BUCKIE THISTLE have today confirmed that KEVIN and DOUG WILL have returned to the club to become the Jags new management team.

Jags Club President, Mark Duncan, said "we had a lot of very good applicants for the position of Manager, some high profile, and would once again thank everyone who showed an interest in the post, lengthy discussions have taken place over the last three weeks".

"We felt that it was very important that the new Manager had experience and knowledge of Highland League football and the Board are delighted to announce the appointment of Kevin and Doug Will as our new management team."

Duncan continued "it was obvious during the discussions that Kevin and Doug Will wanted this job the most and we are quietly confident that they will again in time bring success to the club".

"This appointment may surprise a few people as it is not very often that a management team returns to a club, but they are talented, ambitious and have long term aims for the club which match the Board at Buckie."

"Kevin and Doug did a great job when they were here previously, they inherited a squad of only five or six players and built a team which finished third in the Highland League in their first season, some people were actually tipping us to finish bottom before they arrived."

"In their second season they finished runners up in the league and they of course won the Qualifying Cup for the first time in 45 years."

"They also have an excellent proven track record for bringing good players to a club, the players previously brought to Victoria Park included, Richard Bowman, Greg Pirie, Ryan Smith, Jamie Shewan, Scott Taylor, John Coutts, Ritchie Taylor, Kevin Main, Donnie Munro, Mark Slater, Colin Milne, Kevin Souter, Frannie More and Kevin Small."

Duncan continued "another important part of the appointment was their proven record for developing youth players".

"Doug Will is one of the best Youth Coaches in the Highland League over the last 20 - 30 years.  When he was here previously his Buckie's Under 19's team "swept the boards" winning every single trophy available to them as well as reaching the Quarter Finals of the Scottish Youth Cup."

The Under 21's side were also successful in winning the Aberdeenshire League two years in a row.  Several players from that team went on to play at first team level such as Mattie Gairns and of course David Angus and Mike Macdonald who are still at the club."

"Youth football locally will become even bigger in the years ahead, especially when the new all weather pitch arrives in September and again we will look for Kevin and Doug for some input to improve things even further."

"In summary we feel that we have appointed a talented management team, with the drive and ambition to bring success to Buckie Thistle in the years ahead."

We hope to have comments from Buckie's new management team on the site shortly so keep looking in for this.