Wullie Gibson is ready to embrace the challenge of League One after penning a new deal with Annan Athletic.
The 38-year-old helped Peter Murphy’s side claim promotion to the third tier of Scottish football and has been rewarded with a one-year deal.
It sets up a mouth-watering return to Palmerston for the former Queen of the South manager who parted ways with the club last season before joining the Galabankies.
He told the club website: “I’m delighted to extend my contract by a further year.
“Since day one I’ve really enjoyed my time here. A great wee club with good people behind it and a proper family feel about it.
“I’ve had interest from elsewhere but following our recent success in securing promotion and the enjoyment I’ve had since joining I was keen to stay. I have a good relationship with the manager,
staff and players and it’s also just down the road so it’s a very good fit for me.”
Manager Peter Murphy and several players credited Gibson’s experience in helping them get over the line in the play-off push last season and that will be invaluable next term as Annan make the jump up a division.
Gibson added: “Now, the hard work starts to make sure we make a positive impact in the league above as it’ll be a hard challenge but a challenge that we will embrace.
“It was massive for the club to create history with promotion but we don’t want that to be it, we want to progress and build on what we’ve achieved this season.
“You could see what it meant to the fans up at Clyde and you could see a real connection between players and fans, both at the game and at the club after party. They’ve been left disappointed a couple of times in playoffs so delighted this time round we could give them what they deserved.”
Meanwhile the club has also confirmed four players won’t be returning next season.
Roan Steele, Charlie Barnes, Tony Wallace and Rob McCartney have all been released with the club thanking them for their efforts.
