Last updated on .From the section Berwick

Jack Ogilvie and Berwick Rangers suffered relegation from Scotland's senior leagues

Berwick Rangers' demotion from the Scottish Professional Football League has been "years" in the making, says incoming chairman John Bell.

Scotland's only England-based side lost 7-0 on aggregate to Highland League champions Cove Rangers in the League Two play-off final to end their 68-year stay in the senior game.

They now drop into the Lowland League.

Bell said Berwick had "escaped by the skin of our teeth on a few occasions" and now "have to pull our socks up".

The current vice-chairman added: "We're prepared for it but it's not a place we want to be. There's some good teams and a lot of competition so it's going to be just as tough as staying in League Two."

Manager Johnny Harvey left after the club finished bottom of League Two, with John Brownlie and Ian Little taking charge for the play-offs.

The club were seven points clear of Albion Rovers with a game in hand in March, but the Cliftonhill side were awarded three points after Clyde fielded an ineligible player against them.

Rovers then won five of their last nine matches - including a 3-0 win at Berwick in the penultimate game - and eventually finished eight points above bottom spot.

"It's not something that's happened over recent months - it's happened over recent years," Bell said. "People that have supported us for years are extremely angry with how we've got in this position.

"Our challenge is to change that energy, make it really positive, and put the resources in place that we haven't been able to do.

"Maybe we have to take that step backwards to go forwards. If we regroup and come out of this a better club, regardless of what league we're in, maybe the short-term pain will have been worth it."