Mark Campbell insists it’s the right time to step away from the game after calling time on a remarkable 27-year stint at Blackburn United.First signed as a player during the 1995-96 campaign and appointed manager a decade later, the former striker has been the face of the club for nearly three decades.The stats are remarkable: 353 games as a player and 561 as a manager.He leaves with the club having secured a fifth straight season in the sixth tier of Scottish senior football, a level he admits he could never have imagined for the club when he first joined.Speaking to the Courier, Campbell reflected on his time with Blackburn United: “It’s been some shift, eh?
I’ve loved it, it’s been wonderful to be with such a great club for so long but it’s the right time to step away.“Saturdays are going to be a wee bit different now, I guess.
I’m going to become a grandad in September, which I’m really looking forward to, and I think life will probably be a bit more relaxed and less stressful now.“I can do what I want, when I want a bit more now and go travelling with my wife and concentrate on my work a bit more.“You’d often get burned out because you’d be working then spending hours either at training or, especially in pre-season, on the phone talking to players and trying to get stuff sorted behind the scenes.“It was hard work at times, but I wouldn’t have changed anything.
It’s been brilliant and to see the progress the club has made is a huge testament to everyone involved.”He added: “It’s been a memorable time of my life.
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