Updated: Future is up in Ayr for Borders footballer Josh Landers after return to homeland
Borders footballer Josh Landers has returned to his homeland in the hope of getting more first-team game-time after being loaned out to Ayr United for the remainder of the current William Hill Championship season.
The West Ham United under-21s striker’s arrival in South Ayrshire follows being named in a first-team match-day squad by the Londoners for the first time for their 2-2 English Football League Championship draw away to Burnley on Sunday, August 16, though he didn’t end up being fielded by manager Nuno Espirito Santo, and going on to score five goals for their youth development team since, one in a 2-1 English National League Cup group win at Worthing two days later and four in 5-4 English Premier League 2 defeat away to Chelsea’s under-21s on Monday this week.
The Innerleithen 19-year-old’s move back north of the border to Somerset Park is his second loan since being sold by Hibernian to West Ham for a reported £120,000 in January 2025, the other being to Hertfordshire’s Boreham Wood for the last two months of their last English National League season, making nine appearances, including one as a 91st-minute substitute for their promotion play-off final defeat against Rochdale at London’s Wembley Stadium in May, ending open play tied at 2-2 and losing the ensuing penalty shootout 3-1.
Since arriving at West Ham a year and a half ago, Landers – initially with home-town team Leithen Vale, then Musselburgh Windsor before joining Hibs’ youth set-up at the age of ten, going on to play seven first-team games for the top-flight Edinburgh outfit – has scored 23 goals in 48 appearances for their under-18s and under-21s.
The Borderer joins Ayr as new manager Gary Naysmith bids to guide them back to what’s now the William Hill Premiership after 49 years away.
Seventh-placed finishers under prior gaffer Scott Brown last time round, they’re currently seventh, on five points from as many fixtures, ahead of a visit from second-from-bottom Inverness Caledonian Thistle this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 3pm.
Scottish age-grade international Landers, given Ayr’s No 9 shirt, is hoping for lots of game-time over the rest of the current season against the likes of Livingston, Raith Rovers and current table-toppers Stenhousemuir and is hoping to add to his current goal tally of five for this term, telling his new club’s Facebook page: “The goal was always to play first-team football this season on loan so it’s definitely something I was really interested in.
“There were a few complications about international loan clearance and all that, but we finally managed to get it all sorted and I’m here now.
“Scoring goals is what I’m here to do. I’m a striker, so that’s my job at the end of the day.
“It’s where you want to be, playing for fans, playing men’s football, just trying to play as many games as you can and score as many goals as you can.
“I want to play as many minutes as I can and score as many goals as I can and just help the team in whatever way I can, work hard and try to win games of football.
“That’s what I want to be doing – coming here and playing week in, week out and scoring goals in front of fans, showing what I can do and then we’ll hopefully win games of football.
“I’ve spoken to the gaffer a few times and he seemed pretty keen for me to come in. He seemed really positive the way he was speaking about where he wants Ayr to go as a team and how he wants me to help them to reach their goals.”
Welcoming Landers to the west coast, former Scotland and Everton left-back Naysmith, 47, added: “He was keen to come, so we’re delighted that he’s in the building.
“I felt it was important that we got a striker in. He’s a good height, he’s a good size, he’s obviously got an eye for goal.
“He’s a young boy with a lot of potential and that’s why West Ham bought him. It’s up to us to tap into that potential and have him do a good job for us and send him back to West Ham a more complete player.”
Landers made his debut for Ayr 65 minutes into a 1-0 loss away to second-placed Partick Thistle at Glasgow’s Firhill Stadium on Saturday, taking over from fellow loan striker Owen Stirton.
He’s one of three Borderers currently on loan to Scottish Professional Football League teams out west, along with Galashiels’ Lewis Gillie and Coldstream’s Zach Bruce, both at William Hill League Two’s Stranraer as part of a co-operation arrangement with Hibs.