Departing Deveronvale manager Craig Stewart labels club 'a mess' after resigning over board rift
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Departing Deveronvale manager Craig Stewart has described the club as "a mess" and said there are board members who don't have Vale at heart.
Stewart had been at the club since October 2015, first as assistant manager and then as manager, but resigned after a shock 3-0 home loss to bottom-club Strathspey Thistle on Saturday.
After a goalless first half, Michael McKenzie (57th), Owen Loveland (62nd) and Ross Logan (89th) got the goals for only the Grantown sides second win of the season.
It was a terrific win for the managerless Jags with assistant Michael Rae stepping in as caretaker boss following the departure of Rob MacCormack earlier this month.
While admitting the performance was probably the worst of his eight-and-a-half-year spell, Stewart said it had little impact on his decision to resign.
He said: "There are people involved at the club that I can't work with. It's as simple as that.
"That is nothing to do with the result on Saturday, it has been a bit of a build-up. Don't get me wrong, Saturday was horrendous, probably the worst I've seen in my time at Vale, but I'm confident that team can go to Lossie and win.
"But seeing how people go about their business in the club – I'm a local lad and always have been – I don't like what happened at Deveronside and what is happening now at Deveronvale.
"The club is in a mess and there are people involved that have their own agendas and I'm not sure they have Vale at heart. They have very little knowledge of Highland League football, or football full stop.
"We have had one fundraiser this year, organised by a sponsor. If you only have one fundraiser per year – set up for you – the club is going to be in trouble.
"It means there are very little resources for money for players or for the wage structure. People on the board need to work harder to make funds available to keep the club going.
"The chairman Jim (Mair) has tried his hardest to keep the club going but there needs to be a lot more."
Deveronvale parted company with assistant manager Ritchie Davidson last month due to a 'footballing incident' and that accelerated Stewart's decision to step back.
He added: "It has been on my mind for a good several months that at the end of the season I was going to consider my position.
"Things happened with Titchy (Ritchie Davidson) too which hasn't helped the case."
Read more on the Jags' win in this week's Strathy out on Thursday.
