Gavin Levey has confirmed he will stay on as Aberdeen Women’s interim manager until the end of the SWPL 1 season.
Levey, who is Aberdeen FC academy director, took interim charge of the Dons in November following Emma Hunter and Gavin Beith’s resignation.
After the co-manager’s departure, the vacancy was originally advertised by Aberdeen with a closing date of December 19, but the role has still not been filled.
Levey says he will take the women’s team for the rest of the season, which is scheduled to end on May 21, alongside Claire Garrett, goalkeeping coach Matthew Mackie, and physio Beth Walker.
During his time in interim charge thusfar, Levey has guided the Dons to three wins, five losses and a draw.
He said: “We’ll be taking the team until the rest of the season, which will allow us the time to get the position filled with the right candidate.
“With me being in the deep end of this and taking the team, it’s helped us understand more about what is needed going forward.
“It’s been a challenge but I’m willing to take it on until the end of the season because the girls have been brilliant to work with. They’ve been so receptive and I can see the progress we’re making.
“We want to finish the season and achieve our targets, so it would be unfair to them to unsettle that and bring in another change at this stage of the season.
“We want to kick on for the rest of the season and work on leaving the team in a really good position for someone to come in. They’ll get a fresh start and pre-season, and hopefully a good platform to build on.”
Levey has better insight as to what’s needed for the women’s team
Levey says taking interim charge of the women’s team has resulted in him pondering what the role should look like for whoever is put in post.
And with the job having already been advertised, he admits they could’ve filled the position but Levey felt it wasn’t the right thing to do for the long-term future of the women’s team.
He said: “It’s been testing and it’s not to say we couldn’t have filled the position, but we needed to make sure we would see long-term enhancements in the team environment and with performances on the pitch.
“It’s a huge task to do it properly – and the way that the players deserve. There probably has been more of a realisation as to what this job is.
“It’s given us much more of an insight as a football club as to what the team needs.
“I know and I’m confident what it needs to look like – just learning from other clubs, playing against them and finding out about what resources have gone into their team.
“There are teams in SWPL 1 who could be in a mini-league of their own because of their investment and resources, so it’s going to take a long time to get to a point where we could think about rivaling them properly.
“But if we want to be a sustainable club in this league – and that’s our next goal, then we need to move and try to enhance things going forward.”
Aberdeen’s men’s team are also on the hunt for a new manager. The club confirmed new chief executive Alan Burrows will play an important role in the search when he joins the club on Monday.
Levey reckons Burrows – who had a positive influence on the progress made at Motherwell Women – will also make sure the Dons women’s team is high on his agenda.
He added: “We’re getting a new chief executive next week here at Aberdeen, so I’m sure the women’s team is something he will want to discuss with me, Steven Gunn and the chairman when he arrives.”
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