Brothers Stuart and Andrew Ross can’t wait to return to management in the North Caledonian League after landing the top job at Inverness Athletic.
The duo enjoyed success at St Duthus, bringing the North Caledonian Cup and the Football Times Cup to Tain and kept the Saints in the top four in the past two terms.
A sticky start to this season, which came just after their 100th game in charge, saw them quit St Duthus in September, with Alan Geegan taking over.
Having taken time out, the popular pair have been confirmed as the new head coaches at Athletic, with current boss Jason Golabek stepping down at the end of the season due to family commitments, although he will remain at the club along with Niall Stott.
Ideal time for return to management
Stuart Ross explained the chance to get back on the sidelines for the 2022/23 campaign comes at an ideal time.
He said: “Andy and I are absolutely delighted to come on board at Inverness Athletic.
“Obviously, this is a club we know well from our time managing with St Duthus, and as soon as we heard there was a potential opening here, we were both very interested.
“We both feel that this was an opportunity, after a few months out of the game, that presented itself to us at the perfect time.
“The chance to manage in the North Caledonian League again at a club local to ourselves was something that we could simply not say no to.“
He added: “Jason and his coaching team have done a fantastic job and laid down some excellent foundations in the last few years and we are excited to pick up the baton and hopefully push the club onto the next level.
“It’s a young exciting squad that is at the club at the moment, with a few older faces too, and we want to build on that and look forward to meeting everyone at pre season when the time comes. We can’t wait to get started.”
ATHLETIC ANNOUNCE NEW MANAGEMENT TEAM #InvAth
Inverness Athletic FC are delighted to announce the appointment of Stuart and Andrew Ross as the club’s new management team from next season.
Welcome to the club guys. pic.twitter.com/QK2EIsMfFL
— Inverness Athletic Football Club (@InvernessAthFC) February 27, 2022
Easy decision for Athletic chairman
Athletic chairman Sandy Stephen described how his club wasted no time in moving for the brothers once it became clear they were open to the move.
He said: “We are delighted to get the lads in as our new management team from next season.
MATCH GOALS 📹 #InvAth
Here are all the goals from last night's entertaining North Caledonian League meeting with Nairn County 'A' in Nairn. #football #veo #inverness #nairncounty #northcaley #invath #iafc #matchgoals pic.twitter.com/pR342dwfgz— Inverness Athletic Football Club (@InvernessAthFC) February 26, 2022
“Stuart and Andrew are two guys that we know very well and as soon as we heard they were interested in coming to the club it was a very easy decision for the committee to make.
“They are both very dedicated and committed guys who know the league inside out and we are very excited to have them on board.”
Under Golabek, the Highland capital side have shown steady improvement over the winter, with Friday’s 3-0 win at Nairn County reserves pushing them into ninth spot.