The Board of Directors are delighted to announce the appointment of Gavin Skelton as manager of Queen of the South FC with immediate effect. Gavin has signed a contract taking him to the end of season 2016/17. He is currently on holiday but commented before he left "I am delighted to be given the opportunity as manager of Queen of the South. Now I can start plans and preparations for what will be an exciting and hopefully successful season. As a club we will strive to compete for a place in the play offs in a very strong league. The club have re-signed a number of players in the last few weeks and I will be looking to add a few new faces to the squad. Having been at the club last year I know there is a good mix of experienced players alongside some exciting young players who I expect to play a big part this season. I will be working extremely hard to ensure I produce a committed, passionate and talented team that all Queen of the South supporters will enjoy watching and most importantly be proud to support”
As a player, Gavin was an apprentice at Carlisle United and had a season at Workington before joining Gretna in 2001. He stayed there for 8 years as they moved up through the Leagues before moving on to Kilmarnock when Gretna went into administration. Two seasons there were followed by a year at Hamilton Academical and then two seasons with Barrow before he joined Workington as a player coach.
Whilst with Kilmarnock he had coached the Stirling University team for experience and he took over as manager of Workington from May 2014. In his one season in charge they finished 2nd to FC United of Manchester in the Northern Premier League but lost out to Ilkeston in the playoffs. He joined Queen of the South as assistant to James Fowler in June 2015 and was in caretaker charge for the final two games of the season.
The management team will be strengthened by Jim Thomson in his new role as Football Development Manager. This role will oversee all footballing aspects of the club.
Queen of the South Chairman Billy Hewitson says “The club are pleased to announce the appointment of Gavin Skelton as manager of Queen of the South. We spoke to a number of applicants but were impressed with Gavin's enthusiasm and ambition, his knowledge of football in both Scotland and Northern England, and his desire to see more regular training sessions held in Dumfries. In addition to this we have announced Jim Thomson in his senior role of Football Development Manager. The club have identified certain areas in which we feel the club need to move forward successfully and we feel the constant in this will be Jim Thomson”