Hibs confirm appointment of Stuart Garden goalkeeping coach after successful trial

Hibs have confirmed the appointment of former Montrose manager Stuart Garden as the club’s new goalkeeping coach.

His appointment follows a successful pre-season trial period with the club, Garden doing enough to convince manager Lee Johnson and his backroom team to land the role on a full-time basis.

The club have been looking for a new goalkeeping coach since parting company with Jon Busch in May, just three months after he was brought in by Shaun Maloney. Previous incumbent Craig Samson, brought in by Maloney’s predecessor Jack Ross, left by mutual consent and eventually joined Aberdeen.

Garden, 50, has now taken over as both first team goalkeeping coach and head of academy goalkeeping.

Stuart Garden was with Hibs on their pre-season training camp in Portugal and throughout pre-season on a trial basis. Picture: Craig Foy / SNS

An established figure within Scottish football, he played in goal for Dundee North End, Dundee United, Brechin City, Forfar Athletic and Notts County before finishing his career at Ross County in 2006.

Since hanging up his boots, he has enjoyed spells coaching at Montrose, Airdrieonians, Dundee United, Queens Park and most recently Livingston. He also spent two seasons as manager of Montrose between 2012 and 2014.

Johnson said: “Stuart comes with a top reputation in the Scottish game, not just as a coach but as a human being.

“We have a really interesting dynamic within the goalkeeping department with David Marshall, Kevin Dąbrowski and Murray Johnson all at very different stages of their careers, as well as the younger goalkeepers within the academy.

“It was important that we got the right character in terms of a human being, but also someone with the right skill set and coaching experience – Stuart brings exactly that.”