Callaghan’s Academical career graduating

Still to appear in a losing league side for Hamilton Academical FC since joining in September (played 15, won 10, drawn five) the midfielder previously helped Linfield to league and cup success in Northern Ireland, and consequently savoured UEFA Cup football. Hearts fans will remember Callaghan well, and perhaps wonder what became of the talented left-footer who was a youth team contemporary of Gary Locke, Paul Ritchie and Grant Murray.

He made his top-team debut against Celtic in a televised cup match, and went on to play around 20 games for the Edinburgh club, but he did not manage to established himself as a first-team regular. After almost seven years at Tynecastle, it was time to re-evaluate his future.

"The biggest disappointment was that the fans and the coaching staff told me I’d done really well whenever I’d played, so it was a bit of a drag busting a gut in training all week, knowing I was going to be sitting at home on a Saturday afternoon checking my coupon," he said. "I could have gone to Dundee as part of the Neil McCann deal, but decided to stay at Hearts. The club had treated me well, and older guys like John Colquhoun and John Robertson were a great help on and off the park."

However, a change of scenery did eventually appeal to Callaghan, and he flitted to Finland for a couple of months in an attempt to resurrect his career. "It was not the sort of place I could get a taxi back from after the game for my mum’s dinners, but I learned a lot out there.

"My club [Finn Pa] played in the Premier League, and you only have to look at how many Finnish guys are breaking into British football to know the standard is pretty good. It was the right move for me at the time, and helped me settle quicker at Linfield, later on."

Callaghan put in a shift for Clydebank before and after his distinguished spell in Ireland, but the Cambuslang-born player finally opted to restart his career in Scotland with Hamilton. He phoned coach Ally Dawson initially to ask if he could train with the team, but impressed so much that he was offered a contract until the end of the season. "Ally liked what he saw, and I liked the way he treated his players. I’ve played under a few managers now, and respond better to guys who explain things calmly, rather than shouting and bawling their heads off if I’m doing something wrong."

Nine months ago, no amount of shouting or bawling or honest endeavour could have rescued Hamilton from their pits of woe. Deducted 15 points after striking players failed to fulfil a fixture, relegation to the Third Division ended a sorry season for the Lanarkshire side. Like many other homeless clubs have discovered, playing away every week inevitably brings plummeting fortunes on and off the park.

Slowly, but perceptibly, however, Hamilton are going about their business of reversing a decline that started years ago. Promotion is achievable, though not probable, and how cheerfully appropriate it would be if they moved into their new stadium on the back of a title-winning season. New Douglas Park, as it is provisionally known, will seat 5,500, and is located barely 50 yards from where the old ground stood. Fans who deserted the club when they became one of Scotland’s band of itinerants may be lost for ever, but surely the board will never have a better chance to entice an entirely new audience along when they return to the town six months hence.

Meanwhile, Callaghan continues to make a notable contribution to the team’s resurgence. "My priority is to get Hamilton out of this division, but I would be lying if I didn’t say playing here is a bit of a shop-window opportunity for me," he said.

Perhaps the next time he has a showdown with his bank manager, it will be the player, not the pen-pusher, who is calling the shots.