Falkirk midfielder Brad Spencer on Hearts transfer link as star reveals new contract talks

Falkirk fans’ favourite Brad Spencer says he is open to signing a new contract with the Bairns amid reports that Scottish Premiership rivals Hearts have been keeping a ‘close eye’ on the midfielder.

The Bairns ace, 29, was named the PFA Scotland Championship Player of the Year thanks to his stellar showings in the middle of the park for John McGlynn’s side as they sealed a second successive SPFL title. He acted as stand-in captain for most of the campaign with Coll Donaldson crocked, and a goal tally of eight was a personal best for Spencer.

Previous reporting from The Daily Record suggested that the Tynecastle club’s Jamestown Analytics’ partnership highlighted the 29-year-old as a potential signing target for new boss Derek McInnes. Hearts have scouted Spencer since the turn of the year.

Spencer is ‘happy’ at Falkirk amid Hearts interest

“Yeah, I’m obviously happy here,” Spencer revealed. “I’ve got a year left on my contract, so I’m happy here. I’m at a place that I enjoy playing my football. Obviously, if you’re getting links and things like that with a club like Hearts, it obviously means you’re doing something right. But I know there’s a long way before anything like that would ever happen, so I’m just focused on the now. I don’t really look into what’s going on on the other side, I leave that to other people and I just focus on my football.”

When asked if a new contract was on the table, he added: “Yeah, I think so. I think the gaffer (John McGlynn) was maybe speaking to my agent about it over the last week or so. As I said, I just like to leave that to them and I’ll just go out on the park, train every day, do my Falkirk Running Club and then go from there – pre-season is a running club!

“Yeah, it (the contract) would just need to be I think right for all parties, definitely. If it’s something that I think is beneficial, then I will obviously look to sign it. And if it’s not, then there’s/it’s obviously work to do to try and get to there. It’s a place I enjoy my football, so I’d be open to staying. But we’ll see what happens.”

Falkirk and Stenhousemuir reach this year’s Stirlingshire Cup final

Falkirk kicked off their pre-season by booking a spot in the Stirlingshire Cup final against Stenhousemuir this coming Tuesday evening, with kick-off at 7.45pm at the Falkirk Stadium as they look to retain the trophy.

The Bairns got the better of Alloa Athletic on penalties on Saturday before going on to beat Pat Scullion’s East Stirlingshire. Spencer played in the 0-0 draw against the Wasps and watched on as the team went on to beat the Shire 2-0 thanks to a Barney Stewart brace.

At Ochilview, Gary Naysmith’s Warriors cruised into the final thanks to a 2-0 win over Dumbarton followed by a 2-1 victory against Stirling Albion. Michael Anderson and Corey O’Donnell netted in the opener against the Sons with recent signing Finlay Gray amd Euan O’Reilly grabbing the goals against the Binos.