Centre-half McKeown has spent the last four years of his career at Stair Park, making 163 appearances in all competitions following his transfer from junior outfit Arthurlie.

The 28-year-old has combined his part-time playing duties with a day job as a fireman at Pollok Fire Station in Glasgow for almost a decade.

However, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service are fully supportive of his choice to go full-time with the Ton and have worked out an arrangement to facilitate the move whilst also keeping him on their books.

Speaking exclusively to the Tele last night, McKeown said: “I’m down at Cappielow tomorrow [Friday] to sign a one-year contract.

“Obviously I work in the fire service just now and basically what they’ve done is give me a couple of options that will allow me to go full-time with Morton.

“Those are to either take a complete year out or maybe working flexible hours, a day or two here and there type thing to just keep myself ticking over.

“Obviously if I took a year out I would have to come back and re-train in certain skills, whereas if I worked a day or two around my full-time contract at Morton then I could maintain my skills.

“That would mean that if, after a year, I was to go back to the fire service then I would still have that. If I get another contract at Morton, the arrangement would just continue.

“What exactly will happen is still kind of in the melting pot but it will mean that I’m not actually leaving the fire brigade.

“So I’ve really got thank the fire brigade for making it possible and that they are willing to let me go full-time.” The opportunity presented by Morton manager Jim Duffy was one that McKeown decided he couldn’t let pass by and risk leaving him wondering ‘what if …?’ for the rest of his life.

He explained: “I was full-time when I was young for two or three years — with St Mirren, Raith Rovers and Partick Thistle — but it didn’t work out and I joined the fire service way back then.

“That must’ve been 10 years ago now. Over the years I’ve always been asked if a full-time contract came up, would I go? When the Morton offer came along I had to think about what my future held.

“I had a look at it and I thought that the chance to go full-time might never come again. Obviously I play football and that’s what everybody wants to do: they want to be a full-time professional.

“I had little sniffs a couple of years ago and thought something might happen, but decided not to take it at that point.

“But I’m now 28 and I didn’t want to look back and think: ‘what if …?’ — to be sitting in 10 years’ time looking back and feeling I should have went for it and that I’d never really know.

“So I jumped at it and can’t wait to get started. The Championship is going to be a great league and Morton are a massive club so there was only really one option when it came along.” McKeown captained Stranraer to a second-placed finish in League One last term, earning a place in the PFA Scotland League One team of the year alongside Ton pair Mark Russell and Declan McManus.

Next season will be his first in Scottish football’s second tier, but the 6ft 2in defender is confident about taking the step up in his stride.

He added: “Morton did great to win the league. The team with the most points deserves to win it, so Morton deserved it. There’s no doubt about that. They won the big games when it mattered.

“I think Stranraer punched above their weight, as they have done for the last two or three years. I loved my time down there and they will forever have a wee place in my heart.

“I had a couple of offers last year and the year before to play in higher leagues and I knocked them back because of what we had at Stranraer.

“But for me personally, I had a gut feeling towards the end of last season that it was my time to try something different and move on.

“I’m as experienced as I’m ever going to be and I think over the last two years I’ve been playing consistently. This will be my first time at Championship level but I feel I’m more than ready for it. I’m raring to go.”