From the office of the new chairman

Following our last announcement, we confirm that both Jim Duffy and Craig McPherson have left their respective positions at the club by mutual consent.

Football is a really tough sport and at times very hard decisions need to be made. My father and I have a massive respect for Jim Duffy as a man and as a great football manager.

Along with Craig McPherson they have, through their stewardship, made us credible contenders in football again and brought great pride back to Inverclyde.

Jim came in at a bleak time for the club after relegation to League One and was given the task of getting us back to the Championship, which he duly delivered at the first attempt.

Over the next three years we enjoyed three cup quarter-finals and a League Cup semi-final at Hampden, as well as being serious challengers in the promotion race to the top flight of Scottish football. For that we are incredibly grateful to both of them.

Unfortunately, in football change is sometimes required, it is the nature of the game, and we felt that it was the right time to make some changes and freshen things up.

As we look to build on Jim’s good work it is vital that the next manager we engage is of the correct calibre and shares our desire to realise our ambition for the future as we enter a new chapter in the history of Greenock Morton Football Club.

As you know my father has had to step down due to health issues. His main regret and disappointment during his tenure was not being able to deliver top-flight football to the people of Inverclyde.

My ambition is to be able to do this for him during his lifetime.

We have a fantastic board who bring great talent and resources to the table and we are extremely grateful to our fans for their unstinting support over the years.

We have a solid infrastructure in place at the club, delivering vital and worthwhile programmes within the community. We are engaging with children as young as two so that we can catch the majority of our local talent.

Our Under-20s have just won Development League West on merit. While other clubs play many first-team players, we didn’t. There are so many good things happening and we want to build on this.

Yes, we still have a long journey. Yes, there are things that we could do better. But we firmly believe that with your continued help and support we can achieve great success.

We are a team with a mission. It’s not about one person, it’s about teamwork. Togetherness creates momentum, improves morale, and we recognise that none of us are as good as all of us.

I am honoured to be your new chairman and I will give my very best, in both time and resources, to the club.

We have already had a number of top applications for our vacant management position and will keep the communication flowing, but please appreciate that to get the right candidate in place will take a little time.

We are setting a realistic timeline to achieve all our targets but for us to succeed we need to do it together. If you can believe in our goal then we are halfway there.

Together.