SEVEN players have left Athletic following the club's relegation to League One.

Dom Thomas, Lewis Martin, Ryan Dow, Dan Pybus, Leon Jones, Steven Lawless and Reece Cole will all leave East End with their contracts due to expire at the end of this month.

Thomas, who was voted as the fans' player of the year, had already announced earlier this week that he would be departing, and has subsequently put pen to paper on a two-year deal with Queen's Park, who sent Dunfermline down in the Championship play-offs.

Six others will now follow him in ending their stints as Pars players, with Martin the longest serving of those.

The 26-year-old, who joined Dunfermline at under-17 level, made his first team debut in 2013 but his time with the club saw him suffer periods on the sidelines.

He missed all but two matches in the 2018/19 campaign through injury and, after making 33 appearances during the 2019/20 season that was curtailed by COVID-19, Martin missed the entirety of the following campaign.

He didn't reappear in the top team until January this year when, after sitting on the bench for a New Year derby at Raith Rovers, he played in a 5-0 loss at Morton, his first game since the last that was played before the Coronavirus shutdown.

Martin was rewarded with a deal until the end of the season and featured another six times, with his last match coming in the play-off semi-final, second leg loss to Queen's Park.

He made 171 appearances in total, scoring five goals.

Dow, who was signed by Stevie Crawford in the summer of 2019, also departs.

The former Dundee United and Ross County player played 28 times in his first season, scoring six goals, and remained a key figure throughout his time with the club.

His 2020/21 season was ended prematurely when he suffered a tendor tear near his calf, but he returned to play 34 games in the season just played, with his total appearances reaching 81, with 11 goals scored.

Pybus, who joined last summer from Queen of the South, was named as the Gary Riddell Players Player of the Year, and the management team's player of the year, during the club's end of season awards, has not been offered a new deal, while Lawless, who joined in December on a short-term contract, will also not be kept on.

Former Partick Thistle midfielder Cole, and ex-Hearts youth Jones, are leaving having made just 12 and two appearances respectively.

Loan players Jakub Stolarczyk, from Leicester City; Bobby Kamwa, from Leeds United; Liam Polworth, from Kilmarnock; Efe Ambrose, from St Johnstone; and Coll Donaldson, who has signed for Pars' rivals Falkirk following the expiry of his deal at Ross County, are also leaving.

Craig Wighton and Kyle MacDonald, who spent the latter part of the season on loan at Arbroath and Airdrieonians, will return to the club for next season as new manager, James McPake, seeks to revamp his squad for the challenge of League One.