We are delighted to announce that Ben Kelly has signed a new two-year contract with the club.
The 28-year-old forward has spent the last three seasons with us having signed from Invergordon in 2023 and has now pledged his future to remain at Station Park until the Summer of 2028.
Kelly had his most successful season with us on an individual basis this year, making 26 appearances for the club and scoring five times while contributing another five assists on top of that.
Now, the North of Scotland Cup winning attacker has put pen to paper on a new deal, to the delight of manager Wayne Mackintosh, who feels he has a key role to play in the team next season.
Toshy said: “We are all delighted that Ben has signed up for the next two seasons. He has had a great season and done really well to earn this new deal.
“He had other options, so we are really pleased that he wants to stay and continue to move forward with us.
“He has shown that he can contribute to the team both playing wide, off the front or through the middle either in a strike pairing or as a lone striker, which gives us great options depending on how we want to setup the team from game to game.”
He added: “Ben was injured from mid-January for a couple of months and we really missed him while he was out. He came back for the last few games of the season and even though he was not near 100 percent fitness, he is another who made himself available to play when we were short on numbers, which is testament to his character and his attitude towards his football.
“These are the sorts of traits we are looking for across the squad and Ben is now really developing into a leader within the group, which is also great to see. He looks after himself properly away from the club and keeps on top of his fitness in his own time.
“We are really hopeful that Ben can get the rewards his efforts deserve over the coming seasons because he is the sort of player any manager would want to have in the dressing room. It has been a pleasure to work with Ben this season and everyone at the club is looking forward to continuing to work with him and helping him to continue his progress over the next few seasons.”
Ben joined us from then-North Caledonian League club, Invergordon, in 2023. During his first season with the club, he scored a memorable extra time goal in our 5-4 North of Scotland Cup final victory over Ross County in October. He then spent the second half of that season on loan at Forres Mechanics, furthering his Highland League experience before returning to the club that summer. He has gone on to cement a place in the team this season, bringing his total number of appearances for the club up to 60 with seven goals throw in.
