David Gold Explains Arbroath Fc Would Keep Part-Time Players
arbroath fc would keep part-time players if it won promotion to the Scottish Premiership, with co-manager David Gold saying a hybrid model would make most sense after back-to-back promotions. He said the club would not force out players such as captain Tam O'Brien, even if the step up came at Gayfield.
Gold on Arbroath FC's model
“Financially, the club would be in the best place it has ever been I would imagine,” Gold said when asked what promotion would mean for Arbroath. He added that the club should “Continue to do what you're doing, try to attract better players maybe, reward the players who have got you to where you have got and just take it from there. I think that would be the best way to go about it.”
That left his clearest line for the squad structure. “You have got Tam O'Brien, who is the captain, he's got a really good job and he's now 34. Is he going to go full-time? No. Does he deserve a shot at the Premiership when he's done everything to try and get us there? Aye, I would say.”
Tam O'Brien at Gayfield
Gold’s view on O'Brien cut to the practical problem Arbroath would face if it moved up. A club trying to complete back-to-back promotions would not be starting from a blank slate, and Gold said the plan would need to fit the players who already got them there rather than replace them with a completely different structure.
“You couldn't just go, 'you're not fitting this model anymore – see you later'. I don't think that would be right and I think it would be against what we are as a club. We are very much together,” he said. That pushed the conversation beyond promotion itself and into how Arbroath would keep the dressing room intact while adding full-time and loan players where needed.
Scott Brown at Gayfield
The match took place at Gayfield at 19:30, with Arbroath trailing Dunfermline Athletic 0-1 on aggregate before kickoff in the Scottish Premiership play-off quarter-final second leg. Scotland’s Sportscene went on air 15 minutes earlier than usual, and Scott Brown and James McFadden joined Jonathan Sutherland at Gayfield.
Chris Kane also entered the evening with fresh momentum after signing a new one-year deal with Dunfermline Athletic earlier on the same day. For Arbroath, the immediate issue was still the tie in front of them, but Gold’s comments gave a clear picture of what the club would try to protect if promotion turned that tie into a bigger jump.
