A KILWINNING amateur side chose to pay homage to a club legend this week - hailing him one of their "all time greatest" players.

Graeme 'Vinny' Muir has played at Dirran's Athletic AFC for over a decade now - and played his 300th game for the club on Saturday, January 14.

The 40-year-old's appearance tally is made all the more remarkable given that his time at the club included a 15 month period where, because of Covid restrictions, no amateur football was played.

In his side's 3-3 draw with last season's quadruple winning team Shortlees Amatuers, Vinny notched the third goal to put Dirrans 3-1 up - it was his 79th goal for the club.

These remarkable stats put Muir, statistically speaking, up there with some of the Kilwinning side's all time greats.

Since records were kept in 2004, Vinny is comfortably the player with the most competitive appearances for the club and sits second equal in the all time scoring charts alongside Terry McEwan and Logan Stevenson and only five goals behind Scott Milne.

And since being signed by club manager Jason Stewart in 2011, he has also amassed a trophy cabinet to match his personal achievements.

Vinny played in The Dirrans' First Division championship winning team in 2013-14 season and the Jimmy Scott Memorial and Donsports Trophy double winning team in 2015-16.

From a personal perspective, he was named the club Player of the Year in 2018-19 and has twice been named as the Players Player of the Year, in both 2011-12 and 2018-19.

What makes his career with the amateur side all the more impressive is how his time at the club began.

A club spokesperson explained: "In 2010 Graeme Muir was signed for Dirrans Athletic by the then manager, Peter Kean.

"The club struggled that season and it ultimately ended in relegation. 'Vinny' left halfway through without making an impact.

"It is fair to say we all thought he would be added to a long list of players who had made a handful of appearances for the club before moving onto other things on a Saturday afternoon.

"But when Jason Stewart became manager in 2011 he immediately earmarked Vinny as a must have signing."

And so a legendary career in Kilwinning began - which has seen him hailed as one of the club's all time greats.

They continued: "A candidate for the all time greatest ever Dirrans player - now there is a discussion - he certainly would be considered for that honour if the discussion referred to the club's recent history.

"A credit to the club both on and off the park, Saturday showed that there is still a fair bit of life left in those old legs yet."