Some of Steven Milne’s biggest footballing highs and lows have involved Rangers and he admits a win over the Glasgow side next Monday for Arbroath at Gayfield would be the perfect way to finish as a pro.
“Savo” has decided to hang up his boots following a long career that has seen him play for Dundee, Forfar, Plymouth Argyle, Ross County and St Johnstone, as well as the Red Lichties, to become a police officer.
The 33-year-old has not featured much for Paul Sheerin’s League One outfit recently and while Milne isn’t expecting sentiment to play a part in his manager’s team selection against the runaway table-toppers, the veteran striker is keeping his fingers crossed that he will be involved and hopefully end his career on a high.
He said: “I will be hanging up the boots after the Rangers match as I will be starting a new job at the end of the month. It wasn’t really a difficult decision as I had applied a long time ago and I was just waiting to hear when I would start. It has come a bit sooner than I expected but to be honest, I haven’t really been enjoying this season.
“It will obviously be hard to say goodbye to football but it is something you know will happen one day. I have had some great times in the game and was honoured to play for all the sides I turned out for, especially Dundee and St Johnstone in the SPL.
“There were loads of highlights along the way including appearing in the 2003 Scottish Cup final for Dundee against Rangers and scoring two goals against the same opponents for Saints in the League Cup quarter-final at Ibrox.
“Probably my proudest moment, though, was scoring two goals to help St Johnstone gain promotion to the SPL when we beat Morton 3-1 at McDiarmid Park.
“However, I had great times at all my clubs including right at the start of my career when I was on loan at Forfar. So I have a lot of good memories to tell the kids about when they are older.”
Milne’s present manager and former St Johnstone team-mate Sheerin paid tribute to the striker and did not rule out handing him the opportunity to go out with a bang against Rangers.
The Gayfield gaffer said: “We knew when Steven came here in the summer that he would be starting his new career at some point. We thought we would get the full season out of him. However, he has been called in earlier and we wish him well with that.
“He will be a loss to our dressing room as he is a really experienced player. I enjoyed playing alongside Steven at St Johnstone and he would have grabbed a few more goals for us this season but we will move on.
“We have Rangers in our next game and scoring a goal against them would be a great way for Steven to bring the curtain down on his career.”