Albion Rovers appoint fan with no experience as boss for clash with Hearts B this weekend

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A Scottish football club has appointed a supporter with zero touchline experience as their new manager. Albion Rovers will hand over the reins to Duncan McKay for a one-off game this weekend.

The 142-year-old club will place diehard Hibs fan Duncan in the dugout for their home clash against Hearts B this Saturday in the Lowland League. The move will see ex-Rangers and West Ham striker Sandy Clark step down from his role as Rovers boss for one game, allowing Duncan to take charge of the Coatbridge club.

The unique experience will all be filmed for BBC Scotland’s football fan show ‘A View from the Terrace.’ Duncan has tried his hand at various jobs across Scottish football - turning out as a mascot, ballboy, Tannoy announcer, kit man, and groundskeeper - for the show’s popular ‘Put a Shift In’ segment.

Now he’ll face the biggest job yet as he steps into the Cliftonhill hot seat, picking the lineup and tactics before delivering an inspirational team talk for the players. Duncan said: “I’ve been dreaming of this my whole life. Most fans think they can do a better job than the manager, so I’m going to put it to the test.”

Duncan has previously excelled in Football Manager, taking English League Two side Accrington Stanley all the way to being European champions in the online game. He added: “Let’s see if all those hours spent playing Football Manager and shouting my expert opinion from the stands and at the TV work in reality. I look forward to meeting the team — I hear they’re a great bunch of lads.

“Football is a funny old game, and at the end of the day, it’s all about getting the three points. But if we don’t win, we’ll dust ourselves off and go again. Well, I won’t, as I am only boss for a day, but you know what I mean.”

Albion Rovers board member Ben Kearney said: “Everyone at Albion Rovers is delighted to welcome Duncan as boss for this weekend’s Park’s Motor Group Lowland League fixture against Hearts B. It is the perfect opportunity for Duncan to get his foot in the door against the Wee Jambos and we are expecting big things.

“It is the perfect opportunity for Duncan to get his foot in the door against the Wee Jambos and we are expecting big things. No pressure, but we won our last match at The Reigart Stadium 5-0! Six will do nicely on Saturday.

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“We’ll be holding our breath on Saturday and while we hope he’ll do the business, we look forward to welcoming Sandy back to the hot seat next week.”

Albion Rovers will host Hearts B at Cliftonhill Stadium on Saturday at 3pm. The short documentary video of Duncan’s experience as boss will feature on next week’s episode, airing Friday night on BBC Scotland at 10.30 pm.

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