Former Hearts winger makes retirement u-turn and joins Scottish seventh tier side

Former Hearts winger David Templeton has reversed his decision to retire from football and is making a surprise comeback in the game.

The 32-year-old stood down from Hamilton Accies last November after an injury hit spell but is preparing for season 2022-23 on the lowest rung of the Scottish football ladder.

Templeton has joined Drumchapel United in the seventh tier of Scottish football – the West of Scotland Conference C. The conference is one of three which feeds into the West of Scotland Premier League – one of the divisions below the Lowland League.

The club announced their eye-catching signing online: “This man needs no introduction!! He has played for some teams you may have heard of such as Rangers FC, Hearts

and Hamilton Accies.

"Welcome to the Drum, David Templeton.”

The hamstring injury which he failed to recover from and limited his playing time to just three games last season may not be as bad as first feared, prompting Templeton to bid for an unlikely return and add to his 350 appearances for six clubs including Hearts, Rangers and Raith Rovers.

The Jambos moved for a teenage Templeton in 2007 after he broke through at Stenhousemuir. He went on to make 94 appearances during his Tynecastle spell - scoring the at Anfield in the Europa League clash with Liverpool in 2012, which levelled the scores on aggregate before Luis Suarez sent the Reds through.

David Templeton left Hearts to join Rangers but has reversed his decision to retire from football.

He signed for Rangers shortly afterwards and had two spells with Hamilton either side of a stint in England with Burton Albion.

Meanwhile former Hearts striker Kyle Lafferty's recall to the Northern Ireland set-up is ‘deserved’ according to Ian Barraclough.

Lafferty, a hero of Northern Ireland's successful Euro 2016 qualifying campaign and the second top scorer for his country's men's team, has been selected for fixtures against Greece, Cyprus and Kosovo.

"I suppose it was big news when Kyle was left out of the squad previously, but the door was never closed on him," Baraclough said. "He's applied himself very well at Kilmarnock, scored goals to get them back in the Scottish Premiership, and he deserves his recall."

The striker is joined in next month’s Nations League squad by another former Tynecastle striker Conor Washington.