Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
David Irvine

Open Goal confirm Broomhill FC split as Si Ferry, Paul Slane & Derek Lyle to depart

Open Goal chiefs have confirmed the commercial partnership with Broomhill FC will conclude at the end of the season.

The Lowland League club had rebranded to Open Goal Broomhill FC after agreeing a partnership with the popular podcast.

Simon Ferry had taken on the position as manager after the merger with Paul Slane and Derek Lyle in coaching roles.

However, the trio will depart the club at the end of the season when the commercial partnership comes to a conclusion.

It's understood players were informed of the impending departure of the management team at a meeting on Tuesday.

Open Goal Broomhill currently occupies 13th place in the 19-team Lowland League with five games left to play this season. 

“My first year in Management has been an invaluable experience and one I will take a lot of learnings from going forward," said Ferry of the experience.

"It’s been fantastic to work with this group of players and see how much they’ve developed this season. They’ve given me everything including showing their impressive level of character and ability particularly in our Scottish Cup campaign this season. I’m confident many of them will go on to progress their careers further following the year we’ve had together.”

Open Goal Broomhill FC general manager George Fraser said: “Firstly I’d like to thank the Manager Simon Ferry and his staff for their efforts this season. The excitement of the Scottish Cup campaign will live long in the memory and his team of players have created some amazing moments for fans to enjoy, particularly our Friday night games under the lights at Broadwood.

"The project with Open Goal has been an amazing success for us off the pitch and has been crucial in our mission to build and enhance an engaged and passionate community around our club which this partnership has achieved beyond our wildest expectations.

"The growth in our online presence has been remarkable and will be extremely valuable to the club’s development going forward. To give context, we as a Lowland League club have a higher combined following on platforms such as Twitter and Instagram compared to some Scottish Premiership-elect sides which proves the power of the project.

"We are a young club which has only been operating for 10 years and so this type of innovative idea was exactly what we needed in our journey in building the club’s fanbase both online and offline. It now gives us a fantastic platform to grow the club further both commercially and from a community point-of-view which we aim to reinvest back into a successful football team.

"There are plenty of exciting times ahead for Broomhill FC and we’d like to thank Open Goal for their contribution this year and wish both them and Simon Ferry all the best in the future.”

An Open Goal spokesperson commented: “From the outset of our sponsorship with Broomhill FC, we aimed to support the club in delivering a successful season on the pitch as well as drive the overall interest and engagement in the Scottish Lowland Football League through the production of high-quality, free-to-consume content that provides insight into what this level of football has to offer to a mass audience.

"As the figures show from an attendance perspective and online viewership, we were able to significantly expand the reach of Broomhill and the Lowland League by millions through our content including the fly-on-the-wall YouTube series, match highlights and club-dedicated podcast. Such was the extent of the exposure that it allowed the club to benefit from a new and higher-level of commercial input which was reinvested back into the squad and club infrastructure.

"Unfortunately, as is the nature of football, success on the pitch can never be guaranteed but we thank the efforts of Simon Ferry, his backroom staff and squad of players who we know gave everything in trying to deliver that this season.

"We believe we achieved a lot of our original aims and as such we would like to extend our thanks to every supporter who attended our Home games at Broadwood this season, our sponsors and Broomhill FC themselves for believing in the concept of adopting an innovative approach to growing their club in a self-sustainable and contemporary manner.

"We would like to wish Broomhill FC all the best in the future with them now placed in a stronger position to continue their growth with a higher level of commercial reach and public interest which will aid their journey going forward.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.