Calum Elliot signs for Raith

Ex-Hearts hitman speaks out over his transfer saga

Elliot offered an apology for the confusion and stressed he has no wish to portray Livingston in a bad light. He said the decision was not money-related because he would have earned a bigger salary had he remained with them. “I appreciated their interest and there are a lot of good people at the club. For that reason, I’d like to apologise,” he told the Evening News. “I’ve been wanting to speak about this but it’s been difficult. I had to respect Raith’s wishes.

“Looking at it from afar, I know it doesn’t look good on myself. I did it for footballing reasons, and a few non-footballing reasons, although I won’t go into the ins and outs of everything. It was nothing to do with money. If anything, I’m probably getting less money at Raith than I would have got at Livingston. Everybody I’ve spoken to in football understands why I’ve done this and agrees so I’ve got no problems with the 
decision.”

Elliot scored 11 goals in 14 games for Livingston whilst on loan from Hearts during season 2008/09. After successful spells with Lithuanian side Zalgiris Vilnius and Alloa Athletic since leaving Tynecastle 18 months ago, he was initially overjoyed at the thought of returning to Almondvale. “I was delighted to sign for Livingston because playing for them previously was one of the few times when I enjoyed my football. I was more than happy to go back and I was really looking forward to it, but it would have been impossible for me to go back there and give it my all. I can’t really go into the reasons why.”

www.scotsman.com/sport/football/sfl-division-one/ex-hearts-hitman-speaks-out-over-his-transfer-saga-1-2963413