PETALING JAYA: Football striker Fergus Tierney may be in a new city, but he feels right at home.

The 22-year-old Tierney, who recently joined Sabah from Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), says life in Kota Kinabalu reminded him a lot of Penang.

He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but was raised since young at the Pearl of the Orient.

“Kota Kinabalu is great so far, kind of reminds me of home in Penang,” said Fergus, whose father Martin Tierney was a former professional footballer with Penang and Police in the past.

“The people are friendly, the food’s familiar, and there’s this laid-back coastal vibe that makes it easy to settle in.”

Standing at 1.86m, Fergus brings a versatile attacking profile to Martin Stano’s side.

Primarily a striker or second striker, he is also capable of operating from the flanks, a flexibility Sabah will surely welcome as they seek to build on a promising squad for the coming Super League season.

Fergus had been part of the JDT set-up since 2022 but was sent out for valuable first-team experience in Thailand, featuring for Chonburi last year before a short stint at Nakhon Pathom United earlier this season.

“I had a great experience in Thailand playing good football in a good league, but now I’m excited for the project at Sabah and looking forward to the upcoming season,” he said.

“Sabah are building a promising team this year, and I feel like I can contribute positively on the pitch and hopefully have a great season.”

Having earned six caps and scored a goal for Malaysia, the young forward is still hungry to improve.

And in Sabah, competition upfront would be feisty as they have hired some top-quality attackers such as Darren Lok, Azhad Harraz Arman and Bosnian Ajden Mujagic.

“Competition here is healthy, and I want to learn from the more senior players and coaches to become a better player,” he added.

As Sabah aim to climb the table with renewed attacking firepower, Tierney’s energy and enthusiasm, both on and off the pitch, could be the spark they need.