Deveronvale boss Craig Stewart says Ben Allan is one of the players he wants to build his team around after the midfielder signed a contract extension.
The 26-year-old joined the Banffers in November 2020 after returning to the north-east following six years in America.
Allan’s new deal will keep him at Princess Royal Park until the summer of 2025 and manager Stewart says he has a lot to offer going forward.
He said: “Ben’s an important player, he gives us a couple of options in terms of where he can play.
“He also gives us experience, he’s got a great attitude and a great work-rate.
“Sometimes I feel Ben doesn’t get the credit he deserves for some of his performances.
“We offered him an extension at the end of last season but he was going to do fire service training so he wanted to see how it panned out alongside football.
“But so far it’s worked out really well, he will miss a game here or there, but he’s committed to the cause.
“Ben also helps the youngsters along which is important with the young squad that we’ve got.
“Ben is a big player for us and along with the likes of Harry Noble and Innes McKay is a player we want to build our team around.
“They’re all under contract and they’ll be important for us going forward.
“And to help the young players come through it’s important we also keep a hold of the likes of Dane Ballard, Robbie Allan and Grant Noble.
“Robbie and Grant maybe haven’t had as much game time as they would have liked this season but they’re still really important players to have in the squad.”
Vale pulling in same direction
Deveronvale are currently 15th in the Breedon Highland League.
However, they are trying to build for the future with a number of last season’s title-winning Under-18 featuring for the first-team this term.
Stewart is pleased Allan and the club’s other experienced players want to be part of the project.
He added: “Ben’s bought in to what we’re wanting to do by committing himself to the club and most of our squad are the same.
“We’re all in it together and it’s important that we have that buy-in from everyone.
“We’ve had some difficult results this season but we’re all in it together and we’re all striving to go in the same direction which is important.”
