Paul Cowie insists he could not refuse the opportunity of a perfect Ross County homecoming offered to him by brother Don.
After Don Cowie was appointed as permanent Staggies manager in the summer, following a successful interim spell last season, one of his first moves was to recruit his elder brother as first-team coach.
Paul was previously academy director at Dundee United, having spent five years involved in the Tannadice youth setup.
It marked a return to the Staggies for Cowie, who saw a promising start to his playing career at Victoria Park – where he was under-18s captain and on the fringes of Neale Cooper’s first team – curtailed by a serious knee injury.
Brought up in Strathpeffer, Paul and Don are among four brothers, whose father Don Cowie senior played for the Staggies and assisted Bobby Wilson at the time of the club’s elevation to the Scottish league.
‘No-brainer’ to return to Dingwall
Although much has changed since his early days around the club, Cowie was thrilled when the opportunity arose to return.
He said: “We’re talking nearly 25 years since I left, so it has been a long time away from home.
“I had a number of offers, but me and Don had been speaking and it was a no-brainer to come back.
“To work with your brother at your hometown club, you can’t get a better chance than that. It was an easy decision.
“He’s been trying to give me orders for many years, so nothing has changed.
“We’re really close as a family and we support each other.
“Even when I was at a different club, we still talked and shared experiences.
“Obviously we’re still getting used to each other’s ways, but we’ve always been in contact even when we were apart.
“The Staggie blood is here – we have always been affiliated with the club. We went to every game, we were ballboys and we went on the first-team bus.
“We’ve got so much history with the club, so I know exactly where the club is going and where it has come from. I’m delighted to be home.”
Cowie explains long and winding coaching journey
After leaving County as a player, Cowie began studying to become a PE teacher at Edinburgh University.
Cowie returned to Scotland in 2018, when he secured a job lecturing at the University of Dundee – which sparked the start of his involvement with Dundee United.
Explaining his pathway into first-team coaching, Cowie added: “It’s been an accelerated progression for me in terms of where I’ve been.
“I was always into coaching, even when I was here playing in the under-18s and into the first team – I was coaching the younger kids here.
“I was coaching any sport really.
“When I went into PE teaching as a career because of my injury, I was always affiliated to football.
“When I moved overseas and had children, they got involved in football and that probably reignited a real passion in me for coaching.
“From there I went on the Uefa badges pathway, did one after the other, and now I’m on the Pro Licence.
“My background is in education, and since I got back into football when I came back from Singapore, it has only gone upwards.
“I always wanted to be in the men’s game again, and I knew I could come back to that level, but it was a big move to come into this environment.
“I’ve been in it with the first team at Dundee United, and I was very connected with the six managers I had over my period there, so I was getting a taste of it.
“That just made me hungry for it, so I’m delighted to be here.”
Return to Spartans this weekend
Cowie will be reacquainted with familiar surroundings when County make the trip to League Two side Spartans in the Premier Sports Cup on Saturday.
During his time studying at Edinburgh University, Cowie had a stint playing part-time for the capital outfit, who were then in the East of Scotland League.
Cowie reflects fondly on that spell, during which he helped Spartans secure a Scottish Cup replay against then high-flying First Division outfit Clyde in 1999.
He added: “I was there for a couple of years.
“I was under Colin Campbell and Sam Lynch, just before Dougie Samuel, who has been there since 2012.
“It was when I was at Edinburgh University. I played for them for two years in the East of Scotland League.
“It’s a lovely club, a great community club – which was very familiar to me.
“They were probably a smaller scale Ross County. But they exemplified community spirit as a club at the time and it has snowballed for them.”
Conversation