Buckie Thistle boss Graeme Stewart has bolstered his squad with three new signings hot on the heels of 10 players penning contract extensions.
Joe McCabe returns to Victoria Park on a contract until 2025. The defender left last summer because his job required him to move to London.
Now, McCabe is back in the north-east and has rejoined the Jags.
Nairn County midfielder Tom MacLennan has joined the Buckie on a two-year deal and defender Cohen Ramsay also arrives from the Station Park side, having penned a three-year deal.
On his new recruits, manager Stewart said: “We were gutted when Joe left because he’s a top Highland League player.
“But now his job has taken him back to Aberdeen and, as soon as I heard I spoke to him, and he was delighted to come back to Buckie.
“You always take a gamble when signing someone and whether they’ll fit in to the squad, but the boys love him and he’s got a great attitude.
“I’m delighted with Tom, he’s always stood out when we’ve played Nairn and it’s always good when your players are complimentary about someone.
“Kevin Fraser has been raving about Tom when we’ve played Nairn.
“He’s a quality player and he’s at a good age (25) as well to continue to develop.
“Nairn will be disappointed to lose such a good player, but Tom’s got the chance to challenge at the top with ourselves.
“And Cohen is somebody we’ve been looking at for a number of months, he’s only 22, but he’s fit, strong and aggressive.
“He’s the type of player we want to bring in because he’s somebody that will continue to improve hopefully.
“He’s got a great attitude, which is important. They all want to work hard.
“I’ve asked around about Cohen and everything I’ve heard back has been really good, and my conversations with him have been really good as well.”
Quest for silverware continues
Stewart is also thrilled to have 10 of his squad commit to the club for the next three years.
He has challenged them to bring silverware back to Buckie.
The Jags came close this term, losing to Brora Rangers in the GPH Builders Merchants Highland League Cup final and finishing three points behind champions Fraserburgh in the Breedon Highland League.
Stewart added: “It’s the best team I’ve had in my time at Buckie. We haven’t won anything yet, but it’s the best team I’ve had.
“The challenge now is to go and win something and we spoke about it after the game on Saturday.
“We were unfortunate this season coming up short, but the best team in Fraserburgh won the league.
“We can’t just accept where we are – we need to try to reach that level and go higher.
“The good thing is guys like Andrew MacAskill and Kevin Fraser are in their prime and then the likes of Sam Morrison, Jack Murray, Marcus Goodall, Sam Pugh and Mark McLauchlan will continue to improve.
“You can talk about new signings, but keeping the players you’ve got can be more important because we know how good they are.
“I’m already excited for next season and the players are as well.”
