News | New contract for Deniz Mehmet

Deniz Mehmet signs up for more at Dunfermline Athletic

The club is pleased to announced that goalkeeper Deniz Mehmet has agreed a new three year contract.

Deniz was Dunfermline Athletic`s first choice keeper last season, one in which the club lifted the cinch Scottish League One title, and with a record breaking 24 shut outs in his 44 appearances Deniz earned himself a place in the PFAScotland League One Team of the Season. Immensely popular with the home support they even created an appreciative chant for the 30 year old goalkeeper.

It was Peter Grant who brought Deniz to Dunfermline Athletic from Dundee United, joining on a 2 year contract but it was James McPake who placed faith in the London born keeper making him his first choice stopper.

Speaking earlier today Deniz said that he was pleased to have his new contract agreed and over the line and delighted with the security of a three year deal at Dunfermline:-

"It`s nice to have that sort of commitment shown to me from the gaffer and the club. It`s good for me to know where I`m going to be for the foreseeable future. It`s good to have that security and peace of mind - you know what you`re in for for the seasons to come."

"I`m looking forward to next year. There was never any doubt, we were speaking earlier in the season and, as these things do, they take time."

Dunfermline have now signed up all their title winning defence to take that into the Championship and Deniz predicted:-

"It`s going to be a tough challenge. Everyone saw last season, trying to get up to the Championship was hard and tougher than it looked from the outside. I think the boys worked really hard. It might go a little bit unnoticed when people see a 14-point gap to Falkirk, but that was from all the hard work that we put in throughout the season.

"The main thing is to compete with the other teams. No disrespect, but we`re going to come up against better teams and better players. It`s going to be a tough season ahead but it`s going to be a good challenge for us all.`

Kyle Benedictus has one year left on his contract and with Aaron Comrie, Josh Edwards and Rhys Breen all signing new contracts there is going to be continuity a the heart of the Dunfermline defence. Deniz claimed that creates a better understanding of each other:-

`There was a real team chemistry this year. We`re not teammates, we`re a bunch of friends. Everyone is happy to work hard for each other, do their own job initially and, if it`s necessary, go and help out someone else. I think that`s what we were potentially lacking two years ago but last season we managed to get that togetherness and that bond."

Deniz attributed his club shut out record as a success for the whole team:-

"It`s nice to look back on and, with the history this club`s got, to be able to say I`m the one that holds the clean-sheet record, it`s an amazing feeling to have and it`s another proud feeling. But it was nowhere near achievable without the boys doing what they did."

His record also contributed to the Dunfermline goalkeeper being named in the League One Team of the Season and he was delighted to receive such recognition:-

"It was a brilliant feeling, it was a huge honour to get that. I didn`t know anything like that was coming and didn`t expect it. It`s a huge honour to get that and it`s definitely looking for something to look back and be proud of."

Related Stories