Former Hearts and Hibs defender linked with management return at relegated League One club

Former Hearts and Hibs defender Alan Maybury was most recently in charge of Edinburgh City (Pic: SNS) | SNS Group

Former Edinburgh City boss Alan Maybury is wanted by Stirling Albion as the relegated League One club look for a new manager, according to a report.

The 45-year old, who turned out for both Hearts and Hibs during his playing career, won promotion with City in his only managerial stint so far but left early last season after a bad start to the campaign which eventually only got worse for the capital club. The Irishman is now apparently on Stirling’s radar after the Binos pulled out of a deal for ex Kilwinning Rangers boss Chris Aitken.

The Daily Record claim that Maybury was one of four managers interviewed at Forthbank and now looks to be the preferred candidate to replace former Aberdeen and Dunfermline Athletic midfielder Darren Young. The ex East Fife and Albion Rovers boss won promotion to League One in the 2022/23 season, going up as champions of League Two, but stepped down last month when they were relegated back to the fourth tier at the first time of asking.

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They finished second bottom in the league table, ahead of Edinburgh City, but were beaten by Dumbarton in the play-offs who took a 2-1 victory from the first leg to Stirling and held on for a 0-0 draw. The Sons then went on to beat Spartans in the play-off final to secure their promotion.

Dublin born Maybury began Hibs playing career at Leeds United and even represented the Whites in the Champions League during his spell at Elland Road in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He signed for Hearts in 2001 and made over 100 appearances across his four seasons at Tynecastle before following Craig Levein to Leicester City in 2005.

He returned to Scottish football with a loan spell at Aberdeen in 2008 and was part of the side that drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich at Pittodrie in the UEFA Cup. He came back north of the border on a permanent basis with St Johnston in 2010 and then had a two season spell with Hibs between 2012 and 2014 before finishing off his playing career at Falkirk.