Doing Jerry proud

COLERAINE attacker Stewart Nixon is hoping to do Jerry Thompson proud this season after switching to the number 21 shirt for the upcoming campaign…

The pair played with each other at Carrick Rangers before the football community mourned the death of Thompson who tragically took his life in December 2019.

As a mark of respect to his former team-mate, Nixon, who joined Coleraine in the January transfer window, selected Thompson’s former shirt number of 21 for the upcoming season.

“The decision to change to the number 21 shirt had been on my mind for quite some time,” the ex-Ballymena United man said.

“When Alexander Gawne re-joined Carrick Rangers on loan for the season I knew that the number was available, so I selected it to remind myself of Jerry.

“Jerry was such a fantastic person both on and off the pitch and I hope that I can do him proud.”

Nixon started in the recent European fixture against NK Maribor after coming off the bench to impress against La Fiorita in the Preliminary Round.

“When Oran signed me he spoke about how much pace and energy I can bring to the side,” he continued.

“To be honest, I had no complaints about not starting against La Fiorita as I had been poor in the behind closed door friendlies.

“However, I thought I made a good impact when I came off the bench and I was proud to start the game in Slovenia.

“The game was intense, there was lots of defending to be done, but we knew that from the start and we had prepared for it.

“You couldn’t have written a script like that before the game but that’s football as it can bring the best and worst emotions.

“It was a great game and the end we got a result we wanted.”

The 23-year-old even had to miss out on a special occasion to make sure he was on the flight to Maribor last week.

“We released the news a couple of weeks ago that my partner Lyndsey and I are expecting a child,” he concluded.

“The only issue is that the 16 week scan was due last week when I was in Slovenia.

“I’m sure I will get to plenty more and it is something we are looking forward too.”