Nairn County forward Ciaran Young backed to prove his ability after turning loan move to St Ninian into a permanent deal
Nairn County have confirmed that striker Ciaran Young’s loan to Nairn St Ninian has been turned into a permanent move.
The 23-year-old had spent time in the 2024/25 campaign at Inverness Athletic and Fort William in the North Caledonian League before joining the Nairn Saints towards the end of the campaign, scoring seven goals in six appearances in the North Region Junior Championship.
With new man in charge at Station Park Wayne Mackintosh not finding a place for Young in his squad for the upcoming Highland League campaign, an agreement was reached for the forward to join St Ninian on a permanent basis.
Mackintosh told Nairn County’s media team: “I felt it was in the best interests of our squad and of Ciaran himself that he moves on permanently.
“He needs to be at a club where he is going to start games on a regular basis so he can build his fitness up to the level required to play 90 minutes in the Highland League.
“I am sure he will be a great asset to Nairn Saints and he certainly has it in him to return to the Highland League in the future and re-establish himself as one of the top centre forwards at this level with the attributes and ability he has.
“We obviously have a lot of close ties to Nairn St Ninian, so of course I wish him all the best there and on behalf of everyone at Nairn County, I would like to thank him for his time at the club and his efforts down the years.”
Young had progressed through County’s youth set-up, scoring 25 goals in 84 appearances after making his debut in 2019.
St Ninian manager Stuart Finnie commented: “We are absolutely delighted to bring Ciaran to the club.
“He had a successful loan spell with us last season and played his part in helping us reach the Regional Cup final.
“We know that Ciaran has wonderful natural ability and the challenge for us is to try and get him fit and to see him enjoy his football.
“I’d like to thank the committee for making this happen and also thank Wayne Mackintosh, Graeme Macleod and everyone at Nairn County for helping push this through.”
