Paterson happy to stay with Reivers
May 5, 2000

Scotland international Chris Paterson insists he had no doubts about signing a new three-year deal with Edinburgh Reivers despite the attentions of a host of other clubs.

The versatile 22-year-old, who can play at full-back and stand-off, has attracted the attention of many in the game after making his debut for Scotland in the World Cup last October.

But Paterson, who joined Graham Shiel in re-signing for the Reivers, believes no other team would look after him the same.

"I presume there was general interest nothing formal basically because I had made up my mind pretty strongly that I wanted to stay. I'm happy to commit myself to the Reivers," said Paterson.

"There are many, many aspects that you have to take into consideration. The first one is that Edinburgh Reivers are very complementary to players' needs.

"If you look at the situation now with some players, with so many games being played, they are catching up with them.

"With the Reivers, they really look after you and they look to the longer scale.

"You have to look after your body, and maybe some clubs are pretty apprehensive about giving players a rest. But, as a professional at the Reivers, we can do that."

Reivers chief executive Nick Oswald admits the club are now looking to expand the squad to create a rotation system for the forthcoming season to prevent potential burn-out for young stars like Paterson.

"We have played 29 competitive games this year and we have two to come," said Oswald.

"We hope to progress in the European Cup next year, and there is the likelihood of the British Cup.

"So we could be looking at 35 to 40 matches, and it is important that we look to strengthen the squad and, perhaps, increase the size of it slightly so that we could look at the rotational side of things.

"We are well aware of the assets we have and we don't want to overplay players and we have been pretty good with regards to that."

But Oswald is also concerned with the venue for Reivers' home games for the next campaign.

Edinburgh have used Myreside, Galashiels, Jedburgh and Kelso for their home fixtures this season.

But Oswald insists the lack of a permanent home has prevented a regular crowd attending the games.

"When you go down to Wales or play anywhere the opposition have a huge advantage because they play at the same time every week at the same place," said Oswald.

"That is something we need to start to work towards, and I certainly hope that next year we will be looking at one venue in Edinburgh and one in the borders.

"I think players would agree that the lack of support at home has been a problem for us, and that is partly related to the Mackay report saying we have to play at a number of different grounds.

"But I think we have to be practical and sensible. We have got to give ourselves a chance.

"We have had tremendous support at Northampton and Newport where the noise was unbelievable.

"We have got to give ourselves a chance to get people to come out and support us.

"It is our aim next year to play in one venue in Edinburgh and one in the borders.

"We do not have anywhere specific just yet but we will work away on that and, hopefully, we will be able to make some announcements fairly soon."

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