Attitude is a big part of it: Halliday tells of commitment needed at Wick Academy
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Ability alone is not enough for any player aspiring to be part of the Wick Academy squad. Attitude and a willingness to make sacrifices also come into the equation, according to influential midfielder Jack Halliday, and he accepts that it's a step too far for some.
"It might not look it to people on the outside sometimes but it's a massive leap from county league football up to Highland League," the 29-year-old said. "The pace of the game, the physicality of the game, it's all very different – even just the travelling and the commitment that's required.
"Attitude is a big part of it. There are quite a few people out there that are more than capable of playing for Wick Academy or in the Highland League that just aren't willing to put in the commitment, which is fair enough – each to their own. Everyone has their own lives to live.
"It's just life choices. Some people like it and some people don't. Some people prioritise other things, want to spend time with their mates and do other things, but you can't really do that with Wick. You have to make sacrifices.
"You can't go out on a Friday or Saturday night every week, you're going to miss social events and all that sort of stuff – even working at weekends, if overtime is on offer to some boys."
Halliday, who lives in Thurso and works from Wick as a project manager with SSE, acknowledges it has been an underwhelming campaign for Academy so far. Fourth from bottom, they have won three, drawn four and lost 10 of their 17 league fixtures and fell at the first hurdle in all three cup competitions.
"It is frustrating but we have to understand where we're at and be realistic about it," Halliday said.
"The frustrating bit is we all know we've got the ability as a team – we're more than capable of at least competing with clubs higher up the league.
"We're sitting 15th in the league just now. Ideally for us we want to be aiming for mid-table.
"Everyone wants to win in football and aim for the top, but realistically we're going to struggle to compete with these teams that have a lot of money and have a bigger catchment area that seem to be picking up players from League One, League Two, Premiership youth teams, Championship... It's always going to be hard for us to compete with that, but that's what we want to be aiming for.
"We've got a lot of new boys in this year and it's a transitional period. There are big figures that were around Academy for a long time that aren't there any more.
"As I say, we know we can compete with these teams – it's just the consistency that doesn't seem to be there.
"It's a period of time where we need to learn to play together and gel together, learn patterns of play and learn to manage games.
"We have gone from that sort of golden generation who played football for Academy for 10 or 12 years together, that were competing at the top and finished third in the Highland League. There's obviously a bigger gap between the top and us than there was before.
"But that's certainly where we aim to be competing, right up there."
Halliday was born in Crawley and moved to Caithness when he was seven.
"I'm fully English," he pointed out. "People in Scotland say I sound English and people in England say I sound Scottish."
He still takes an interest in his home-town team, Crawley Town, who are in League Two: "We went to a couple of games when we were younger. I keep an eye out for their results but I'm not a diehard or anything."
Halliday made his Academy debut as far back as 2011 but then had spells in Australia, where he played for Yoogali Soccer Club, and in Edinburgh, before returning to Caithness. He has been a regular fixture in the Scorries' midfield since the 2017/18 season.
As one of the senior players, Halliday has been helping the club's eight summer signings to settle in.
"A lot of boys have come in this year and it was needed," he said. "Last year we were down to the bare bones, travelling down to some away games with 11 or 12 players.
"We definitely needed an influx of players this year and they're a brilliant bunch of lads – they've all fitted in really well with the squad.
"At the start of the season there was a real excitement about it. There's a bunch of lads there that wanted to play football, wanted to play for Academy and were willing to put in the work.
"For a few of the senior players, it's kind of our job to set the standard and show the expectation of being at Wick Academy."
Looking ahead to the remaining months of the season, Halliday said: "Obviously we want to get as many points on the board as possible.
"Again, we have to be realistic about our aims. This is a season to start gelling together, to learn patterns of play, to learn how we play together.
"I think the main thing for us is to get to a point where we can be consistent.
"We challenged the likes of Buckie until we got a man sent off, we beat Clach 3-0 at the start of the season and then we had a horrendous result against them the other week [an 8-0 defeat at Grant Street Park]. I think that just sums up our consistency right now.
"We took a point off Rothes and we beat Inverurie Locos, who at the time were near the bottom of the league but you could tell when we played them they were not a side who were going to stay down there. They'll work their way up the table pretty quickly, I would have thought.
"The likes of Gary Pullen, Conor Farquhar and Matthew Aitkenhead, all these young boys are coming through as well so the future is bright. It's just a case of getting these boys involved and getting them settled, and hoping that we can hold onto them until they're properly ready for the Highland League and can be a main part of the Wick Academy team."
