Elgin City manager Gavin Price says his new two-year deal is a commitment to his goal of guiding the Black and Whites to promotion from League Two.
Price has signed a long-term contract to keep him at Borough Briggs until 2023, which will take his association to the Moray outfit to nearly nine years.
The 46-year-old initially joined as Jim Weir’s assistant in 2014, but replaced Weir when he left to join Forfar Athletic three years later.
After clocking up 100 games in charge last December, Price had City on course to finish in the play-offs before the season was cut short in March due to coronavirus.
Guiding Elgin to League One for the first time in their history remains Price’s objective, with the City boss aiming to build on a promising start to the new campaign which sees them occupy second place, four points behind leaders Queen’s Park after five games.
Price said: “I have made it clear I’m happy at the club. It’s a good club to work for, and my own ambitions are the club’s ambitions.
“Hopefully we can enjoy another few seasons and try to challenge to finally get out of the league.
“The position we were in last season was why we wanted to keep so much of the squad together.
“We’ve got a good squad that can challenge for the top four places. It’s going to be difficult, there are a lot of good teams in the league so we need to try and keep the consistency.
“In games like last Saturday against Stirling Albion which are pretty evenly-balanced, trying to come out on the right end of these games is going to be vital to meeting that goal.”
Price has been joined in committing his long-term future to the Black and Whites by goalkeeping coach Stevie Dunn and first choice stopper Thomas McHale.
Price is pleased to have stability in the goalkeeping department, and is hopeful of securing more members of his playing squad on longer deals.
Price added: “We are all about stability at the club – we have done a bit work on that before.
“From the top end with the board of directors it’s stable, and we’re trying to keep the management and coaching structure stable.
“We’ve got key positions in the team, with the goalkeeper being one of them.
“Thomas has been excellent. He’s a good character around the club. I made him vice-captain as he’s important, not just for what he does on the pitch but off it as well.
“I’m really delighted that both Stevie and Thomas are here for the foreseeable future.
“We have the likes of Euan Spark, Rory MacEwan and Kane Hester all signed on longer-term deals already.
“We will be looking to speak to more players in the squad because it’s a squad I want. They are all at a good age so the longer I can keep them the better.
“The more stable the club is, the more success I think we can have.”
Elgin are planning to host a crowd of 220 for tomorrow’s match against Cowdenbeath after receiving the green light from Moray Council, with the club awaiting confirmation from Scottish football’s joint response group.
Price feels the presence of supporters at Borough Briggs will come as a huge boost to his side, adding: “It’s great for the supporters first and foremost. We want the lifeblood of the club to get in and watch their team.
“That’s got to be positive and hopefully we can make a success of it and it can be continued and expanded at some point soon.
“It’s not going to be the same atmosphere as we would normally get at games when we’ve got crowds in, but it will be great to see some familiar faces around the sides getting behind the team.”