Pender re-signs amidst Bray exodus

League of Ireland Premier Division side Bray Wanderers have announced that defender Derek Pender has committed himself to the club for the coming season. However, twelve players have left the Carlisle Grounds, including Gavin Whelan, Alan Cawley, Ger Rowe and Aidan O'Keeffe.

Pender joined Bray just over twelve months ago after leaving Shamrock Rovers at the end of the Hoops' first year back in the top flight. A former Shelbourne under-21 player, Pender spent time on-loan at Dundalk in 2004 before winning back-to-back promotions with Dublin City and Rovers, where he gained his first league medal. The Dubliner had an impressive first season at Bray last year but his decision to extend his stay with the Seagulls will compensate little for the exodus from the club.

To add to the exits of Whelan, Cawley, Rowe and O'Keeffe, Mark Duggan, Gary Cronin, Kevin Doherty, Emeka Onwubiko, Ray Kenny, Ronan Ivory, Andy Myler and Alan Gough have also departed, as Bray's longest ever stay in the Premier Division looks in serious danger of finally coming to an end. The Seagulls will operate on a small budget this season and have so far only signed two new players, both from First Division club Longford Town, namely Daire Doyle and Stephen Gough. Andrei Georgescu has also rejoined having spent the second-half of last year on-loan at Shelbourne.

Manager Eddie Gormley has already predicted a tough campaign. "It’s going to be a tough season ahead," he told Bray's official website, "as we have lost a lot of players and we don’t have the finance to go out and buy players. I will be looking for players who want to come in and do well for themselves and for Bray Wanderers. We must look at the bigger picture - do we want a successful team and a bankrupt club? I don’t think anybody wants that, so we must cut our cloth according to our measure.”