Relichtie

The managers

After the formation of the club in 1878, the team was picked by the committee members, with the match secretary being nominally in  control. 

Enter a legend in the form of Bob McGlashan, who had joined the club as a player in 1895, and after retiring from the game, this locally born man took on the mantle of match secretary in 1903, and subsequently, in 1927 became secretary/ manager. 

During this spell, the club joined the Scottish League in 1921. He led the club to their first promotion in season 1934/35, and kept them there until the outbreak of World War II. In 1945, a dinner was held to celebrate his 50 years of loyal service. The club had been placed in the new B division after the resumption of football, and the great man picked up the reins again, but times had changed, and he decided to step down in February 1946 with the club in bottom spot. He passed away in 1949 at the age of 74.

Successor to McGlashan was Arch Anderson, who had come to prominence during a successful spell with junior club Blantyre Victoria.

 He led the club to their only Scottish Cup semi final up to now, a 0-2 meeting with Aberdeen at Dens Park Dundee in April 1947. He improved the clubs position slightly and left the club in March 1949 at the end of the season to take over at Ayr United. 

Alec Cheyne, former Aberdeen, Chelsea, and Scotland became the new manager in May 1949.

 He famously scored the winning goal direct from a corner in the 1929 Scotland v England international at Hampden. His tenure at Gayfield saw little improvement in the clubs position, with the club in the top half of the table in only the one season 1952/53. He resigned in May 1955.

Arbroath didn't replace Alec Cheyne, who was full time, but instead asked long serving centre half and captain Tommy Gray to pick future teams in a part time capacity with a committee member acting as secretary.

 Gray was assisted by former club captain Chris Anderson as a scout, and their combined efforts lifted the club to mid table.

 Gray resigned as manager in March 1957 to take over at Dundee Utd., and in a statement to the Guide, Chairman Hugh Nelson said  " nothing will be done meantime about appointing a new manager".  The committee took on the responsibility of team selection, with Chris Anderson continuing to assist, and proved to be relatively successful, with a 3rd place finish in 57/58, and promotion the following season as runners up to Ayr Utd. The 1st division proved a step to far, and the club were relegated after one season, but another semi final had been reached, this time in the League Cup, when Third Lanark defeated Arbroath 3-0 at Ibrox.

John Prentice was the man chosen when the committee decided that it was time to appoint a full time manager again.

When former Dundee manager Albert Henderson took over as manager few would have predicted that he would become the clubs second longest serving manager.

 While he did have his ups and downs as manager, he had a knack of unearthing young players of potential such as Billy Pirie, Barry Mitchell, Peter Millar, Jimmy Jack, Dennis Bruce, and Eric Sellars to name but a few, and persuading seasoned professionals like Andy Penman, Gordon Marshall, and Hugh Robertson, that Arbroath FC was where they should ply their trade. This blend of youth and experience saw the club promoted twice, the first for only one season, but his second attempt saw the club survive in the top flight until the reorganisation of the leagues in 1975. After 17 years and 4 months his reign came to an end in 1980.

Ian Stewart was the successor to Bert Henderson. He took over with the club in the relegation zone, and couldn't effect a rescue. He made some very expensive signings, Dougie Robb at £20,000 was the dearest, but players such as ex Celt Jim Casey and ........... failed to ignite the side, although in season 81-82 only goal difference kept Arbroath from promotion with Alloa going up at our expense. His failure to get the club promoted was instrumental in his demise which came when he was sacked in 1982.

Former Dundee Utd midfielder George Fleming was next up, and he narrowly failed in his first season with a third place finish. His signings failed to improve the side and he too was shown the door after some poor results including a 5-0 thrashing at home to Berwick Rangers.

Ex lichtie number 9 Jimmy Bone stepped in to the managers office early in 1985,

 but couldn't keep the club from finishing bottom of the table. He improved the side the following season, and led the club to a mid table finish. This was as good as it got for the former Scotland striker, and he left in 1987 to join St Mirren as assistant manager to Alex Smith.

Bone's assistant manager John Young replaced his former mentor,

 but could make little headway and was sacked in 1990.

The managers office at Gayfield was rumoured to have a revolving door in the early 90's, as first Ian Gibson came and went in 1990, Walter Borthwick in 1991 left to take up a SFA coaching post, and Mike Lawson took over and was sacked in 1992, before Danny McGrain took up the reins in the same year.

The club's profile was raised by the "Bearded Army" followers, a tribute to the managers habit of sporting a beard, unfortunately the former Celtic legend couldn't lead the club to promotion with mid table finishes the norm. Danny, was plagued by health problems, which led to his decision to resign in 1994.

A sense of deja vu permeated the club again as firstly Jocky Scott resigned after a mere 14 games in charge. He is succeeded by a management duo of Donald Park and George Mackie, who join in the close season. Park then leaves before the season starts leaving Mackie in charge, and he is dismissed in 1995. Former Hamilton and Stirling striker John Brogan is next to pick up the reins but he falls in 1996, leading to the appointment of Forfar boss Tommy Campbell, who plumbs the depths as he led to the club to bottom of the table, before jumping ship acrimoniously to local rivals Montrose in 1997.

It seemed to be a desperate measure to bring Dave Baikie, the manager of junior side Tayport to the club, but he turned out to be a very shrewd character, and a magnificent man manager as he lead the club to promotion in his first season. 

He kept the club up and moved them forward to become an established 2nd Division side, before an acrimonious dispute with the committee led to him offering his resignation, which the club accepted in 2000.

Former Hibernian and Scotland full back John Brownlie 

stepped in to Baikie's shoes and emulates him by also getting the club promoted in his first season in charge. 

Against all the odds, he kept the only part time team in the division up, with the club finishing in7th ahead of St Mirren, Falkirk, and Raith Rvs. He couldn't repeat the feat in the following season, and the club fell back to the 2nd Division in 2003. After a poor start to the season, he offered his resignation in September 2003 and it was accepted.  

Assistant manager Steve Kirk 

took over the reins from Brownlie initially on a trial basis, and he was successful in keeping the club in the 2nd Division in his first season. Given the job on a permanent basis, his side made a poor start to the 2004/05 campaign, and after a 0-5 mauling at Forfar, he too offered his resignation which was accepted in September 2004.

The man chosen to replace Kirk was former Brechin City stalwart Harry Cairney.

He was unsuccessful in his efforts to keep Arbroath in the 2nd Division, and the club were relegated under his stewardship. He remained in place to lead the lichties assault on the 3rd Division, but after an awful start to the campaign, he jumped before he was pushed after a 0-3 hammering at home to Cowdenbeath in September 2005.

The present incumbent of the job is fans favourite ex player John McGlashan who was appointed in October 2005.

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