'Spike'-Tacular Ferguson reaches magnificent milestones

The veteran striker, who will hang up his playing boots at the end of this season, is eyeing Joe Bambrick's incredible record of 563; setting himself a target of 14 goals for the rest of the season to claim another spot in history.

41-year-old Ferguson, who began his career at Ards before moving onto Glenavon and Linfield, where he was a vital part of David Jeffrey's trophy winning squad. Now he's at Distillery, where once again he is making his mark, setting up both goals as the Whites claimed three points last weekend and hitting the winner mid-week.

Boss Tommy Wright described the striker this week as "a model professional", whilst Ferguson said simply, "It was a good week."

Speaking to the Star, Ferguson said: "Obviously at the start of the season I had those two targets, or milestones, in mind, thankfully they have both come along early in the season, it is good to get them out of the way."

He added: "The only other target now is catching Joe Bambrick, who is 13 goals in front of me. The leading goalscorer is too far in front, but that'll be the target now to be the second all time leading scorer in the league. Bambrick scored 563 goals so I have 13 to equal it and 14 to beat it."

'Spike' has also been working hard on his 'A' Licence behind the scenes and he hopes to become more involved in coaching once he hangs up his boots, which he says, he will do without regrets.

"The good thing is I can hang my boots up with satisfaction. I've scored a lot of goals and won everything I could have won. I can look back on my career satisfied, knowing I have done what I was meant to do and not with any regret."

Paying tribute to the striker, Distillery boss Wright said: "He's had an unbelievable career and hopefully he can finish it off on another high this season.

"He is a model professional, looking after himself on and off the pitch; to play that number of games is a credit to him."

Wright continued: "I would say he is the Alan Shearer of Irish League football. The number of goals he has scored, really, I don't think it will ever be beaten again. It is a phenomenal achievement. I am really pleased he got his 1,000th appearance, and more importantly his 550th goal."

Ferguson's former manager David Jeffrey, who sent a text to congratulate him on his achievements, was also keen to praise the striker saying: "It's an incredible achievement, absolutely magnificent. It's awesome, I can't describe it any other way, not just for the longevity of his career, even now he is contributing and contributing significantly, but this is a phenomenal milestone. Obviously last year we were hearing about Noel Bailie and his 1000 appearances for one club, but to make 1000 Irish League appearances and score 550 goals is absolutely incredible.

"I was very blessed to have him at Windsor Park for ten years where he served the club and myself well. He was 30 when I signed him and people wondered if we would get many years from him and he gave Linfield 10 great years, so I was proved right in my estimation of him.

"I can't be fulsome enough in my praise of him; it is a magnificent, magnificent achievement."