Andy Low felt he had to resign from Inverurie Locos and step away from football as it was affecting other areas of his life.
Low stepped down as Locos manager following the 0-0 draw with Keith and will take an extended break from the game.
He feels he has addressed the problem early, as it had begun to affect his work and family life away from the game.
But Low reckoned he could not put any more into his role with Locos and the time had come to step away.
He said: “It is a full-time job. We’re all ambitious guys and want to be the best we can be.
“You don’t just work within your hours you’re at training – you work all hours to get the best out of yourself and your team.
“I found myself in a position where I couldn’t switch off from it and I didn’t think it was fair on anybody. It wasn’t fair on my employer or my family, where I’d put myself in a position where it was non-stop football.
“It’s something I need to look at, to find a better balance that I can make for a couple of years’ time to come back into the game.
“I think I’ve caught it at the right time. I was probably working too hard and that’s the type of person I am. I lead by example and work as hard as anyone.
“But it got to the point where it became difficult to push it any further. When results aren’t going your way, the first person you look at is yourself. It came to a point where I just felt I needed to pull myself away from the situation and review things.”
— InverurieLocoWorksFC (@InverurieLocos) August 16, 2021
Locos had started the season with two wins and two draws from their first four games. They had dropped points against Lossiemouth and Keith, which prompted Low to walk away.
He added: “We beat Turriff 2-1 and you end up spending your Saturday night looking at why it was only 2-1. That’s no disrespect to Turriff, but I was looking at why that was the result.
“I shouldn’t be doing that. I should be going home and spending time with my family and switching off a little bit.
“It bleeds into everything else. If you want to compete at the top level and try and make the club better, you’ve really got to put the work in and show leadership from the top.
“It obviously can be done – you’ve got guys at the top end of the Highland League that can do it – but I found the balance very difficult at this particular period of my life.”
Low replaced Neil Cooper as Locos manager in October 2019 and the club finished fifth on a points-per-game basis in the 2019-20 campaign.
He has been in contact with interim boss Steven Park, who was his assistant and took charge of the midweek defeat to Banks o’ Dee.
Low intends to watch Locos as a fan at Harlaw Park going forward and has no immediate plans to return to the game. He also feels he leaves the club in a better place than when he started.
He said: “I think I’ve taken the club through it’s hardest period in the Highland League, or even its history, with the pandemic. It’s been difficult for every club in terms of surviving, but I think we’ve come out of a stronger.
“We’ve reduced the budget of the squad significantly, but I don’t think we’ve reduced the quality. If anything I think we’re stronger.
“The new manager will find a young group of lads that are eager to learn and compete. It’s a new group of guys, but in terms of ability, I believe this group of players can go and compete in the next two or three years for silverware.
“They’ll also get to work with a fantastic committee and a fantastic group of coaches. I can’t thank them enough for the support I’ve had. For an Aberdeen-based person, I don’t believe there’s a better club in the Highland League.”
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