazing to go back to St Mirren and prove a wee point.

“I think the reaction their fans gave me during the pre-season game at Somerset also proved how well I’d done up there.

“I’m not bitter about how it ended and I’m actually pleased with how things worked out because it gave me the chance to come back to Ayr.

“I’ve got a new job as a supervisor at a green energy company and everyone knows how much I love playing for Ayr, so it’s been a great move for me and my family.

“But I can’t deny that I’d love to go back there and score the goal that sends us through.”