MORE BINOS DEALS CLOSE Rutkiewicz working hard to get squad in shape for next term
Stirling Albion manager Kevin Rutkiewicz is close to agreeing new deals with two more of his current squad as he tries to prepare for next season.
Goalkeeper Blair Currie was already under contract for 2020/21 and the club recently announced that defenders Paul McLean, Jordan McGregor and Kyle Banner, midfielder Dom Docherty and forwards Sean Heaver and Dylan Mackin had all agreed new deals for next term.
Rutkiewicz is close to concluding talks with two more of the players and is expected to confirm soon at least some of those who will be moving on in the summer. He is also not far away from naming a new assistant following the departure of Martin Hardie a few weeks ago.
Stirling used a total of 26 different players in 2019/20, although by the time the season ended prematurely in March, striker Lewis Hawke had moved to Montrose and defender Gareth Rodger had joined Lowland League side Gala Fairydean.
Left-back Jordan Lowdon missed much of the season due to injury while striker Dylan Nguene Bikey recently returned to France.
Meanwhile, SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster and his SFA counterpart Ian Maxwell held talks this week with Joe FitzPatrick, Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing, and Professor Jason Leitch, the National Clinical Director.
The new season is scheduled to start in the middle of July with the Betfred Cup group stage, with league football due to kick off on the first weekend in August. But it could be some time before mass gatherings are allowed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Neil Doncaster said: “We gave the Minister a frank summary of the existential crisis our game is facing.
“Gate receipts make up a far higher proportion of our income than in England, which benefits from huge TV deals, so until we get back to playing in front of crowds, our game will remain in grave peril.
“It was encouraging to hear the Minister recognise the social and health benefits of football in Scotland, which generates hundreds of millions of pounds for the Scottish economy annually.
“As sport is a devolved responsibility, we’ll continue to be guided by the Scottish Government’s health experts on when we are able to resume matches, but that looks to be some while away.
“We have already seen the UK Government pledging £16m support to Rugby League in England to prevent it from being devastated by Covid-19.
The longer we are unable to play matches in Scotland, the more essential will be significant financial support for our hard-pressed national sport.”