Crusaders boss Stephen Baxter is set to join a select club after agreeing a new contract with the Shore Road club.
Baxter, who was appointed to the post in 2005, initially in a caretaker capacity, signed a two year extension with the Seaviewmen on Tuesday night.
The new arrangement takes him to the end of the 2024/2025 campaign and that means he is poised to mark two decades at the helm of the Crues.
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In doing so he would join the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Sir Matt Busby, Jim McClean and Ronnie McFall who all hit the 20-year milestone with the one football club.
McFall, who enjoyed a remarkable 29-year reign at Portadown before stepping down in 2016, holds the record as longest-serving manager in the Irish League.
Baxter, who lifted his third Irish Cup as Crues boss earlier this month, has been at the Crusaders helm for 17 years, three months and one day.
He is now just 26 days shy of eclipsing David Jeffrey who managed Linfield for 17 years, three months and 26 days between 1997 and 2014.
Late last night Crusaders Football Club said it was “extremely pleased” to announce that Baxter had “signed a two year extension to his contract that has a year still to run.”
The statement added: “Stephen put pen to paper on Monday evening after very quick and positive talks.
“He will lead Crusaders until at least the end of the 2024-25 season making it 20 years at the helm.”
Before this month’s Irish Cup final with Ballymena United, Baxter said a fire still burned brightly inside him to continue at the Crusaders helm.
A dramatic 2-1 win over the Sky Blues, thanks to a last-gasp winner from Johnny McMurray, delivered silverware in what was his 854th game in charge of the club.
“Someone told me recently that it was my 850th game and I was shocked,” said Baxter prior to the blur riband showpiece at Windsor Park.
“I had never really thought about the milestones and I never sit back and think ‘oh, I’ve done all this’ or ‘I’ve done all that’. It’s all about the here and now.
“On a Friday night my wife would say to me ‘you’ve 20 teams written down on that bit of paper’. That focus and preparation never leaves you.
“Maybe when I’m bored and wrap it all up, I’ll sit back and reflect, but every part of me is fired up to continue and drive on to do exceptionally well for Crusaders.
“And why not? We’re still riding the crest of a wave. Milestones are lovely, but what worries me more is making sure we remain competitive. That’s what keeps me awake at night.”
Baxter, who has won three league titles, three Irish Cups, a Setanta Cup, three County Antrim Shields and one League Cup, secured his place in Crusaders folklore a long time ago.
Billy Johnston, who delivered a first league title to Seaview in 1973 and another Gibson Cup in 1976, and Roy Walker, who won two championships in the 1990s when Baxter was a player, are both revered.
But no manager has been at the helm for longer, won more or contributed as much to the rich history of the North Belfast club.
Not that Baxter will be regaling passersby with tales of silverware and success from the rooftops of the terraced rows of Belfast’s Shore Road.
“When you look at the history of our football club, you’ll hopefully look back on it in years to come and say you played your part,” he said recently.
Mission accomplished, but with a new contract signed and sealed, the full story has yet to be written.
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