THE last thing Canadian defenceman Sean Robertson expected when he joined Glasgow Clan in February was to be trying to get a flight home six weeks later as coronavirus took hold.

The 29-year-old had suffered a miserable time in France with Briançon, a team in the South East of the country, and was the last man signed by the Clan prior to lockdown. He only managed nine games in purple, before the imported players began to return home with Robertson being one of the last to leave.

“It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions,” he said. “Getting the chance to come to Glasgow was a breath of fresh air and I had a great time in the month and a half or so I was there. We got a couple of big wins before the season cancelled and when it did, we just didn’t know what to do when it all stopped. It’s certainly been a unique year in my career.

"The way the season panned out for me in France to start with wasn’t how I imagined it to be, from a team or an individual standpoint. Signing for the Clan felt like a 10,000 ton weight lifted off my chest and I couldn’t wait to get over there. It saved my year in terms of having the passion and happiness back in the game. When I signed, the virus was really starting to make an impact on the world, but it never occurred to me the season would be cut short.

“It became real rather fast and suddenly it ended. We were due to play Fife on the weekend and had practised a day or two before as though everything was normal then all of a sudden, Fitzy [former Clan coach Zack Fitzgerald] got the call and that was it.

“Everyone was scrambling to get home and it took me a couple of weeks to get back. A couple of flights I’d booked had to be cancelled because they weren’t letting external flights into America, which was tricky getting a connection to Victoria.”

Robertson has decided to take a year out from the sport as he embarks on a career in the construction business in Victoria, British Columbia with a firm run by friends, but he has not given up on making a return.

Having had such a short spell in Glasgow, he has unfinished business and only had eyes on a return to Scotland this season. While it will not happen this year, he is keeping his options open.

“It was sad that I only got nine games for the Clan,” he added: “I really wanted to come back this year and hopefully get a full season under my belt, but I'm disappointed obviously that can’t happen. My thought was coming back if I was going to play anywhere this year, or even within the UK.

“I had an offer to return to France, but it’s been uncertain over there too and I was reluctant in case another season ends up cancelled. I’ve decided to live life for now and in Victoria, working for a construction firm and keeping busy with that.

“While I haven’t retired, I’ve decided not to play this year and have opted to join another team in the regular working world. Things are so uncertain right now, but I’ll maybe look at it again when things are in a better situation."