Wick legend Macadie to quit as a player at end of season
Wick Academy legend Richard Macadie is calling time on his playing career and will be part of the club’s coaching staff from the start of next season.
The 37-year-old club captain is set to play his final home game in this Saturday’s Highland League encounter with Nairn County, almost 22 years after making his debut for his home-town team.
Macadie has been sidelined since suffering a leg injury while making his 650th appearance for Academy against Brora Rangers in February.
However, he hopes to be fit to play against Nairn as the Scorries look to continue their recent impressive run of results.
Macadie is Wick’s record goalscorer, having found the net 204 times since making his debut in 2003 against Huntly when Alistair Budge was manager.
He was named as Highland League player of the year for the 2008/09 season – the only Academy player to have achieved this distinction. He once described that honour as “the pinnacle” of his career.
Macadie was given a testimonial year in 2019 and battled back from an anterior cruciate ligament injury in 2021 to re-establish himself as a key member of the squad.
He spent most of his career as an attacking midfielder before switching to a deeper-lying role in recent seasons. When the 2025/26 campaign begins, Macadie will be part of manager Gary Manson’s backroom team.
It’s possible that he will feature in the black-and-white stripes again – but only in an emergency.
Macadie, who works as an airport firefighter, went into the current campaign feeling that it was likely to be his last, and the recent injury helped him to make up his mind.
“I’ve known it has been coming for a fair while,” he admitted. “Getting injured there towards the end of the season, and with the team doing pretty well, I just felt that’ll probably do it.
“Gaz [Manson] has asked me before to join his coaching staff but it was never on my radar when I was still playing.
“I will still register as a player and I’ll continue training. There’s always a stage in the season where you’re going to be short, but that will only be for an emergency situation.”
Macadie, who was at Ross County as a youngster, helped Academy to a third-place finish in 2012/13 when they achieved the unique feat of winning all 17 of their home league games.
Another highlight was the 6-2 victory over Nairn County in the North of Scotland Cup final in 2015.
Many supporters feel that the Wick team of that era should have won more silverware.
“We got to four cup finals around that time,” Macadie said. “Looking back, at least we got one [trophy] – if we’d got none it would have been a catastrophe.”
Macadie will be 38 by the time the current season ends. Academy won 1-0 at Keith on Saturday, extending their unbeaten run to five games, and after the Nairn match there are away fixtures against Strathspey Thistle and Inverurie Locos.