Former Inverness Caley Thistle manager Craig Brewster speaks of Ross Tokely continuing to play Highland League in his 40's
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IT was the early 1980s and Britain under the Tories was in industrial tumult. War loomed in the Falklands and President Ronald Reagan’s finger hovered menacingly over the nuclear button as US-Soviet Cold War tensions simmered.
For one soft-spoken Dundonian schoolboy, it really did feel like the end of the world.
Craig Brewster, future scorer of a historic Scottish Cup final winner for Dundee United, had just had his heart broken by legendary manager Jim McLean. Told he was not good enough for his boyhood heroes, the teenager sank into the Tayside junior ranks with Stobswell.
That might well have been it. Early career rejection is a crushing blow some young players never recover from.
Just over a decade later, a similar scenario would unfold for Ross Tokely at Aberdeen, with unceremonious release from the Pittodrie youth ranks at just 15.
Grappling with shattered childhood dreams, neither Brewster nor Tokely could have imagined way back then they would clock up half a century of senior football between them.
The pair’s career paths would later cross as manager and player in Inverness, but they already shared a fearsome desire to prove people wrong. Whatever else it fuelled, it led to career longevity.
Tokely, who holds the ICT club record of 593 appearances, has since October last year made a huge success of a return to Highland League football with Nairn County at the age of 43.
Brewster played around 700 games over a 25-year career, netting nearly 200 goals at nine clubs including Greece’s Ionikos, Hibs, Dunfermline and two spells as Caley Jags’ player-manager.
“Tokes texts me every now and then, and was in touch when asked to go to Nairn,” Brewster, now West Sussex-based and non-league Horsham FC’s youth director, explained. “Ross was telling me about his running and how great he was feeling, and I suggested he try it for six months. It is absolutely brilliant to see him compete and perform so well, but he was always a fit boy – and he’s a fighter.”
Having only secured a full-time senior career at 26 in 1991 with a move from Forfar to Raith Rovers, Brewster cherished every moment in training and on the park. He later became football’s most expensive 39-year-old after Dundee United forked out a six-figure fee to take him from Inverness in 2006.
Still performing with distinction into his early 40s, there were goals and inspirational displays at Aberdeen, Inverness and Ross County.
Tokely’s playing career continues to unfold. Rescued from Aberdeen rejection by Huntly, his Caley Thistle career across all four Scottish divisions defied the critics, with particular satisfaction gleaned from peak years at Premiership level. Post-Inverness, he joined Ross County, Brora Rangers, St Duthus and Loch Ness, before Nairn’s surprise call.
A 30-month deal under Steven Mackay, another evergreen, will take Tokely past his 45th birthday. Given the strength and assurance of displays so far, he seems a good bet to endure. Nairn’s form has rocketed with just one defeat in the last 12 games.
Pressed on age-defying secrets, Brewster cannot point to any magic formula or potion he could bottle to make his billions. It all stems from mentality, according to the retired striker who also runs his own youth soccer school.
Despite having settled for 12 years in the south of England with his family, Brewster still keeps track of Highland clubs. He has watched Tokely’s return with fascination.
“It is not just about looking after yourself. It is having the desire, dedication and drive to push yourself. Tokes has always had that,” Brewster said. “When I became Inverness manager, he and Darren Dods couldn’t get enough of it.
“That’s what managers need, the main players backing their judgements and being at the front of the runs, driving everybody on – and that’s what Tokes and Darren gave me. They led the players.”
Brewster revolutionised fitness and diet at Caley Thistle on arrival in November 2004, although not every player was instantly enamoured.
“Barry Wilson was Caley Thistle’s best player but wasn’t at the peak of his fitness,” Brewster recalled. “To get Barry back to his best, I had to challenge him and he had to change a few things. Looking back, what he did gave him a few extra years.
“Barry was another who really bought into it. That team I inherited at Inverness were just absolutely brilliant. Tokes, though, was something else – focused, driven, single-minded.
“Sometimes the opposition would underestimate him and say ‘get at Tokely’, but nobody outran or out-sprinted Ross. He had the mindset that nobody was getting past him.”
Brewster’s key to success was leading by example. In his veteran years, he won hearts and minds by fronting the fitness work, and running faster and longer than many his junior. On the park, too, he earned respect through actions.
“My first three games at Caley Thistle were a defeat away to Hibs, then draws at home to Rangers and Hearts,” he said. “Suddenly the players got the belief that maybe the manager was right – the harder we worked, the bigger the reward.”
Among others, Brewster played under McLean, Walter Smith, Alex McLeish, Jimmy Calderwood and Russian international Oleg Blokhin. Pivotal, though, was time under ex-Northern Ireland and Manchester United defender Jimmy Nicholl at Raith.
“I always remember watching the phenomenal way Jimmy Nic trained after he signed me at Raith and I turned full-time,” Brewster recalled. “He was immense in his late 30s and I thought I better get the finger out.
“Coming back from Greece to play for Hibs, people looked at me at 34 and thought I was past it so, again, I had to really step it up. People say the older you get, the less training you should do, but for me that’s nonsense. I had to train even harder.
“Steven Mackay will know how important it is to have somebody with Tokely’s experience, professionalism, desire and commitment rubbing off on others. You can’t buy that. Ross will be bringing the best out of young and more experienced players alike.
“At Inverness, I just asked the boys to look after themselves better and watch what they were putting in their bodies. After training, we introduced squad lunches to refuel immediately.
“To play into your late 30s and early 40s, you have to be disciplined – and that means sleep, exercise, diet – and have a bit of luck with injuries.”
There has to be a time when a player’s body says ‘no more’, but Brewster is unable to relate.
“When I played my last game for Inverness in 2007, I came off the bench against Hearts and scored in the 90th minute to win the game 2-1. I just thought ‘okay, that’ll do me now!’
“But I kept training and kept fit, which meant when I lost my job I could still play for Ross County.
“In the end, it was someone else (Derek Adams) who said ‘be my assistant and hang the boots up’, so it never came down to me thinking I couldn’t run or contribute anymore.
“Nairn players will have seen Tokes run quicker than them and work harder.
“Challenging people like that raises the bar right through a dressing room and club.”
