Forfar boss Jim Weir has thanked the club’s board for allowing him to extend keeper Marc McCallum’s stay at the club.
The goalie is a key player for the Angus side and he has now been tied up until 2022 after signing a new two-year contract on Thursday.
Weir admitted he was delighted the 26-year-old former Dundee United player had decided to pledge his future to the club, with the news a big boost ahead of this afternoon’s League 1 game at Station Park with Stranraer.
The manager said: “We had Marc signed up a couple of years ago for the two years.
“He was a major part of us staying in the league that season, then last year we felt he got better again.
“He has come back in great shape and we just feel that we certainly don’t want to lose our best players.
“We are trying to build something and Marc is key to that as the spine of the team has to be right.
“I thought it was the right time (for an extension) rather than wait until Christmas to start to negotiate.
“When things are going well, he could start to get a wee sniff from other clubs but he is happy at Forfar and we felt it was the right time to give him some security in terms of playing and enjoying his football.
“He is really doing that so it is a great piece of business from the club to give us the support to add another two years to his contract.”
McCallum’s extension is part of a wider plan by Weir to bring stability to his squad rather than constant change every summer.
He added: “At the moment, I am very happy with my squad. During pre-season I watched a number of clubs really struggle to put a squad together.
“You get to the Betfred Cup and you are not allowed trialists. I have managed part-time clubs for a while now and I have been there.
“So what I am trying to do at Forfar is to make sure that doesn’t happen at the football club and the more quality players I have signed up for more than a year, the better.
“That means we don’t have to tinker with it every season and have to bring in almost a new team.”
Forfar kicked off their League 1 campaign last week with a notable 2-0 win on the road over Ian Murray’s Airdrie.
Weir is hoping for more of the same today but he is taking nothing for granted against a stuffy Stranraer side.
He said: “It was a fantastic win last week because there are big expectations at Airdrie this year with them having more than a dozen full-timers.
“There has been big investment and I think it will come to fruition.
“It just takes time. Ian signed a lot of players in the summer and it can take a bit of time to find your best team and formation, but take nothing away from our lads.
“I was delighted to get off to a winning start and we will look for another good result against Airdrie.
“I think Stevie Farrell has done an excellent job there. Every season they are favourites to go down.
“We have found them a very difficult team to play against particularly away from home.
“They made a lot of changes during the summer but I have looked at all their Betfred games and their last match and one thing I know is you are in for a really tough time this year against Stranraer.
“For me they are a team who will surprise a few.”
Forfar’s Michael Travis will miss out through suspension.
