Willie Aitchison
Willie Aitchison is a Scottish football coach and manager.
Aitchison was a coach at Hearts, Cowdenbeath, MTK Budapest FC and R. Charleroi S.C..[1] He was appointed manager of East Fife in June 2013, succeeding Billy Brown.[1][2]
Aitchison's appointment was set with the target of trying to keep the team from relegation in League 1, as well as building an established youth structure within the club. His backroom staff consisted of current Hearts manager Robbie Neilson as assistant manager and Gary Naysmith as Coach.
A swelling of ambition at the club became clear as links to former internationalists Nuno Gomes, Ismael Bouzid and Christian Nade rained down as a new regime was paraded; a consortium led by pub chain owner Lee Murray. The new board's vision was fixed initially on fusing a young squad with recognised professionals - Christian Nade was immediately signed, later joined by Liam Buchanan, Gary Naysmith and Stephen Hughes.
East Fife were credited for their entertaining brand of possession football with fans coming in their flocks creating record average attendances at New Bayview. The introduction of youth players such as Nathan Austin and Ross Brown was also well received with supporters.
A notable away win at Dunfermline was East Fifes first win against their rivals since 1978.
Aitchison resigned in November 2013 due to a conflict with the chairman, with East Fife eighth in Scottish League One and only within 6 points of the promotion play offs.[3]
Aitchison is now currently a scout for Partick Thistle F.C..
Manager statistics
As of 24 November 2013
Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
East Fife | June 2013 | November 2013 | 17 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 29.41 | |
References
- 1 2 New East Fife boss Willie Aitchison sets out his vision for the club - Div 2 / Football / Sport / The Courier
- ↑ "Christian Nade joins East Fife". sport.scotsman.com. Johnston Publishing. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
- ↑ Willie Aitchison resigns as manager of East Fife after Forfar defeat | East Fife | Sport | STV