The toughest job in Scots football
BELGIUM SCOUT IS NEW FORT WILLIAM BOSS
A FOOTBALL coach has given up a role with the Belgian international side to take over at Scotland’s worst football club.
Shadab Iftikhar has left Fifa’s top ranked country to join Fort William – currently bottom of the Highland league.
The 31-year-old BritishPakistani swapped a scouting role with Roberto Martinez’s superstar-packed Belgium team for a survival scrap in Scotland’s sixth tier as Fort William’s new manager.
His team have a solitary point from 18 games and their most recent match saw them lose 10-1 to Brora Rangers – the second time they have conceded 10 this season.
So far, they have a -57 goal difference, having conceded 75 goals.
Shadab, from Lancashire, hopes to tap into the knowledge of Martinez and his coaches, who include former Celtic and Scotland star Shaun Maloney.
He said: “Martinez and I are scheduled to speak later today.
“To be able to go to people like that [Martinez and
Maloney] is priceless and it is one of the reasons why I am so confident we will be successful at Fort William.”
Shadab began his scouting career at Wigan, where Martinez was manager.
He followed the Spaniard to Everton before gaining his Uefa A licence and becoming head coach of Bayangol FC in the Mongolian Premier League.
After a stint in Samoa, he returned to the UK, and Martinez asked him to compile scouting reports for Belgium’s tilt at the Euro 2020 crown.
Because of work commitments, Shadab’s first game in charge of Fort William won’t be until the end of the month.
He said: “I 100 per cent believe the future is bright. I truly believe in the players.”