TRANENT Juniors manager Gary Small has signed a new one-year contract with the East Premier League club.

Small, who took over from James 'Twin' Thomson in February 2015, and has enjoyed remarkable success in his time at Foresters Park.

He guided the club to the South Division title, their first for 18 years, at the end of last season, and secured the signing of former Scotland midfielder Kevin Thomson over the summer.

Thomson, a UEFA Cup finalist with Rangers, signed up after his third spell with Hibs came to an end.

The Belters have drawn their opening two matches of the Premier League season, against Tayport and Dalkeith Thistle.

Small, though, was delighted to have signed a new deal, which takes him until the end of the 2017/18 season.

He said: "I am delighted the club wants to take this step to secure my longer-term future.

"I am very honoured to be manager of Tranent Juniors and I will continue to give my all to the club, with the aim of delivering further success, to build on the success of last season.

"I'm a young manager and I'm very driven to be successful – I am glad I have a committee that recognise that and want to give me their support and the platform to further develop as a manager."

Davie Innes, who recently took over as chairman, was similarly delighted to have agreed terms with Small.

He added: "I don't think in all my time in football have I seen a more hard working manager.

"Everyone at the club is delighted we have tied Gary down for another year, it gives us stability and allows us all to deliver the vision we have for the club."

Small thanked the club's fans for their support, while adding: "The club has seen a fairly high turnover of players and coaches and I believe having this stability will allow us to concentrate on the things we want to achieve."

Matthew Wright, vice-chairman, said he was "delighted" the club has secured Small's services until summer 2018.