Stevie Hetherington returns to the Recs

The midfielder racked up a staggering 202 appearances for Alloa before signing for Falkirk in 2021.

Following a brief loan spell at Arbroath, Hetherington has signed on for next season with the Wasps.

Speaking to Advertiser Sport, Hetherington said he was delighted to be back and looks forward to helping the team challenge for the league.

He said: “It feels brilliant just to see the boys again, I kept in touch with a few of them while I was away and see a few of them regularly away from football as well.

“It’s good to be back – I spoke to Brian Rice in January and I knew I wanted to come back since then.

“I’m delighted to be back here and get back to it.”

Hetherington left Alloa in 2021 and pursued full-time football with Falkirk, who he quickly went on to captain.

HE'S BACK: Steven Hetherington has signed for the Wasps once again. Picture by Scott Barron Photography.

At the start of this year, he went out on loan at Arbroath, who were battling to avoid relegation. He made six appearances for The Red Lichties, helping them avoid relegation and remain in the Championship.

“I went to play for Falkirk for a couple of years,” he added. “It didn’t really work out in terms of what we were looking to do.

“I had limited game time just after January so Arbroath made an approach to go on loan and it felt like the right thing to do – go out and get some game time before my contract came to an end.

“Once I knew the gaffer here had interest, I always knew I wanted to come back to Alloa.”

Hetherington went on to explain his aims for the upcoming season, looking to help lift Alloa as high as possible up the league table.

He said “We need to see where it’s at, pre-season is big in terms of the friendlies and we’ve got the League Cup as well.

“We need to take the first few games as they come, then once you’re a good bit into the season, you’ll know where you’re at and you get a feel for the squad.

“We need to just care about ourselves and take game by game. We’ve proven over the last two years that we can get some big results and get something similar to last year.”

Alloa confirmed five further signings in addition to Hetherington, including David Devine who signed permanently with the Wasps, furthering on from his loan spell at the club last season.

Goalkeeper P.J. Morrison also returns, signing from Falkirk, having also spent time on loan at Alloa in 2022.

New faces at the club include Kurtis Roberts from Clyde, Morgyn Neil and Miko Virtanen from Cove Rangers and David McKay who signs from Queen of the South.

Rice teased another signing is close to being finalised, with the gaffer hopeful of signing another two or three before the window closes.