Sligo Rovers have announced the appointment of former Peterborough United boss Dave Robertson as their new manager.
Robertson takes over the managerial role from Micky Adams, who left the club last month after successfully guiding them to safety, after taking over towards the end of a troubled campaign.
Prior to the senior role with the League One side, the Robertson was involved with their academy and had been academy manager until being promoted to first-team boss.
He has a unique background in football - he joined the Royal Marines as a 17-year-old and served tours in Belfast, Kuwait and as well Arctic warfare training in Norway and jungle training in Guyana.
In his mid-20s he caught a viral infection that damaged his heart and left the army to begin a coaching career that featured spells at youth levels at Portsmouth and Crystal Palace before rising to academy manager at Posh and eventually first-team manager.
He was named caretaker manager last February but lost his job in September after a poor start to the new League One season.
Robertson said the opportunity to work in Sligo excites him: “I am delighted to be coming to work at Sligo Rovers. I know it is a big club with big expectations and hopefully the players and I can bring the success it deserves.
“The club has had some good times for the last few years and I want to bring that back. That is what I intend to do and I will be 100% committed to that.
“I have spoken to several people I know that know the league so I have a relative understanding but I want to get more depth. Recruiting players is a massive task and a very important one and if we can do that well it gives us the opportunity to hit the ground running and push forward from there.
“I am confident and excited about the next few weeks and hopefully we can secure the services of the right players to bring success.”
Sligo Rovers secretary Brendan Lacken said the club are delighted with the appointment.
“We are thrilled to be announcing Dave as the new Rovers managed.
“The calibre of candidate for the role was high, and after what was a very thorough process, we are very confident that we have made the right decision.
“Dave is a very ambitious young manager and we have been impressed with his enthusiasm and knowledge of Irish football."
“He also brings a great reputation as a coach from his work with the academy at Peterborough United. After a difficult year for the club in 2015, we are looking forward to uniting behind Dave in what we believe will bring a new era of success to Sligo Rovers.”
