Getting Nathan Austin back to the club was “a no-brainer” for East Fife manager Greig McDonald.
The striker leaves Kelty Hearts after four years at New Central Park where he achieved back-to-back promotions.
The 29-year-old struggled with injury in the most recent season but netted 21 times the year before as Kelty marched to the League Two title.
Austin is back at MGM Timber Bayview for a second permanent spell – signing a two-year deal – though there have been two loan spells between those.
🚨𝗙𝗔𝗦𝗛 𝗜𝗦 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞🚨
We're delighted to announce the return of Nathan Austin on a 2-year deal.
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— East Fife FC (@EastFifeFC) May 22, 2023
“I’m delighted to get Fash back at the club,” McDonald told Courier Sport. “He’s an experienced player, he’s got a track record of scoring goals.
“He compliments what we’ve got already in terms of our existing strikers. It was a no-brainer, really.
“I had a good chat with him, he’s excited to come back. He’s the next piece of the jigsaw puzzle that we need to add, in terms of trying to add more goals to our team from last year.”
Austin was still under contract at the Maroon Machine but the clubs agreed on a return to the Fifers.
McDonald said he is looking forward to working with the striker – who still lives in Leven – over the next two seasons.
“Thankfully the board backed the move and we were able to bring him back to Bayview.
“I’m looking forward to working with him over the next couple of years.”
McDonald still wants to add “two or three” more players to his squad and told Courier Sport earlier in the week that he doesn’t want to use the loan market as much next season.
“We’re working on a few things,” he added. “We’re not looking to add too many, but we need to add to our defence.
“We’ve lost Aaron Steele and Sam Denham got injured at the end of the season.
“We need to add defensively, and I’m also keen to add one more forward player as well.
“Hopefully we’ll add two or three more over the coming weeks.”
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