Academy skipper pens new deal
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WICK Academy skipper Alan Farquhar has ended weeks of speculation by signing a new deal with the club.
Farquhar’s new contract is a three-year deal and will take him through to the summer of 2021.
The defender has proved himself to be a popular figure among the support since arriving in 2008 and has been the club captain since 2014.
A delighted Academy boss Tom McKenna said: “Alan re-signing for another three years shows his commitment and loyalty towards the club.
“He is an experienced member of the squad and possesses qualities that will enhance an already strong and positive team.
“He was out for a long time so his presence with a pre-season under his belt will give us a feeling of a new player.”
Farquhar said: “It has been a frustrating year after having my hip operation and taking time to get back to full fitness.
“I’m delighted to sign a new deal with the club as we have a great bunch of guys and hopefully will see more players pushing into the first team this year also.
“At the second half of last season, we started getting very good numbers at training which made a massive difference to competition for positions, so I hope it’s the same this year at pre-season for us.”
Farquhar staying on also brings about a sense of relief for Scorries fans who recently saw striker Steven Anderson complete a shock move to Rothes.
The fallout from that is still rumbling on and chairman James Innes took time to address the fans’ concerns and outlined the reason why the club refused to break the bank to keep Anderson.
He said: “Ando is rightly putting his personal and working life first and utilising his massive football skill to enable it to happen for him.
“Rothes are spending big and mean business next season and we, along with other clubs, were never at the races to secure his signature for next season.
“Steven was the club’s first signing after I became Wick Academy chairman, and I can still remember the two hours sitting down with him convincing him he was more than good enough to make the jump from second division county league football with Lybster to Highland League with us.
“I can understand the fans’ frustration at us not having Steven for another season but we fought hard to keep [goalkeeper] Sean McCarthy at the club and we can’t keep competing with a club who appear to have a massive kitty to spend.
“We run our club with a debit card mentality and not a credit card one. Unfortunately, bus hires, lawnmower repair bills and players’ wages and so on can’t get paid with money we don’t have.”
