Spartans manager departs club after 'allegations of misconduct' as statement released
Spartans have made the announcement following their match this weekend - as Edinburgh City continue to impress, writes Neil McGlade.
Dougie Samuel has left his position of head coach at League Two Spartans following an investigation of alleged misconduct, the club has announced.
Samuel, who joined the Ainslie Park side in June 2012 and was the longest-serving manager in the Scottish Professional Football League, steered the club to promotion in May 2023 via the pyramid play-off.
It was announced a fortnight ago that 59-year-old Samuel would be taking a "period of extended leave" but, after an independent investigation, the former Edinburgh University boss has now been relieved of his duties. It was only in February this year Samuel celebrated 5,000 days in charge of Spartans.
Why has Dougie Samuel left Spartans?
The club said in a statement: "Following an independent investigation into allegations of misconduct, The Spartans FC head coach Douglas Samuel has left the club. Out of respect for the privacy of the individuals involved, and in accordance with our confidentiality policies, we will make no further comment on the specific details of the investigation or its findings.
“Paul Thomson will continue as our interim head coach for the foreseeable future, we really appreciate the commitment of our coaching, medical, and support teams, plus our players through this busy spell with another game on Tuesday."
On the pitch, Spartans were beaten 3-0 by Dumbarton on Saturday and stay third in Scottish football's fourth tier. Meanwhile, Edinburgh City continue their ascent up the table after a 3-1 victory at Kelty Hearts. The Citizens are now sixth following their latest success, Lennon Walker, Jason Jarvis, from the penalty spot, and Tommy North, all on target at New Central Park.
Manager Michael McIndoe said afterwards: "It was a really solid, professional performance. To be honest we probably could have scored five by half-time. We've had ten good chances in the first half, and scored three. We could have scored a couple more. It was an extremely windy day, so we didn't play as much football as we wanted to, but I'm really happy with the result.
"We can now start our season off properly - we're now on a level playing field so we can have no more excuses about the points deduction. Hopefully we can keep the winning results coming."