Martin Skinner says he enjoyed his spell managing Huntly – but believes now is the right time to move on.
He stepped up to become manager at Christie Park in August 2018, having been assistant to the previous incumbent Charlie Charlesworth.
Skinner resigned from his post at the weekend and is now serving his three-month notice period.
He said: “There are a couple of changes happening at the club. So I felt in my personal circumstances it was the right time to look for a new chapter or adventure.
“We part on good terms. We tried to help the club behind the scenes as much as we could and it wasn’t an easy decision to go.
“I’ve loved my time at Huntly and all the volunteers involved at the club are incredible and do so much for the club, so I want to say thank you to them.
“It was just a personal decision. It was nothing to do with the club or the players because they supported me brilliantly.
“I just purely felt the time was right for me to look for something different.”
Stepping up to become Huntly manager was an eye-opener for Skinner but he has enjoyed the experience.
He and assistant manager Richard Cheyne – who is still at the club – guided the Strathbogie side to a ninth-placed finish last campaign and this term they ended in 12th, with the season cut short by coronavirus.
Skinner added: “Going from assistant to becoming manager was a massive change and it was an incredible learning experience, I learned a lot.
“I learned a lot from Richard and John Farquhar who were my coaches and the work done by all the coaches in the youth set-up was incredible and something I really appreciated.
“Did we do a good job? It comes down to what you think is a good job.
“I felt under the circumstances and the financial restraints some clubs are under I felt we did what we should have done in terms of the sides we were competing with.
“The first season was good and we recorded our highest finish in nine years.
“We knew the club needed to be more sustainable going forward and we took some hits going into this season.
“We started poorly but then managed to improve and get some respect back and we saw an improvement in the players.”
With no restart date in place for the Highland League, there is no rush for Huntly to appoint a new boss.
One person who it is understood is not interested in the position is Neil Cooper, who was surprisingly sacked by Inverurie Locos in October when they were sitting third in the league, having previously finished third and fifth under the former Aberdeen and St Mirren midfielder.
