We’re now just a week away from being able to see the Lions back in action as we travel to Clackmannanshire to take on Alloa Athletic, so we thought it would be a good time to introduce you to our new signings we have welcomed to the Home of the Set Fare Arena over the summer.

We started our recruitment with the announcement of Connor McLennan from Ayr United. No stranger to the Lions having faced us four times last season and scoring the first of his three goals in our first meeting back in October last year.

A product of the Aberdeen youth system, Connor worked his way up the Dons ranks, breaking into their first team in 2016, making his debut against St Johnstone. Two loan spells with Brechin would follow, before going on to make a total of 86 appearances for Aberdeen. He would head off on another loan deal in the final year of his contract, this time to St Johnstone, where we would go on to make 26 appearances.

A year in Manchester followed with Salford City, managing 24 appearances prior to his arrival at Somerset Park last campaign. The 25 year old is a former Scotland U21 cap, and joins on a two year deal.

Connor was quickly joined by our second signing of the season Graham Carey from St Johnstone. The 36 year old made over 100 appearances for the Saints over three years, and joins with a wealth of Premiership experience.

Carey started his career at Shelbourne before being picked up by Celtic youth. Loan spells at Bohemians, St Mirren and Huddersfield Town gave the Irishman a taste of professional football, before moving back to Paisley on a permanent deal in 2011. Renfrewshire would be his home for two years, where he went on to make 55 appearances before making the switch up north to Ross County. He would again spend two seasons with the Highland side before joining Plymouth Argyle in 2015.

It was here he really found his feet and went on to make just shy of 180 appearances over four seasons, scoring 45 goals in the process. This earned him a move to Bulgarian team CSKA Sofia, spending three years in Eastern Europe before returning to Scotland.

Next in the door was a man who needed no introduction to West Lothian. Stevie May, who spent last season with Davie and the team, decided to rejoin the club on a permanent deal following the expiry of his contact with St Johnstone. Scoring ten goals over 33 appearance for the Lions last campaign, Stevie earned himself a deal thanks to his endless running, causing many a defender a nuisance.

It was St Johnstone where May burst on the scene, scoring around 70 goals in 5 seasons, this including loan spells at Alloa Athletic and Hamilton Academical. His form and fondness for a goal led to a move down south, where he joined English giants Sheffield Wednesday. He quickly switched to Preston North End where he spent two seasons before returning to the north of Scotland with Aberdeen. Making over 60 appearances for the Dons over two years, he opted to return back to his boyhood club St Johnstone, where he made another 132 appearances before joining the Lions.

Next through the doors at Almondvale is 25-year-old striker Zak Rudden. Zak joins us from Queens Park where he scored 15 goals across 47 appearances in all competitions.

The former Rangers youth player comes with good experience of the Scottish game, with spells at Falkirk, Partick Thistle, Dundee, St Johnstone and Raith Rovers as well as a loan spell at Plymouth Argyle. Rudden is a former Scotland youth player who has been capped at every level up to U21, and joins to provide competition to last season’s top goalscorer Robbie Muirhead.

Manager Davie Martindale added his second Irishman of the summer window by welcoming Shane Blaney, who joins from Motherwell. The centre-back makes the switch from amber to gold following two seasons in Lanarkshire, making 43 appearances.

Starting his career at Finn Harps, Shane had a brief spell in England with Doncaster Rovers where he spent most of his time on loan with Tamworth, Grantham Town and Blyth Spartans before making a permanent move back to Ireland to join Sligo Rovers. His homecoming was short lived however as he made the switch to Scotland after just one season.

To date the last signing of the summer period, Cammy Kerr is another who joins us from Queens Park. The 29 year old is best known for his tenure at Dundee, where he spent 21 years in total from joining as an 8 year old. Making his debut for the team he had a season ticket for as a kid against Montrose in 2013, Cammy went on to make well over 200 appearances for the Tayside club, as well as loan spells at Peterhead and Inverness Caledonian Thistle, before switching to Scotland’s oldest club.

Welcome to West Lothian, guys!

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