Speaking to the Glasgow Times, former Rangers midfielder Kyle Hutton has explained his surprise decision to join Lowland League club East Kilbride FC.
The 29-year-old played for the Gers between 2010 and 2015, racking up 70 appearances in all competitions.
Most of his outings were in the lower leagues of Scottish football, but he did make a couple of Champions League appearances, while he also featured in a solitary Europa League match for the Light Blues.
After leaving Ibrox he represented Queen of the South, St Mirren and Airdrieonians, before spending three years at League One club Dumbarton.
Hutton earned the Fans’ Player of the Year award there last season but left at the end of his contract and made the surprise choice to drop out of the SPFL by signing for East Kilbride earlier this month.
“There was that feeling of going for a title again and going out every week knowing you need to win to win a title,” he told the Glasgow Times. “At Dumbarton, it was mostly about staying in the league and if you get to the play-offs it is a bonus.”
“Coming towards the end of my career, I wanted to have that competitive feeling back again. Obviously it is a contrast between Rangers and East Kilbride but it is the same idea.
“I had that instilled in me from a young age at Rangers and now, albeit at a smaller scale, I have the chance to go and experience that again and have that pressure again. That swayed me to sign here.”
Hutton is one of a number of high-profile recent recruits at Kilby, with former Livingston and Partick Thistle star, Chris Erskine, and ex-Dunfermline Athletic skipper, Paul Paton, both arriving at K-Park earlier in the summer.
Northern Irish goalkeeper Conor Brennan also joined the ex-Ger in making the switch from Dumbarton to EK.
When the season eventually begins, Hutton will be working under Rangers legend Ian Durrant, who is part of the new coaching setup at the Lowland League club, with Kilby surely set to mount a real challenge for the title.
