Stonehouse Violet unveil new coach and management structure

Oct 6 2011 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

FORMER St Anthony’s and Neilston coach John Doyle has been appointed manager at Stonehouse Violet as part of a major shake-up at Tilework Park.

Dougie MacDuff moves from the post of manager to development manager in charge of football.

Doyle, who also has coaching experience with Harmony Row, will take full responsibility for the team, training, coaching, team selection and general management.

Stonehouse expect to appoint a development manager in charge of the club, which is currently bottom of the Central League Second Division, with just a point from six games.

Doyle became available after he and former Larkhall Thistle boss Bobby Crilly left Neilston by “mutual consent” following a 3-1 Central League First Division defeat at home to the Gasworks Park club last month.

Stonehouse chairman Malky Black said: “We knew John Doyle had recently left Neilston as assistant and we felt he could come in and do a job at Stonehouse.

“We spoke to John shortly after his departure from Neilston and told him our ambitions for Stonehouse and our plans in respect of achieving those ambitions.

“We knew John was being targeted by other clubs and while we couldn’t make promises of a budget, we could offer him a massive challenge. He accepted and we’re delighted to have John on board as the new manager at Stonehouse Violet.

“John will work extremely closely with Dougie MacDuff, who has taken on a new role at the club as development manager (football).

“This role has been created in line with our ambitions to develop Stonehouse Violet into a community club and to put in place a structure and network of teams that gives the opportunity to all within the community to participate.”

Malky hopes that the new structure will eventually enable Stonehouse to field some players from the local area.

He said: “This is a massive step for us, if you consider that nearly a year and a half on from resurrecting Stonehouse Violet we have been unable to attract a local player to our team.

“We believe, however, that if we create a structure from grassroots offering a development structure, by putting in place systems and procedures, ensure the club will be well organised and run, offering the very best in quality and training, with a clear development structure, we should then be able to attract talent from a young age both from Stonehouse and the wider community.

“To help in this development plan we hope to announce very shortly the appointment of a development manager (club).

“This role will work extremely closely with Dougie in his role as development manager (football).

“This will become our development team, who will report to our committee on a regular basis, and their main aim will be to identify the best structure for the club by looking closely at other set-ups – recommending best practice, and also identifying the best way to implement the necessary changes for us to achieve our aims and objectives, giving us the best opportunity and chance for success.”

Anybody who would like to get involved in Stonehouse Violet’s new set-up should email: stonehouse-violet@talktalk.net and leave their contact details.