Inverness Caledonian Thistle Scottish Cup final goalscoring hero James Vincent announces his retirement from playing football

INVERNESS Caledonian Thistle Scottish Cup final goalscoring hero James Vincent has announced his retirement from playing football.

The 35-year-old confirmed on social media today that he has decided to hang up his boots after almost 18 years of playing at senior level.

The midfielder will go down in club folklore as the player who scored the winning goal in the 2015 Scottish Cup final when Inverness defeated Falkirk 2-1.

In the final on Saturday, May 30, 2015 at Hampden, Marley Watkins had given Inverness the lead in the 36th minute to give them a 1-0 advantage at half time.

Inverness were reduced to 10 men with 15 minutes remaining when Carl Tremarco was sent off and Falkirk levelled through Peter Grant in the 80th minute.

But with four minutes remaining after Watkins was denied a second when Falkirk goalkeeper Jamie Macdonald parried his shot, Vincent was alert to the rebound to fire home which saw Caley Thistle win the Scottish Cup for the first and only time in their history.

Confirming his retirement on social media, Vincent says he was grateful to have been given the opportunity to be a professional footballer.

He said: This year I stepped away from playing football, closing an unforgettable chapter of my life.

“I’m grateful to my teammates and fans for their support and to my coaches for their guidance and belief in me. Thank you.”

Starting his senior career at Stockport County before moving on to Kidderminster Harriers, Vincent arrived at Inverness Caledonian Thistle under former manager Terry Butcher when they were in the Scottish Premiership in 2013.

He played for three seasons before signing for Dundee in 2016, where during two of his three seasons with the club, he was sent on loan to Dunfermline Athletic.

He then returned to Inverness in 2019 when the club were playing in the Championship under manager John Robertson.

He left at the end of the 2020/21 season and moved back to England signing for Hereford Town before moving on to FC United of Manchester and then North West Counties League Division One South outfit Stockport Town.

Upon his move to Stockport Town, he also took up a coaching role where his role was to help develop younger players who have the potential to step up to the higher level.

Read: The worst year in the history of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Where did it all go wrong?

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