Ross County’s relegation to the Championship could provide opportunity for young players – in the same way it did for Tom Grivosti seven years ago.
The Staggies are back in the second-tier following a six-year Premiership spell, which ended with their defeat to Livingston in the play-offs last month.
County last found themselves in the Championship in the 2018-19 and they bounced back at the first time of asking to claim title success.
One player who benefitted from his chance during that campaign was English defender Grivosti, who had spent a year with County’s development league side after leaving Bolton Wanderers in 2017.
Grivosti’s breakthrough came in October 2018, when he made his senior debut as a substitute in a home match against title rivals Ayr United.
After replacing the injured Callum Morris early in the second half, Grivosti showed up impressively to help his side record a 2-1 victory.
He went on to make 19 appearances for the Staggies in a hugely successful campaign.
More opportunity for youngsters in Championship
Grivosti feels a similar chance could arise for some of the Staggies’ young talent this time around – with Dylan Smith, Andrew Macleod and George Robesten among those on the fringes of the first team squad last term.
Grivosti said: “It’s disappointing when your team gets relegated. But for young lads, you think there will be more opportunity.
“That proved to be the case for me, but we had a really good squad.
“We had defenders such as Keith Watson, Callum Morris and Liam Fontaine, so I knew I wasn’t going to be given an opportunity – it was going to take a bit of luck through injuries.
“I think it was actually the first time I was on the bench for the first team – and I ended up coming on.
“There were two injuries to defenders – Liam Fontaine got injured in the first half, and then Callum Morris in the second half.
“It was a top of the table clash against Ayr, so to get my opportunity in a game of that magnitude between the top two was great. I did all right and that gave me the belief that I could play more games.”
Grivosti came up against future internationals in second-tier
Although the Championship was his own breeding ground, Grivosti insists the calibre of forward he came up against provided a hugely testing environment for him to start his senior career.
He added: “The strikers who played in the league that year were unbelievable.
“Lawrence Shankland was flying for Ayr that year, but Pavol Safranko was really good for Dundee United as well. I came up against him again for St Patrick’s Athletic in Europe when he was playing for Sabah from Azerbaijan last year.
“We were up against Stephen Dobbie and Lyndon Dykes as well.
“We had Ross Stewart, Billy Mckay, Brian Graham and Declan McManus ourselves who all went on to do really well.
“I was playing against good players every week. It was brilliant for me to play against players of that level to test myself and learn.
“The more I played, the more I felt comfortable.
“The main thing for me was that my team-mates believed in me. They had full trust in me, which I think was the thing that really helped me play well and settle into the team.
“Towards the end of the season there were high pressure games. Dundee United were chasing us, and it was getting tight towards the end.
“I couldn’t ask for more from my first season as a proper professional – winning trophies and being involved in those games against that calibre of players.”
‘Dodgy treble’ capped memorable debut campaign
County’s league title success was accompanied by the Irn-Bru Cup, in a double winning campaign under Stuart Kettlewell and Steven Ferguson.
Earlier in the season, Grivosti had been part of a young Staggies side which won the North of Scotland Cup – to form a self-confessed “dodgy treble” for the Liverpool-born player.
Grivosti looks back fondly on what was a trophy-laden breakthrough campaign, adding: “Going into the Premiership you know it’s hard to come by that you win a trophy, but you don’t realise how hard it is to do those types of things.
“I look back on it with such fond memories as it was a brilliant year.
“It’s obviously not good going down, but it can galvanise you. We got back to winning most weeks, which was good for the fans, and we went up with a bit of momentum.
“We all enjoy winning, and in the Championship you’ve got more chance of winning every week than in the Premiership. I felt that was good for the club at that time.”
Momentum cruelly dashed by freak toe injury
Grivosti made the step up to the Premiership with high hopes of kicking on, but his momentum was cruelly halted shortly afterwards.
A freak injury, in which he ruptured a ligament between toe bones in a game against Rangers in October 2019, brought a number of complications for the next two years.
He made only a further 15 appearances for County following their promotion, and had a short loan stint with Elgin City before leaving permanently to join St Patrick’s Athletic in January 2022.
Grivosti added: “I was looking forward to playing in the Premiership. There was a bit of interest after that Championship-winning season, but I was loving it.
“I wanted to see what we could do in the Premiership with Ross County.
“I started well and played a couple of games in midfield, but I got injured against Rangers. That was a game I was really looking forward to – with Steven Gerrard being my hero.
“From then on, the next two years were an absolute disaster. I think I had three operations. Every time I came back, I would get reinjured.
“I didn’t have the operation to begin with, but I needed one in the end which meant I wasted eight months of that whole time.
“That was really hard. In the end I just needed a change – I had so many memories of tough times.
“We had two managers and I didn’t play for either of them – I never played under John Hughes or Malky Mackay.
“I needed to move on and get back playing.”
Grivosti thriving in Ireland
Grivosti has no regrets over his decision to move to St Patrick’s Athletic, where he has won the FAI Cup and Leinster Senior Cup, and played in the Europa Conference League qualifiers.
The 25-year-old added: “I didn’t really know a lot about the Irish league when I first got the call.
“I was so surprised at how good the standard was. The fanbase in Ireland for the football is unbelievable.
“I have loved every minute of it. It’s a really good standard, but I would compare it to the Championship with how competitive it is.
“When we were in the Premiership we were going into games thinking it was going to be really tough, but we were going in every week believing we are going to win.
“The European games have been unbelievable. For two years we have had really good runs – last year we got to the last qualifying game. We got Istanbul Basaksehir and we drew 0-0 in the first leg, but got beaten in the second leg.
“I have had some unbelievable experiences of playing all over Europe.
“I’m made up I made the decision to come, as I’ve had such a good time. I have a few more years left, so I’m looking forward to the future.”
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