CEO's Message for the New Year

As the year 2024 ends, I again have a sense of real pride for the unwavering dedication shown by everyone involved with Ross County Football Club. We are competing in the strongest Scottish Premiership in my recent memory and it’s something our People, our Community and the whole of the Highlands should be extremely proud of.

The past year has once again been full of ups and downs for us all. We had a difficult start to the year with form not being at the level we needed to maintain our place in the top flight of Scottish Football. February marked a change with Don Cowie taking charge in place of Derek Adams, initially on an interim basis and following a win over Raith Rovers in the Play-Off Final, this was made a permanent appointment.

The summer also saw changes to the first team staff with Carl Tremarco making the step up to Assistant Manager and Paul Cowie joining the club as First-team Coach. More recently we have had Max Campbell change his role from Academy Analyst to becoming our First-team Analyst. Ben Senior also joined us as our Club Chef. This group along with our current footballing staff see us in a strong position. A massive thank you has to go to RSE who this season continued as our first-team sponsor, their support is massively appreciated as always.

We had memorable results at the Global Energy Stadium including our first ever victory over Rangers as well as wins over Hibs and Hearts in there too. There is no hiding the fact 2024 was a tough year on the road but it was a fantastic moment last week to find that elusive victory on the road with a really strong performance and result at Dens Park and round off our travels for the year in style. I feel our new signings are really bedding in now with some strong performances both individually and as a team.

Our Academy has gone from strength to strength this year. With our U18s on a really promising journey in the Scottish Youth Cup and some exciting talents emerging from squads across all age groups, it is a very exciting time for our Academy. We have welcomed Campbell Money from the Scottish FA to the club as our Football Development Director which emphasises our commitment to our Academy and bringing through young talent. Part of Campbell’s remit has been to help with the growth of our Women’s team which has been fantastic to see this year. Having a crowd of over 600 at the Global Energy Stadium to watch our Women in the Scottish Cup was a proud moment for all at the club. A massive thank you also must go to Pat Munro and Stagecoach for their sponsorship of our Women’s team and Academy.

It is always a proud moment to see some of our homegrown talent represent on the international stage, this year we have Dylan Smith and Keira Syrjanen representing Scotland at their respective age groups which is huge credit to the hard work of their coaches and families in getting them to that stage. We have also had Torran Lambie called up for the Scotland Schools squad for the upcoming Centenary Shield which we wish him and the squad the very best for.

Our Commercial Department have had another successful year with Dunc Chisholm, our Head of Commercial leading the way. We have looked to support Duncan and our commercial department with the appointment of Mark Ridgers as our new Business Development Executive. We have managed to secure some exciting deals and partnerships for the club and with more in the pipeline we feel we are in a period of growth which will go a long way in future proofing the football club. We continue to aim to provide a variety of Hospitality offerings on matchdays to suit all needs. There is a huge amount of effort that goes into this and we all appreciate the continued support of all of sponsors, guests and partners who help our Commercial Department to thrive during a constantly changing environment.

Our Community Department has had another strong year and continues to grow through the drive and enthusiasm of Alan Heath’s small but dedicated team; who have once again overseen successful operations of training camps, courses, schools and outreach programmes across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The work they do is vital in maintaining our strong community links and we will look for more opportunity for growing the department and the work they do.

As in last year’s remarks, it would be remiss of me to put these together without mentioning some of the ‘unsung heroes’ behind the scenes of the club who without them, we would not have the continued growth and success that we do. Club Secretary Fiona MacBean, Nicola Swales and Kat Dearing in our Accounts Department, Davie Fraser and Brian Mackenzie our Groundsmen who have had their fair share of tricky conditions to navigate in recent months, Kathleen Mackay and her team in the club shop, Jack Michael and his small team of volunteers on our Comms/Media, David O’Connor who heads up our safety and operations team, our SLO’s, our kit team, the club reverend and of course a mention has to go to all our Matchday staff who support our full-time staff in ensuring we can host games in the Scottish Premiership. We have a small team but the work of every single member of the team is paramount to the smooth running of the ‘Best Away Day’ in the Scottish Premiership.

As always, a huge thanks must go to our board directors, James Macdonald, and Jia Mackenzie. As mentioned before, we are competing in an extremely tough Scottish Premiership and for us to be able to do this week in, week out as a proud Highland Club is a massive achievement and shouldn’t be underestimated but I need to be clear this would not be possible without the support, investment, encouragement and of course passion of our Chairman, Roy Macgregor.

Last but certainly not least, a massive thank you must go to our ever-dedicated supporters. Your support both home and away this year has been fantastic and is hugely appreciated. We see continued growth in our Official Supporters Club. Although away results have been hard to come by, we have still had some special moments on the road such as Dark Blue Saturday MK2 at Pittodrie in April, it was incredible to see such a strong and vociferous Staggies support that day and for many other away matches this year. We all know the trials and tribulations that the A9 brings and the early starts and late nights from our supporters is something that all our players, staff and directors are very grateful for.

I extend my warmest wishes for a Happy New Year to all our players, staff, families, supporters, stakeholders, sponsors, and our wider community. May the year 2025 bring success, prosperity, with moments of pride and joy for all involved with Ross County Football Club.