Bankies boss Gordon Moffat has paid tribute to Alan Vezza after it was announced he would be leaving the club at the end of his contract.

Vezza played 180 times for the Bankies over two different spells, having made his debut back in 2009 against Maryhill.

He then re-joined the club in 2015, scoring a total of 16 times over his two spells.

The midfielder was one of seven players not to be offered a deal for next season, alongside Marc Waters, Ross Alexander, Liam Rowan, Jack McClair, Aaron Millar and Paul Hewitt, with goalkeeping coach Scott Morrison also leaving the club upon expiry.

Clydebank manager Moffat admits it was difficult to not be able to break the news to the players face-to-face, due to social distancing restrictions.

Speaking to the Post, he said: “I was holding off as much as I could because you the least you can do is do these things face-to-face in person.

“We had waited to see the next announcement on the lockdown, and when they said it was going to be another three weeks I just had to bite the bullet and do the chats.

“We made sure to do them over video rather than just a phone call so we did have that face-to-face chat that the players deserved.

“We tried to do it in the right way as best we could under the circumstances.

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“It was a difficult decision with Vez, but it was a bit of a mutual one.

“We had a good chat and he just felt it was the right time to call it a day with us and I probably agreed with that.

“He just felt it was the right time to go and do something new.

“In terms of what he’s given to the club you can’t say enough good things about him.

“He was there when I was there as a player and in my short time as a manger he’s been terrific.

“He’s not always been in the team but he is a tremendous leader and person to have leading the boys.

“He’s been brilliant in the dressing room, playing or not, and his attitude and work ethic can’t be faulted at all.

“It was a difficult one but we both agreed it was the right time for him to go and do something different. He leaves with our best wishes.”

On the other side of the coin, Moffat has also been in touch about bringing in new players to Holm Park and is optimistic about the early conversations he has had.

He said: “We’ve had some good positive discussions. It’s an odd one because boys contracts still run to June but obviously teams are speaking to players and everyone is trying to move forward.

“We’ve had some really good talks with boys and we’re sitting in a good place for the short time that those talks have been going on. I’m really positive about what we’ve been doing so far.”