Albury Hotspurs welcome Scottish recruit Jack McGiffen

McGiffen, 21, left behind snow and sub-zero temperatures in Glasgow when he landed on the Border this week as one of the Albury-Wodonga Football Association's most exciting new faces.

That's quite a contrast from the predicted top of 34C on Sunday when Hotspurs kick-start their Division 1 campaign against treble winners Albury United.

"I'm very excited and I can't wait to get started," McGiffen smiled.

"It was -2C when I left, snowing, and I came straight into 32C at training, so it's definitely a massive change but I'll acclimatise to that.

"I can't thank Albury Hotspurs enough.

"I've been given a place to live and everything I wanted.

"The club's so welcoming, I've started getting to know the guys and how they play, so it's just going to level-up from there."

McGiffen's preferred position is left wing but he can also operate wide on the right or in central midfield.

Having grown up in Paisley and started his junior career at Harmony Row before moving on to Johnstone Burgh, McGiffen played most recently in the West of Scotland League for Yoker Athletic.

One of his former coaches there, Ruairdh McInnes, was in Albury before Christmas delivering coaching sessions as part of Hotspurs' partnership with Celtic and from there, McGiffen's journey started to be mapped out.

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"I've always wanted to come to Australia," he said.

"I've got a lot of friends who have come here to work and they all loved it."

Hotspurs president Brad Howard was delighted to welcome McGiffen and hopes his signing marks the start of a new chapter for the club.

"We're rapt because it's been a long process," Howard said.

"It's something we've been talking about for some time.

"We're glad he's here and he really did pack up his life and come over here in a short amount of time.

"We hope it's a long-term plan.

"We've got him for this year and we're hoping he falls in love with the region and wants to stay.

"It's something we'd be looking at for the future, perhaps every year, to supplement our senior squads.

"Instead of raiding our competitors, calling on players to switch clubs, we'd like to do our own recruiting and this seems to be a really good avenue for both parties."

Hotspurs' women also host Albury United on Sunday after they started the season with a 4-0 win over Diamonds in midweek.

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