THE secretary of Cumnock Juniors has heaped praise on the club’s fans for keeping them going through the coronavirus pandemic.

Club secretary Jamie Campbell says the ‘Nock supporters can’t be thanked enough by the club for all that they’ve done to continue backing the East Ayrshire side during such testing times.

Football has been in cold storage since March in Scotland and times have been tough for all sides at various levels of Scottish football.

But there is light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel as teams prepare for the new West of Scotland Football League and can the return to training this month.

Jamie insists the club can’t wait to get back with the fans by their side.

He said: “We’re keeping fine. We keep in touch with a lot of supporters through a group chat, which has over 100 members now.

“Everyone has been in good fettle. There’s been a lot of good banter in it and plenty of old photos and memories to discuss, so it’s kept us going throughout lockdown.

“People have been participating in the ‘Donate a Ticket Cross Country Cup’ so we’re looking forward to the next round of that.

“The fans have been backing us big time in terms of fundraising, donating tickets or giving to raffles – so a huge thank you must go to them.

“They’ve been absolutely brilliant. Hopefully there’s no games behind closed doors because at our level it wouldn’t be worth the time whatsoever.

“The supporters are the life blood of the juniors. We’re looking forward to seeing them back at Townhead sooner rather than later.”

Cumnock will enter the WoSL Premier division when it’s given the go ahead to start.

And Jamie says gaffer Tony McInally and his backroom staff have been working behind the scenes to ensure they’re ready.

He added: “I think we can see some normality creep back into our lives as hopefully we approach the start of the season.

“The permission that’s been given to resume training at the end of July with a view to starting the season at the end of September is positive news.”