FANS’ favourite Jackie Myles has celebrated reaching 300 games for Musselburgh Athletic – and revealed he might not have reached the milestone without his dad.

The midfielder was unsure where his career would go after leaving Cowdenbeath in 2004.

His dad, Jackie, had previously played for the Honest Toun and was keen for his son to follow in his footsteps.

Myles said: “It was my dad that brought me along.

“He was not the manager, it was Davie McGlynn, who took over from my dad.

“My dad had been at me to get along and get involved after I left Cowdenbeath.

“I was considering just letting football take a back seat because I was at university in Glasgow.

“I thought I would see what happens and was not too fussed one way or another.

“My dad was pestering me and who knows what would have happened?”

The 36-year-old has become a key part of the Burgh midfield over three spells.

He first left the club to move to Bonnyrigg Rose before going on to play for Tranent Juniors and Haddington Athletic.

A return to Musselburgh came in 2011 and saw him help the team reach the Scottish Junior Cup final.

A brief spell at Linlithgow Rose followed, before he returned to Olivebank.

Understandably, Myles, who lives in Edinburgh, picked out that incredible run to the showcase cup final of junior football in 2015 as among the highlights.

He said: “We got beat off Auchinleck Talbot but the run was quite an achievement. I was really quite pleased with that one, even though we did not get the win.

“The team achieved quite a bit and we beat Linlithgow Rose in the semi-finals, which was one of the highlights as well.

“As well as that, we had the record-breaking season with more points than anyone in the Premier League.

“Two or three years ago, we won the two cups to get into the Scottish Cup.

“Those are probably the highlights.”

Appearance number 300 came against Jeanfield Swifts in the East of Scotland Football League Premier Division last month.

The Perth side would pick up all three points on that occasion as Musselburgh finished eighth in the table. Myles’ former side Tranent would go on to win the league, defeating Jeanfield on the last day of the season.

The CDT teacher at Portobello High School felt there were signs that Musselburgh could head in a similar direction.

He said: “The Scottish Cup was quite a new thing for Musselburgh. Playing in the Scottish Cup, I’m not sure five years ago they would have thought they would be at that stage.

“[Club president] Karl Cleghorn came along and is really pushing for the club to take steps forwards to see how much they can achieve.

“Everybody is well aware that Musselburgh is quite a big town and, with a town that size and the support they give, they should be ambitious.”

Despite being one of the more experienced members of the county side’s squad, Myles has no intention of hanging up his boots any time soon.

He told Courier Sport: “I guess, for me at this moment in time, I’m still really enjoying my football. I maybe cannot run to the same extent as in the past but I still love the game.

“I want to do as much as I can for the club.”