The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
All going according to plan
Cove Rangers: Chairman says club is ahead of schedule but is still cautious
Cove Rangers remain ahead of schedule in their five-year plan, according to chairman Keith Moorhouse.
The club has long-term aspirations to be a fulltime club, which has not necessarily been derailed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Much of it will depend on how Cove get on this year in League One. Moorhouse said getting promoted from League Two came ahead of schedule, with the league title achieved by a significant margin prior to football’s shutdown.
But the plans laid out are flexible enough to change.
Moorhouse said: “It’s a difficult to one to answer just now because it will depend on progress this year. We’ve got a five-year plan and we’re now into year two, so we’ve still got four years of the plan to run. We’ll take it as it comes. The plan is done in a way that we can adjust it – it’s flexible.
“Has it set us back? It will depend on what happens this season. Only then we’ll be able to reflect and decide what the next stage and the timescale look like.
“If anything, I’d say we’re ahead of it rather than the pandemic setting us back. We didn’t expect to be in League One at this moment in time.”
The kind of success they experienced in year one as an SPFL club has taken some by surprise. But there remains a level-headed approach within the Balmoral Stadium, as they prepare for their first season in League One come October.
Moorhouse added: “The kind of people we’ve got at the club tend not to get carried away. That’s right through the club and it’s always been like that. The success of the team, I think it’s possibly taken for granted how successful it and the club’s been. There’s an expectancy for that to continue.
“We need to be mindful and respectful of the fact we’re playing at a completely different level right now. Just enjoy where we are and see where it takes us. If we need to flex the plan here or there, we’ll do that. Nothing is set in stone. But it’s always good to have goals.”
The parts manager Paul Hartley, assistant Gordon Young and fitness coach Tam Ritchie have played so far have not been understated.
The club rewarded them with new contracts to 2025
“We didn’t expect to be in League One at this moment in time”
earlier this summer on the back of a memorable first season in charge.
Moorhouse said: “That’s a big step for the club to offer them those contracts to begin with and big for them to commit to that. It’s a mutual recognition of the work that’s been done and the work that’s still to be done.
“It’s a big boost for us but when you’re able to talk to Paul, he respects the club has given him that platform to get the club where we want to be. It’s good for the club and the individuals. It’s exciting times ahead but we’re not getting carried away.
“We’re now coming up against two full-time clubs and just over a year ago we were in the Highland League. That’s the reality, what people need to still think of.”