Interview & Podcast: Dan Purves
In the latest interview with members of the Berwick Rangers squad who have signed up for the 2020/21 season, Let It BRFC podcast host Adam Hunter caught up with Dan Purves to get his thoughts on his first full season at the club and signing on for the upcoming campaign.
After being utilised mainly from the bench at the start of the season, the 20-year-old winger soon broke through into the first-team and, by the time the season was prematurely curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a series of impressive performances meant that Purves was one of the first names on Manager Ian Little’s team sheet.
“It was a tricky start for me,” explained Purves, who won Player of the Year while on loan at Ormiston in the 2018/19 season.
“Obviously being a young lad coming in, I had to prove myself to the management team and when I was getting 15-20 minutes at the end of games, I was always giving it my all to try and impress to get a start.
“I must’ve done and it was at Tranent I think where I got my first start and, although we didn’t get the result we wanted on that day (a 2-1 defeat in the South Region Challenge Cup), I never really looked back from there.”
Purves continued to progress with regular game time and his exciting style saw him win three end of season awards: Raymond Hogg Young Player of the Year, Supporters Club Player of the Year and Borders Branch of Supporters Player of the Year.
It was no surprise, then, that fans were delighted to see Purves named among six players as the first to re-sign for the 2020/21 campaign and, towards the end of the conversation, the Hibs fan spoke about how that came about and his hopes for next season.
“I actually missed the phone call,” he added. “But me and Kev [Haynes] were messaging back and forth on WhatsApp and I was absolutely up for it. I love the club, so I’m looking forward to getting going again once all of this blows over.
“It was a bit of a shaky start last season. It was a whole new team and we just didn’t really gel. But hopefully next season, with some playing time all together and knowing how each other play, I hope we can push up the table a bit.”
Listen to the full interview below:
