Carlisle United Football Club are delighted to welcome Steven Pressley as the club’s new first team manager.
Pressley, 45, takes post on a half-season deal, with an option for the club to extend at the end of the current campaign.
The former-Scotland international played 32 games for his country, breaking a 91-year-old record at Hearts into the bargain when he surpassed Bobby Walker’s 29 international appearances whilst at the club.
Chairman Andrew Jenkins said: "We're really pleased to have Steven on board. He impressed us immensely during the interview process and his enthusiasm to take what is a very attractive job on really shone through.
"He's taken time to watch us, and he spoke a lot about the fact that he's seen us play the type of football he likes to see. He's identified that there are good players here in the squad and he feels he can continue the fantastic work that has already been done this season.
"As a player, he played for his country and was a team captain with a number of clubs before going on to do his managerial apprenticeship in some very tough and demanding situations. That level of experience is something we feel can only help.
"The challenge of keeping the momentum going and maintaining our push for a successful end to the season is one he is looking forward to.
"It's unusual for a manager to come into a club in this situation, but he's looking forward to working with the staff who are already here on keeping the intensity levels high, and on achieving continued positive results."
"We're pleased to have concluded this process within a relatively quick timeframe," he added. "With two weeks left of the transfer window it's important that we get the squad back to a level where we know we will be competing every week.
"Steven has built up a lot of contacts both north and south of the border through what has been a very successful career, and I'm sure he will be focused on getting that side of things sorted so that all of the concentration can then be on the 18 games we have left to play."
Pressley took his first step into management with Hearts at the end of the 2004/05 season when he became joint caretaker manager for the final two games of that SPL campaign.
At just 30-years old he joined George Burley as assistant manager with the Scotland national team, and left that post in September 2009 at the end of the World Cup qualifying campaign.
Having retired as a player, he was appointed assistant manager at Falkirk at the end of summer that same year, and took over from Eddie May in the hotseat in February the following the year.
He was in charge for 138 games with The Bairns, but moved south of the border to take the Coventry City position which had been vacated by Mark Robins in March 2013. It was a turbulent time as the club was docked points and forced to play home games at Sixfields in Northampton, with off-field matters plaguing the outfit at almost every turn.
He left Coventry in 2015, having managed there for 100 games, and worked with Southampton as a scout, before replacing Graham Alexander as manager of Fleetwood Town.
He left Highbury 12-months later and has since had a spell with Pafos, in the Cypriot first division.
His distinguished playing career saw him start with Glasgow giants Rangers, who had spotted him playing for the Inverkeithing Boys Club, and he picked up a Scottish Cup winner’s medal having come off the bench during the Gers victory over Aberdeen.
He joined Coventry City in 1994 and moved back to his native Scotland one year later, where he signed for Dundee United. Three seasons and 100 appearances followed for the Tangerines before he made the switch to Hearts, where he established himself as club captain and a real favourite with the fans.
European competition and more cup success came at Tynecastle, and he also took the role of club spokesman through a difficult and controversial spell of ownership for the Jam Tarts.
He crossed the Old Firm divide in 2006 and became the first player to win the Scottish Cup with three different clubs when the Hoops beat Dunfermline in the final. Short spells with Randers [in Denmark] and Falkirk followed, before he made the step up to manage The Bairns on a full-time basis.
We’ll have full reaction to this appointment on the official website throughout the day.
