Former Celt Simon Ferry is new manager at Open Goal Broomhill FC

When Celtic B begin their second season in the Lowland League there will be a familiar face in one of the opposition dugouts.

Open Goal’s Simon Ferry – a former Celtic player himself – has swapped Peterhead for Broomhill and will now take his first steps into management in the Lowland League next season.

But this one has more to it than your ordinary manager’s gig, as Open Goal Broomhill, as they will now be known, due to a tie up with the podcast – which has over 100,00 subscribers- will include regular content on YouTube surrounding the club’s attempts to improve on a 15th place finish last season, including a monthly fly-on-the-wall documentary going out to subscribers.

⚽️✍️ 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙂𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧

Open Goal Broomhill FC are delighted to announce the appointment of Simon Ferry as the club’s new First-Team Manager.

Time to get to work 👊#WelcomeSiFerry #OpenGoalBroomhillFC pic.twitter.com/c0lHSZ1yD5

— Open Goal (@opengoalsport) May 4, 2022

Ferry is certainly aiming high with this one and it’s a novel way of increasing exposure for the Lowland league alongside boosting Open Goal’s subscriber base, and for Ferry this is a project the former Swindon and Dundee player sees ending with trophies and a push for promotion.

“I am absolutely delighted to have been given the opportunity to take on my first management role in football as it’s been an ambition of mine for some years now. Being able to take this first step with Open Goal involved makes the prospect all the more exciting with it being part of this amazing and unique project.

“We hope the phenomenal Open Goal fans get right behind the side and turn out in their numbers for each of our home games as the support will be vital in our pursuit for success.

“There will be some fantastic online content to enjoy but first and foremost, my role here is purely focused on assembling a winning team on the park with the aim to bring silverware and hopefully promotion to the club.

“Finally, I would like to thank Jim McInally and the Peterhead board for seven fantastic years at the club as a player and coach and for being so supportive in my decision to take on this next step in my coaching career.”

For the traditionalists this might be something met with complaint, but for Broomhill general manager George Fraser this is some blue sky thinking from a club who like to move away from the norm.

“We have always been a club that does things differently and the chance to provide a platform for the team going forward, both on the park and off the park, is one that we couldn’t pass up.”

Open Goal fans have already sold out the Hydro for two live events and now Simon Ferry will be hoping a good number head to Broomhill and add a few paying customers at the gate. Of course, it remains to be seen how Ferry gets on in the world of management, but despite all the humour and hilarity exhibited in his podcasts he’s always struck as the type who took his coaching responsibilities seriously.

For Ferry the chance to merge his to careers into one certainly seems a fantastic opportunity, and going up against the Celtic B team next season will only add to Open Goal’s exposure and Ferry’s challenges as a manager.

This will be an interesting one to see pan out. Though Si may have to improve his defending should he choose to pull on the boots and Owen Moffat gets a run at him!