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Academy fans vent fury





Davie Kirkwood, who is set to quit Wick Academy for rivals Brora Rangers.
Davie Kirkwood, who is set to quit Wick Academy for rivals Brora Rangers.

FANS, players and committee members have been left stunned after it was announced that Wick Academy manager Davie Kirkwood is preparing to take over at local rivals Brora Rangers.

In a move that has rocked north football, the 45-year-old, who has been in charge at Harmsworth Park since June 2011, is expected to be named as the new manager at Dudgeon Park in the next few days.

Despite the move, yet to have been confirmed by both clubs, both chairmen of the Caithness and Sutherland outfits have said they do not expect to see the former Rangers and Ross County coach in the home dug-out at Harmsworth Park again.

The news, which was exclusively broken on the Caithness Courier and John O’ Groat Journal website on Saturday morning, has provoked angry and disappointed remarks from fans and players on social networking sites.

After applying for the position on Thursday night, Mr Kirkwood told the Caithness Courier that he was granted permission by the club to hold talks with Brora chairman John Young during Friday afternoon.

After talks were held, Mr Kirkwood informed Wick chairman Colin Stewart on Friday evening that he would not be on the team bus for Wick’s game against Turriff United and was spotted in Lossiemouth on Saturday afternoon watching Brora Rangers record a 3-1 victory.

Brora Rangers have since confirmed that the Academy manager is their preferred number one option and were seeking to arrange compensation to make the move permanent as early as possible but discussions had been stalled due to Academy’s demands.

Mr Kirkwood said that he has enjoyed his time at Wick but felt that going to Brora would be the right decision for him personally.

"I’ve loved my time at Harmsworth Park but this is not just a football decision," he said.

"This is a decision that I’ve made for the future for my family, so we will see where it will take us.

"This is me trying to build something at another club that hopefully I started at Wick and time will tell if it is the right decision."

Mr Kirkwood said that he was unable to go fully into details as discussions are still ongoing between the two clubs regarding his future.

He said that no deal has been agreed with Brora as of yet but hoped that the two clubs could get together and a deal can be agreed in the next few days.

"I can’t answer if I’ll be in charge of Wick Academy again as that would not be for me to decide.

"I can only confirm that I have applied for the manager’s position at Brora Rangers and did so in the appropriate manner by informing the chairman.

"I didn’t have to do that but I thought that it was appropriate that the executive committee knew first.

Kirkwood said that he has not spoken to the Wick squad yet but plans to do so in the coming few days.

"I have offered to come up and speak to the players but I have not heard anything back as of yet from the club."

"I am still the club’s manager and I was at Lossiemouth on Saturday to look at Academy’s opposition this weekend but I was also looking at the team I possibly may be taking over.

"I have no idea if I will be in charge of Academy again as there are discussions to be held and hopefully things can be resolved, but you never know in football."

Academy held an executive committee meeting on Monday night and have released a statement saying that Davie Kirkwood is still the manager of the club and have requested a meeting with him to state what his future intentions are.

Mr Young said that they expect to announce Mr Kirkwood as its new manager within the next few days.

The Academy manager has a condition in his contract which said that he must give four weeks notice if he wishes to leave.

Mr Young claimed discussions over compensation have faltered over Academy’s request for 10 times the amount Brora has offered.

If the two clubs cannot agree to compensation terms, Brora would be prepared to wait for Kirkwood to work his notice.

"We can confirm that we have held talks with Mr Kirkwood and he is our preferred option to replace Andy Macleod as manager," said Mr Young. "We received a message from him on Thursday night that he was interested in the post and I asked him to put in an application in writing, which we received on Friday morning.

"We then received permission from Academy to hold talks with Mr Kirkwood on Friday afternoon when we discussed the position.

"He was very interested in taking up the post and we were very happy with what we heard.

"He has not been appointed manager yet, we have been keen to take him on as early as possible, but Wick Academy’s demands for compensation are well in excess of what we are willing to pay, so we will hang out for the four weeks if we have to."

Mr Young said that Kirkwood’s professional attitude and views on discipline were the main quality which made him their number one choice.

Brora Rangers are due to visit Wick Academy in the AJG Parcels North of Scotland Cup on September 11 but the Brora chairman envisaged that Kirkwood would be in neither dug out-for the game.


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