Queen’s Park snap up former AZ director

QUEEN’S PARK chief executive Leeann Dempster was thrilled to unveil former AZ Alkmaar sporting development director Marijn Beuker as the League One club’s director of football operations yesterday.

The move underlines the Spiders’ status as one of the most ambitious clubs outside of the Premiership and the appointment is left-field, given Beuker’s success at one of the Netherlands’ biggest clubs.

Dempster sees the deal as evidence of the strides Queen’s Park are making off the park as she welcomed the 37-year-old, who is “enormously regarded within European football”, to Glasgow’s south side.

“This is a truly exciting appointment for us,” the former

Hibernian chief executive told the club’s website. “We have the ambition to become a top club at developing young footballers, and in Marijn we have someone who thinks deeply about how best to do this, who constantly innovates, and who is enormously regarded within European football.

“Everyone at the club looks forward to working with, and learning from, one of Europe’s most influential developers of young talent. I am looking forward to working with Marijn very much.”

Beuker admitted to being seduced by the storied history of one of the oldest clubs in world football as he explained the allure of Queen’s Park, adding that he sees significant room for growth for the current League Two champions.

He said: “I am very proud to be able to take this new step in my career at one of the oldest clubs in the world. The ambition of the club to create sustainable success and the well-thought-out plan to make an impact in modern football in the coming years appeals to me enormously.

“I see a lot of opportunities to help Queen’s Park reach these goals and can’t wait to start a new future for the development programmes and recruitment process of the club, together with all the staff.”

Elsewhere, Stevie Crawford is back in management where it all began for him at East Fife. The former Scotland internationalist has been appointed as successor to Darren Young, who was sacked last week.