Highland Hot Shot Josh

With ten goals in 13 matches it is hard to believe that when Forfar manager Gary Bollan signed Josh Peters in July it might have been described as a leap of faith. Prior to joining the Loons, the now twenty year old Josh, had never played in a senior match which makes his exceptional start to the season even more remarkable.

Since being released by Hibernian in May the Aviemore based striker has proven to be a Highland hot shot for Forfar and his goals scoring exploits have already been recognised with the award of the Ladbrokes League Two Player of the Month for August at the same time as Gary Bollan won the league’s manager of the month award. Straight into, not only the squad, but the starting eleven for the Betfred League Cup match against Dumbarton, a mere day after putting pen to paper in July, Josh recalls his surprise at his early inclusion in the team.  “I thought I might come on for the last 20 minutes but it turned out I was on from the start.  It was really exciting and looking back it was probably good I didn’t have time to over-think it and get nervous. I had to be on my toes and get on with it and so to score made it even better. I’m really grateful to Gary for giving me that start and having belief in my ability.”   The affable Josh doesn’t appear to be the type of person who holds grudges but he does admit that goal was even sweeter because the Championship side had given him a trial over the summer but decided not to sign him. “After I was released by Hibs I was given a trial at Dumbarton. I trained with them for two weeks and played in a couple of trial games. They told me they were not going to offer me anything which was disappointing because I felt I had done well.”  

The early summer of 2016 was a time of uncertainty for Josh following his departure from the Easter Road side with trials at Berwick Rangers and Queen’s Park, as well as with The Sons, but there were no firm offers of a contract.  The unflappable Josh chose to see this time as one of opportunities and the start of a new phase in his football career.  So by the time he agreed to sign at Forfar he felt confident he was making the right choice at that stage in his football development and he could build on what he had learned at Hibs.  “You have to learn to relax and enjoy what you do. If you are scared to try things you tend to hide away and don’t want to make mistakes but you shouldn’t be afraid as that is the only way you learn and improve as a player. I learned this from some of the first team players at Hibs.  It will come off eventually if you stay positive and keep plugging away. Now at Forfar I want to build on that and develop all aspects of my game including heading the ball which I know I can improve.”

Forfar signed Josh without the need for a trial based on an earlier impression Josh made on the then Airdrie manager Gary Bollan while Josh was playing for Strathspey Thistle in 2014.  Josh is keen to repay that confidence. “I hope I’m showing the gaffer was right to have faith in me. I didn’t want to be sitting on the bench every week at a club I wasn’t enjoying waiting for a chance and so I took up the offer of first team football and signed a one-year deal.”   So far he is enjoying everything about Forfar from the training sessions and management style of Gary, Stuart and Ian to the banter with the lads on and off the field.  Josh feels he is growing as a player, getting fitter and stronger and is not afraid to try things out. He is also delighted to be the club’s top scorer and a leading scorer in League Two earning the nickname ‘Goalsie’ in the Station Park dressing room.  “All the staff and people around the club are really friendly and welcoming - Martin, Craig and Lara – so it was really easy to settle in.  Gary is a great manager and has pulled together a top squad of players. He’ll tell you what your weaknesses and strengths are which I like so I know what to work on. The lads are brilliant and it is really helping me to be part of a team with the quality and experience of guys like Gavin Swankie, Jim Lister and Stuart Malcolm.  It’s a really well run club and a happy set-up and of course starting the season so well helps with the mood around the place. The fans are also great especially the youngsters who like to high five the players when we go on and off the pitch. I am enjoying every minute of it as is my mum who is made to feel really welcome and loves coming to Station Park.”

As for objectives for the season Josh wants to build on his impressive goal tally as well as helping to set up goals for the other strikers and most importantly to play his part in Forfar’s quest for promotion. He was disappointed to get injured against Clyde and to miss out last week in the home defeat to Montrose. He hopes to be back in the team for the game against The New Saints which he knows will be a tough match attracting quite a bit of media attention.  “The lads are getting excited. It will be a difficult game as they are Welsh champions and have played in the Champions League qualifying which is impressive.”

Josh was in the media spotlight when he secured a dream move to Hibernian from Highland League club Strathspey Thistle in February 2016 in a four figure deal.  His goal scoring tally at Strathspey, 13 goals in 18 games, had attracted the interest of a number of clubs including Ross County and Hamilton Accies, as well as Raith Rovers and before that in late 2015 Josh had a trial at Partick Thistle.   Trying to make a breakthrough into the senior game was not easy and required a great deal of hard work, dedication and travelling around the country so how did Josh manage to secure the deal with Hibs?   

“I went to a couple of soccer showcase events in Stockport where you had a weekly training camp with professional coaches. At the end of the week there was a game with scouts watching. My coach there - Joe McLaughlin (former Chelsea player) – was really supportive and kept in touch with me. Joe helps players who want to go to America on scholarships and has connections at the top level. He knew I had started the season well at Strathspey scoring a lot of goals and he got me a couple of trials including a two-day trial at Easter Road with the U’20s.  I did really well – probably the best training sessions I have ever had - and they offered me a deal to the end of the season. Initially I was going to be on loan from Strathspey with me training with Hibs and playing for the U’20s as well as still playing with Strathspey but then they offered me a full contract with the Development squad.  So that was me a Hibs player – it was astonishing, how things changed for me from one week to the next.”  The Hibs Development squad trained separately from the Hibs first team and played their matches at Spartans’ ground, Ainslie Park, so Josh didn’t spend much time with the senior players. However he does enjoy telling his friends about his encounter on the first day of training. “The first day I was at Hibs, Anthony Stokes, who was living in the Glasgow area, picked me up to take me to training.  I had only recently passed my driving test so I didn’t want to drive to the first session.  So on my first day to be chauffeured by Anthony was a bit surreal. He plays in a similar position and I asked him a lot of questions. He made me feel at ease and told me to ‘relax and enjoy it.’ It was a great story to tell my mates!”

Josh continued to be excited about his time at Hibs. “I always wanted to play professional football but to make the first step up from Strathspey to a massive club like Hibs was amazing. I never thought that would happen so quickly. It took me a few weeks to get in to the way of things. I stayed with my gran (Anne) and grandad (John) in Coatbridge and travelled through to Edinburgh. I soon got to know the boys, settled into the team and I really enjoyed it.”   While Josh didn’t find the net many times, when he did it was in style. He scored a hat-trick in his third game against Dundee United and enjoyed playing against all the top flight teams including Rangers the team he supports.  Overall it was a valuable learning curve for Josh although he was understandably upset to be released. “I was disappointed because it’s never nice to be told you are not wanted at a club. To be honest I expected it because there were other top quality boys in a similar positon who were let go just before me.  It showed me how big a step it is to go from the U’20s to the first team. I would have been too old to play for U’20s and not good enough at that time for the first team squad.  So yes, it was difficult to hear the news but Hibs were really good and very encouraging. They said that I’d improved a lot as an overall player, trained really well and that I fitted in well with the team. I’d like to thank them especially Joe McBride who still keeps in touch with me and Grant Murray. All in all I have lots of happy memories of my short time there.”

The move to Hibs from Strathspey was certainly a big one for Josh who started playing football at the age of seven in his home town of Aviemore. During this time Josh was grateful to one of the people who first helped him ‘to play football the right way’, his coach Alistair Stirling. “I don’t think I have thanked him enough personally for all he did for me. He, along with my dad, played a massive part in motivating me to play football and he (Alastair) is still involved with kids coaching in Aviemore.”   Josh joined Inverness Caledonian Thistle at the age of nine through an initiative called the Caley Hotshots. He moved up through the ICT youth development system until around the age of 15 when he was released in 2011.  

After leaving ICT Josh joined local team Strathspey Thistle, based in Grantown-on-Spey. He played for the U’17s and during that time was picked to play for first team which was quite an achievement at the age of 15.  While Josh would be the first to say that Strathspey are not the best footballing side in the Highland League the club does play an important part in the local community.  “Strathspey have only been in the Highland League since 2009 and they are one of the smaller teams in the league. They don’t win many games but they do have a wee following and a nice ground at Seafield Park. They have improved the pitch and built a small stand in recent years. It was a great place to play and the Club Committee treated you well. It will always hold fond memories for me.”  While honours did not come to the Seafield Park side during Josh’s time there he did score some memorable goals.  “I scored twice in the club’s first Scottish Cup game in a couple of years although we lost to Culter. I was only 17 at the time and the scores flashed up on Sky Sports so it was fun to see my name appearing alongside all sorts of famous footballers - my mates took photos and sent them to me which was brilliant!  Nowadays Josh is sure to be getting a regular flow of photos as his name keeps popping up on the Sky Sports vidiprinter. 

It was while playing for Strathspey in a pre-season friendly against Airdrie that Josh first caught the eye of Gary Bollan and Stuart Balmer. Josh scored and played well despite Strathspey going down 3-1. After that Gary tracked Josh’s progress including when he joined Hibs.   Josh came to hear about this through his Hibs car-share buddie Scott Martin who spent time on loan at Forfar last season. “Scott really enjoyed his time at Forfar and encouraged me to take up the offer to sign with Forfar. Scott told me that Gary asked about how I was getting on at Hibs as he remembered me from the pre-season match. It’s a small world and you never know who is watching and what will happen in the future – even at a friendly game at small club like Strathspey.”

Born in Inverness, Josh has stayed in Aviemore his whole life and currently lives with his mum, Jacqueline O’Rourke, who is a regular attender at Josh’s matches. Jacqueline works at Strathspey and Badenoch Herald in the advertising sales department. Younger sister Natasha is not really into football but does get ‘dragged’ to matches from time to time. Dad, Gordon, a self-employed DJ and Karaoke promoter is a huge football fan, a Rangers supporter who took the young Josh to Ibrox on many occasions and Josh cites as a big inspiration to his career.  For Josh his family plays an important part in his life both on and off the park. His mum was involved with the Strathspey Club Committee and his dad coached at the club.  His grandparents are also supportive offering him a stop-over for away games in the central belt.  It is clear he has had a very happy upbringing which has given him a positive outlook on life.  “I thank my mum and dad a huge amount for all they do for me. They did a lot of driving up and down to Inverness which must have been hard going for them but I hope they think it was worth it now.”  

The family share a love of football. “I’ll watch football whenever it is on the TV no matter the league or level. I am lucky because my mum is also a big football fan and so I spend a lot of time with her watching a match. Although sometimes we might argue and I’ll end up storming up the stairs because she is a Celtic fan while I take after my dad!  My grandad is also really encouraging and attends plenty of games. When I’ve had some knockbacks he has been very supportive and says he has been proud of the way I’ve responded to the disappointments along the way. He was chuffed to bits when I won the player of the month award.  He is just as proud of me as he is my cousin Stephen (Welsh) who plays for Celtic U’17s and is just back from playing with the Scotland U’17s. This family support means a lot to me.”

In his spare time, when not watching football, Josh draws on some aspects of his HNC in Sport Management by coaching children in Aviemore and Kingussie. He enjoys passing on his experiences to the younger boys including his younger wee half-brother Ross and thinks that coaching might be something he tries after football. One activity he is not likely to try is anything snow related. Although he comes from the heart of Scotland’s winter sports region he won’t be pulling on his winter woollies anytime soon.  “Every time I tell someone that I am from Aviemore they think I am a skier or a snowboarder. I skied once in my life and I hated it – I am not a big fan of the snow!”  One other area where Josh does not excel is in his power of pastry observation.  “I noticed Baxter about the club and on Facebook but it was only recently someone pointed out to me that he was a giant bridie!  I’m not sure what I thought he was – but he is great fun!”

On the subject of cartoonish figures and for those who know their football comic characters, Josh’s story may have echoes of a certain Hot shot Hamish. Hamish the gentle Hebridean giant, with his blonde flowing locks and the most powerful shot in the world, joined Princes Park when they were languishing at the foot of the Scottish Second Division. He quickly became a hero of the comic book world with his goals helping his club to gain promotion and win a European trophy. It would display a gross ignorance of Scottish geography to describe the mainland highlander Josh as Hebridean but he is certainly fast becoming a Forfar hero and a firm favourite with the Station Park faithful. If he keeps scoring the goals then Josh’s Roy of the Rovers journey may well continue with another big move from Forfar.  But first there are a few more hot shots to score for the Loons.

Josh Peters was in conversation with Louise Taylor for the match day programme v The New Saints on 8 October 2016.