Turriff United chairman Gairn Ritchie hopes new manager Warren Cummings can deliver silverware for the club.
The Breedon Highland League side have appointed the former Scotland and Bournemouth defender as successor to Dean Donaldson, who left to join Inverurie Locos earlier this month.
Turra are sitting seventh in the league and return to action on Saturday when they tackle Cumnock Juniors at Townhead Park in the second round of Scottish Cup.
Since stepping up from the Junior ranks in 2009 United have won three trophies, the Morrison Motors (Turriff) Aberdeenshire Shield in 2011, 2013 and 2015.
Haughs chief Ritchie believes Cummings can bring glory back to Turriff.
He said: “We had a significant amount of applicants for the job.
“We whittled that down to three candidates over the weekend and started the interview process on Monday night.
“It was apparent from Warren’s CV that he was the best man for the job, his CV is impeccable.
— Turriff United Football Club (@TurriffUnitedFC) October 25, 2023
“He’s highly-qualified and has been there and done it at high levels as a player.
“We believe he’s the right man for Turriff United and we’re delighted to have him on board.
“We want to continue in the direction we’ve been going, we’ve had a good last couple of years and made good progress.
“We’ve asked Warren to take us to the next level which means winning trophies.
“Ultimately every club in the Highland League is in the Highland League because they want to win it and we’re no different.
“We’re giving Warren the chance and we’re looking forward to seeing where he takes us.”
New boss ready for challenge
Cummings says he is “honoured” and “excited” to be appointed to his first management role in first-team football.
As a player the Aberdonian, who has recently returned to his home city, started his career with Chelsea.
His time at Stamford Bridge featured loans at West Bromwich Albion, Dundee United and Bournemouth.
The 43-year-old then joined the Cherries permanently and went on to make more than 250 appearances, which included helping them get promoted from League Two on two occasions before leaving in 2012.
Cummings finished his playing days with Wimbledon, Poole Town and Havant and Waterlooville before working as a youth coach at Bournemouth and as a scout for Bristol City.
He also received a testimonial from Bournemouth against AC Milan in 2016 and was capped by Scotland in a game against the Hong Kong League XI in May 2002.
Speaking about his appointment, Cummings said: “I am hugely honoured and excited to be named as the new manager of Turriff United Football Club.
“There were many attractions to the job for myself, none more so than working with a very talented group of players and alongside a highly ambitious board.
“There has been great work done in the last few years at this football club and it will be my job to further enhance this going forward during my tenure as manager.”
Scope to add to coaching staff
Cummings hasn’t yet brought in any coaching staff with Turriff’s Under-21s manager Graeme Taylor and goalkeeping coach David Scarth – who were in interim charge following Donaldson’s departure – continuing to assist.
But chairman Ritchie says there will be scope for Cummings to add to his management team.
He added: “We have Graeme and David here who have done a great job in the last few weeks taking the team.
“We’ll let Warren come in and find his feet and then he can see what he thinks he’ll need in terms of assistance.”
