Reserves recruit nine
Berwick Rangers have recruited nine new players ahead of the 2018/19 season.
The team will be playing in the newly formed SPFL Reserve League, which is made up of teams from the old Development League East and Development League West.
Despite the league no longer being officially classed as a youth league, the club will continue to build on the foundations laid by the youth management team, using the league to develop players for the first team, with the ages of all new signings ranging from 17-19.
This has been an area of huge success for the club in recent seasons, with seven players making the step up to the first team squad over the last two years. Several more have featured for the club during this time.
First up, twins Jordan and Daniel Purves have joined the club from Tynecastle. The pair play in defence and midfield respectfully, and are both 18 years old. Four more 18-year-olds have joined the club over the summer, with Defender Bruce McCrorie moving from Tranent and trio Andrew Malcolm, Callum Ashford and Ben Rolland signing from Glenrothes Strollers.
Following on from the success of Grant Rose, who has joined Robbie Horn’s first team squad and featured v both Hibs and Alloa, two more 17-year-olds have joined the Reserves ahead of the new campaign. Forward Marc Malloy and Midfielder Brandon Blair have been scouted from Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale and Hutchison Vale.
Lastly, 19-year-old Lee Barrett has joined from Whitehill Welfare. The oldest of the new signings, the striker is the brother of current player Bradley Barrett.
Youth Coach Daniel McKenzie is happy to have the players signed up after a long recruitment process: “I’m delighted with our new signings, they have been a part of the squad since the start of pre-season training and have settled in well. I’m looking forward to seeing them all throughout our pre-season schedule. A lot of time and effort goes into these signings and indeed the work was done on most of these from around about Christmas time onwards. We watch them a good number of times to see them at their best and worst and in certain situations to see how they react.
The Reserve squad have already been busy throughout pre-season, beating Leith Athletic 7-4 on Tuesday and drawing 1-1 with Burntisland Shipyard on Thursday.
