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Manager Paul Hartley has wished Harry Milne all the best for “the next exciting chapter of his career” after it was confirmed the 25-year-old left-back has signed a pre-contract agreement with  Partick Thistle. 

Harry has agreed a two year, full-time, contract with the Championship side. 

Paul said: “Everyone at Cove Rangers wishes Harry well. 

“Partick have offered him what we can’t at this stage, which is the opportunity to play full-time football. 

“He leaves with our best wishes and a hope that he does well in the next exciting chapter of his career.” 

Harry, a former youth player with Aberdeen, was signed by our former manager – and now football director – John Sheran in 2015. 

Harry was then sent out on loan to Culter Juniors for a season. 

We had already moved out of our previous home at Allan Park by the time Harry became a first team regular, so his early campaigns in the Highland League were while we were ground sharing, until we moved into Balmoral Stadium in 2018. 

He played a key part in helping us gain promotion via the SPFL play-offs in 2019 and win the League Two title in our first season up. 

Harry has also been outstanding this term, making 28 league appearances, scoring six times and registering seven assists to help us win the cinch League One title and secure promotion to the Championship. 

Harry was also voted Cove Rangers players’ Player of the Year by his team-mates, lifted the CoveRangers.com top player award and is also one of the four nominees for the PFA Scotland League One player of the year award. 

The winner of that will be announced in Glasgow on Sunday. 

Paul added: “There is no better way for Harry to sign off than as a league champion. 

“The statistics underline just how great a season he has had. 

“Harry has also been a magnificent servant to Cove Rangers, has always conducted himself in a professional manner and it’s been a pleasure working with him for the last three years.” 

Director John Sheran said: “On behalf of my fellow directors and everyone else at the club I would like to repeat what Paul said and wish Harry all the best when he moves on in the summer. 

“He has worked hard to earn the move that has now come his way. 

“Harry was very much a gangly, raw, player when I received a tip-off that we should have a look at him after he had been released by Aberdeen. 

“We invited Harry to play in a trial match against Echt and you could see right away that he had something special. 

“Harry has put in a tremendous amount of effort to improve himself as a player since then and helped us achieve so much during his seven years at Cove. 

“It would have been great if we could have kept Harry with us a little longer, but we fully respect his desire to have a go at playing full-time for the first time in his career.” 

Speaking after helping us clinch the cinch League One title by beating Dumbarton 1-0 at the weekend, Harry said: “I’m really happy with what I managed to contribute to the team this season. 

“People speak a lot about what I contribute going forward, which I do enjoy. 

“But I’m equally as proud of what I contributed defensively. 

“We recorded our 19th clean sheet in the win over Dumbarton, which underlines how strong we have been as a unit defensively.” 

On winning the league, Harry added: “First and foremost it’s a massive achievement for the club to get to somewhere they have never been before. 

“It’s also special because I’ve known a lot of the players at Cove for a lot of years.

“We have all been on the journey together and that’s something we will always cherish. 

“Throughout my whole time at the club we have always had a winning mentality. 

“That was emphasised by John (Sheran), whose message was always go out there and win by what every means it takes. 

“It never changed when we stepped up a level, the focus under Paul (Hartley) has always been on doing everything in our powers to win every game we played. 

“It doesn’t matter how you win, sometimes it’s not pretty and on other occasions you can do it in style. 

“But we didn’t care as long as we did what was needed to get the three points. 

“That was the case against Dumbarton, we didn’t play well against them at all. 

“But you know when you have a goal sniffer like Mitch (Megginson) in your team you always have a chance. 

“It was amazing to get things over the line and to be able to celebrate such a great achievement with people who are my friends as well as my team-mates.” 

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