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Rowley to lay groundworks for successor after agreeing final Forres contract until 2023

Charlie Rowley holds aloft the Highland League title in 2012.
Charlie Rowley holds aloft the Highland League title in 2012.

Forres Mechanics manager Charlie Rowley aims to prepare the Can-Cans for changeover after agreeing a new contract which will bring his long Mosset Park tenure to an end in 2023.

Rowley has agreed a two-year extension to his contract which was due to expire next summer, but he opted to turn down the offer of a one-year rolling contract thereafter.

The 51-year-old is the Highland League’s longest serving manager having taken up his post in 2010, however his association with Mechanics as a player and assistant manager stretches back to 2002.

Rowley, who brought league title success to the club in 2012, believes the club will benefit from a fresh figurehead.

He said: “I was considering the possibility of not going much further in terms of my managerial career, simply because I’m well aware things might get a bit stale and a different voice could maybe help.

“The board put their points across and said they would like me to continue. After speaking to them it was a pretty easy decision to stay on.

“The more difficult decision was to put a deadline on my continuation. I felt after this current contract was up, I think it was in everybody’s best interests to try and get somebody fresh in to try and take the club even further.

“It was not an easy decision, but I do feel it was the right one.

“The only reason I’m doing it is because I think it’s in the best interests of the club.

“That was my main thought process. I could easily have continued but I’m just wary about things getting too predictable and suchlike.

“It gives me a wee break as well, because I will have been over 20 years with the club. That’s no mean feat these days in a football environment.”

Rowley is determined to keep Mechanics competitive in his final three seasons in charge, while also laying strong foundations for his successor.

Rowley added: “I’m not continuing just to dwindle down the years and go through the motions. There is certainly a plan in place to try and have a team capable of competing at the top end.

“It will still be about progression, and trying to build a squad that’s pushing for silverware.

“We realise how hard that is, but it’s certainly the intention to try to do that.

“A wee bit of silverware would be a huge bonus. We are not setting our stone out to say we must win anything.

“If I can leave with a squad I feel is capable of pushing at the top end among the top two or three, that would be a success from my point of view.

“We are actively trying to encourage younger individuals to the club, because we are a slightly ageing squad.

“It’s not a quick rebuilding process, it’s a gradual one for getting younger players in.

“If I can leave with a competitive squad which we can add to further down the line, I think that would be reasonably successful.”

Rowley is not ruling out the possibility of continuing to serve Mechanics in an upstairs role, adding: “If I could commit, I wouldn’t put off the thought process of stepping into some upstairs capacity.

“That remains to be seen, it’s quite a bit off in terms of timescale.

“I’ve got no aspirations of plying my trade elsewhere, so it could be a case of continuation upstairs in some kind of role, but that’s a big if.”