Cove Rangers have confirmed which players will be exiting the club following their League One title-winning campaign – with long-serving defender Ryan Strachan the highest-profile departure.
Former Aberdeen and Celtic youngster Strachan, 31, joined Cove from Peterhead in 2017 and helped the Balmoral Stadium outfit win promotion out of the Highland League under John Sheran and Graeme Mathieson in 2019.
A player with plenty of Scottish league experience when he arrived at Cove, Strachan went on to feature regularly under Paul Hartley as they swept to the League Two title in their first SPFL campaign, and continued to be a mainstay of the side during their first season in League One in 2020/21.
Although Strachan has struggled with injury at times, he still racked up 19 appearances during the season just finished as Cove claimed the League One crown and secured Championship football for the first time.
Hartley said: “Ryan has been a terrific player for Cove Rangers and I have enjoyed working with him over the last three years.
“With the club moving up to the Championship, Ryan agreed it was a chance for him to pursue other opportunities.”
As part of Hartley’s early work to rejig his squad for the second tier, defender Jevan Anderson – who has fallen victim to a host of injury issues in his year with Cove, including a shoulder problem which ended a loan at Elgin City – has also left the club.
Striker Ola Adeyemo is another player who has been released at the end of his contract, having struggled for game-time over Cove’s talismanic strike duo Mitch Megginson and Rory McAllister.
Meanwhile, midfielder Kai Fotheringham has returned to parent club Dundee United after a loan spell at the Balmoral in the second half of the campaign.
Hartley added: “All four leave with our appreciation for the contributions they made to what was an extremely memorable season for Cove Rangers.”