Bitter memory makes title win sweeter for Linn

Bobby Linn suffered the pain of relegation with Arbroath in his first season at the club.

Three years on, all that hurt has been wiped away for the 31-year-old following the Red Lichties’ title triumph at Forthbank.

Season 2013-14 saw Arbroath finish bottom of League One, 71 points behind runaway champions Rangers.

Linn said: “It’s absolutely incredible. The first season I came here we got relegated.

“It was horrible and left a bad taste in your mouth.

“Now we have taken the club back to where we belong in a higher league so I am delighted. I’m stuck for words, it’s just so good.”

Linn said he was also thrilled for manager Dick Campbell, adding: “The guy, as a man and a manager, is the best I’ve worked with.

“We were 11 points behind Forfar but that is where Dick Campbell comes into play and he is a joy to work with.

“This is for him and I have utter respect for the man.”

Emotions were also running high for John Christison, in his final game in charge as Arbroath chairman.

Christison, the longestserving chairman in Scottish football, said: “It has been a fantastic spell.

“The support we had from Arbroath was phenomenal and it has been quite emotional, to be honest.

“I had been thinking about it for the last couple of years and kind of made up my mind at Christmas time that this would be my last season.

“When I took Dick on when we did the interview in Dundee last year I said to him at the time that he would be my last manager. “So this could not be better. “I’ll still go to Gayfield for the games. I’ve been going there since I was a boy so I am not going to be changing my habits.”

Bobby Linn: full of praise for job done by manager Dick Campbell.