Stephen Bronsky turned down more lucrative offers to sign a new deal at Elgin City, where he aims to finish off the hard work of a last campaign and promotion push halted by the coronavirus pandemic
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UNFINISHED Elgin City business persuaded defender Stephen Bronsky to sign a new deal with the Borough Briggs club.
The 26-year-old Glasgow-based player feels City had a great chance of achieving their first-ever promotion when coronavirus struck and shut football down in March.
He was on the brink of signing a new contract then, but the deal stalled with City thrown into financial uncertainty due to the implications of Covid-19.
Offers came in from clubs at a higher level than Elgin, but when manager Gavin Price told Bronsky he was a big part of his plans for next season, his mind was made up.
The Moray outfit was able to make another contract offer which Bronsky happily accepted.
"Towards the end of last season there was a deal put on the table for me," he revealed.
"Through work commitments and stuff I was holding off a wee bit to see how the season panned out and see what I was doing myself. It seemed I was going to sign and the league ended without any notice really, so that put us in an awkward situation.
"Elgin did make it clear they wanted to keep me for the next season but they didn’t know what they could offer or if the same deal was going to be on the table. It was a waiting game at that point.
"I had quite a few offers on the table to go elsewhere, some better deals in terms of money and a lot closer to home.
"But I personally felt there was some unfinished business up at Elgin. I’ve enjoyed my time at the club, I’ve enjoyed the players that I’ve worked with, the gaffer and the backroom staff and everything.
"The way last season ended, I didn’t feel it was proper to leave and I’d maybe give it one more go and see if we can make that final push and step up the league."
Bronsky was City's player of the year in a campaign cut short by the pandemic, with his team firmly in the hunt for the League 1 play-offs.
The defender scored a brilliant header in the 3-0 win in February over eventual champions Cove Rangers (see video below), at a time when Elgin were in red-hot form.
But the football shutdown led to the play-offs being scrapped, and the Borough Briggs side must try again next season to find their holy grail of promotion.
Bronsky believes the shortened, 27-game League 2 campaign could work in Elgin's favour.
"Continuity is massive and keeping the bulk of the squad together is huge," he said.
"We know how each other play and what to expect from each other. We are under no illusion that losing Shane (Sutherland) is a massive blow because you’re taking a 25-30 goal a season striker out but we’ve got boys who are hopefully going to step up to the mark and we can maybe bring a few boys in.
"We hope we can hit the ground running and start the next season a bit better than we started last season. It’s all about continuing from the end of last season and having a real go because I think the league is there to be won.
"Queen’s Park are really throwing money at it by going full-time. But it is a shorter season and we’re not going to get a better chance than this, I don’t think.
"A 27-game season means if you do get off to a good start, nine games in means that’s a third of the season gone and if you’re in a good position then you can hopefully start to make a wee bit of headway from everyone else and just push on.
"That will be our aim, but obviously it’s going to be difficult."
