[1] Cairns came through the Inverness Caledonian Thistle Academy, before being sent out on loan to his hometown side, Strathspey Thistle,[2] as well as Fort William,[3] and finally, Forres Mechanics[4] before being recalled from his Forres loan due to an injury crisis going on at Inverness.
[5] On 2 January 2023, Cairns made his debut for Inverness, coming on in a 6–1 win over Cove Rangers in the Scottish Championship.
[6] On 4 February, Cairns scored his first goal for Inverness in a 2–2 league draw with Greenock Morton immediately after being subbed on for fellow academy graduate, Daniel MacKay.
[7][8] In July 2023, Cairns returned to Forres on a short term loan, before joining Aberdeen side, Banks o' Dee in January 2024.
This biographical article related to association football in Scotland, about a forward born in the 2000s, is a stub.