Elgin City chairman Graham Tatters hailed the signing of freed Cove Rangers defender Jevan Anderson.
The luckless 22-year-old will see this as a fresh chance to kick his career forward after a shoulder injury cut his loan move at Elgin short last season.
In the end, son of former Aberdeen captain Russell played just three games with the Black and Whites, with an awkward fall during a 2-1 loss at Annan in March cruelly ending his campaign.
He has since been released from League 1 champions Cove as Paul Hartley’s team make the step up to the Championship in August.
‘Quality’ signing is coup for Price
Tatters is pleased to land the player on a two-year deal as boss Gavin Price begins his preparations for next term, with the focus on taking in more players from the north if possible.
He said: “Jevan is a quality player and we’re delighted to sign him.
“He was doing really well and it was quite distressing when he got his injury and it ended his season.
JEVAN ANDERSON SIGNS
We are delighted to announce Jevan Anderson has signed a 2 year contract with the Club ✍️
The young defender joined us on loan from Cove at the end of last season putting in some great performances before suffering an injury.
Welcome to the Club Jevan 🤍 pic.twitter.com/l786TCXcyj
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) May 31, 2022
“He’s reasonably local to us, which is what we’re trying to achieve. The more players you can get training together, the better. It’s much easier.
“When you don’t have your full squad together, it’s very difficult to bring the team on.
“All the guys come up on a Thursday normally, which is quite important.”
Fans can lap up weekend of games
The Moray club announced this week it will host a special mini pre-season tournament on June 25 and 26 to celebrate Borough Briggs being its home for 100 years.
League 1 Peterhead, Highland League champions Fraserburgh and fellow HFL side Inverurie Locos will all compete over what should be an entertaining weekend.
Tatters hopes the friendly competition will appeal to supporters of all visiting clubs as well as their own.
He said: “It is the centenary of Borough Briggs being opened.
“It should be a really good tournament and it gives guys the chance to come and see some really good games. The second match starts at 6pm on the Saturday and 4pm on the Sunday.
100 YEARS at BB ⚽️ 🏟
This Season we celebrate 100 years at our iconic stadium BOROUGH BRIGGS 🖤
To kick things off we will be hosting a pre-season tournament on the 25th & 26th June.
Joined by @pfcofficial @FraserburghFC & @InverurieLocos
Info on https://t.co/n6KocpLHgv pic.twitter.com/cmLL8mZumt
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) June 1, 2022
“All these clubs committed fully to it, which was great. All three teams are well supported and you hope with them being so close the fans won’t have to stay overnight, because they can travel back the next day.
“The pitch is looking fantastic. It just needs to be over-seeded and we’ve put sand on it and it’s really green. We’ve not needed to use the sprinkler system much this year, but it has been excellent for us since that was put in.”
Miles will be clocked up in cup ties
The City chief, meanwhile, admits the Premier Sports Cup draw could have been kinder to the Black and Whites.
The League 2 side are in Group F and start on July 9 with a trip to Ayr United, who have just dropped down from the Championship.
One week later, they are on the road again for the trek to their League 2 rivals Annan Athletic before hosting Premiership side St Johnstone on July 19.
The Saints stayed in the top-flight thanks to a 6-2 aggregate play-off final win against Caley Thistle last month.
Their cup fixtures conclude with Queen of the South, also just relegated to League 1, heading to Elgin on July 23.
PREMIER SPORTS CUP FIXTURE INFO
Saturday 9th July vs Ayr United (Away)
Saturday 16th July vs Annan (Away)
Tuesday 19th July vs St Johnstone (Home)
Saturday 23rd July vs Queen of the South (Home)
Full Fixture info can be found here https://t.co/07bIkuDuLU
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) May 27, 2022
The starting ties away to Ayr (440 mile round-trip) and Annan (510-mile round-trip) didn’t delight the chairman, but he admits it is the luck of the draw.
He added: “I think we’re travelling more than all the teams put together.
“It is a nightmare of a draw from that point of view, but we knew it was no longer going to be regionalised. We seemed to keep getting Arbroath every season.
“Athough we’re not enamoured by it, we will get on with it and be ready.”
Annan cup clash will be early tester
It will, at least, offer Elgin the chance to get one over on their League 2 rivals Annan, who they lost to four times last season.
Tatters has respect for the Galabankies as both clubs aim to smash an unwanted record when the league business starts in earnest.
He said: “Annan are a good side, pretty similar to us. They don’t have a huge budget, but they are a good, hard-working club.
“They are lovely people down there and I believe, ourselves and Annan are the only clubs not to have been promoted from this league, with Bonnyrigg Rose also coming up.
“That’s quite sad, but we’re trying to get up and all going well it will happen next year.”
Elgin finished second bottom of League 2 last season, with Annan pipped to promotion via the play-offs in the final by Edinburgh City.
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