COWDENBEATH have secured the signings of 13 of their players for the new season.

But there will be one player who played a significant part in last season’s march towards the promotion play-offs who will not be around for the big kick-off in October.

He is striker Jordan Allan, who has joined League 1 side Forfar Athletic.

Having recovered from a knee injury through an operation, he made a good contribution to the campaign which saw the team in the top three most of the season, but he has been giving the chance to play in League 1 next term which he has accepted.

However, the rest of the players have decided to stay aboard and join defender Ross Clarke, signed from Albion Rovers, for the bid to be in the promotion race for the truncated 27 game League 2 season.

That means that Fraser Mullen, Harvey Swann, Jamie Todd, Craig Barr, Jamie Pyper, Kyle Miller, Gavin Morrison, Robbie Buchanan, David Cox, Kris Renton, Mikey Herd, Kyle Sneddon and Graham Taylor have signed on, who will be joined by first season seniors Ross Pollock and Jacob Glass.

Manager Gary Bollan is looking to add to this total including getting the goalkeeper he wants for the new season.

Secretary David Allan said that he was delighted to be securing players on contracts at last after the months of inactivity.

“We are heading in the right direction now and training resuming this week is a landmark moment,” said David.

“There has had to be a lot of preparation needed to get training started. We had an induction meeting on Thursday night to let the guys know how different things will be this pre-season.

“The players will have to turn up changed, train and then go home in the same gear as there is to be no internal changing accommodation available under the current Covid regulations.

“At the induction meeting we had to explain to the players how there has to social distancing in the changing rooms this season and how they will have to have their temperature taken every time they come to the ground plus having to fill in a small questionnaire as part of the Covid regulations.

“It is important that we strictly follow the regulations that have been put in place.”

The secretary also reported that the office accommodation and changing rooms are drying out after the flooding damage sustained two weeks ago.

The dehumidifiers have been working away for a fortnight an have made a major impact in drying out the very wet lower floor of the office accommodation.

David added: “Extensive remedial work is now underway but in essence the ground floor has had to be completely cleared with some parts being gutted of fixtures, fittings, furniture, floor coverings, etc.

“At least 22 days dehumidification of the ground floor is required. Silt has been removed from the drainage system, floors will be taken up and extensive repairs and refurbishment are necessary.

“This means the dressing rooms are out of bounds and the Club Office will not be reopened for some time. We do recommend that Season Ticket purchases, Sponsorships, etc are taken forward online as previously advertised”.

Player sponsorship packages will be announced soon and the club hopes to announce shirt sponsor deals within a few days.