The tenure of the longest serving manager in Scottish football came to an end yesterday with Billy Reid parted company with Hamilton Accies after almost 8 years in charge at New Douglas Park.
The parting is amicable and came just a day after a 2-1 win over Dumbarton that lifted the Division One side into seventh place in the table 6 points clear of the relegation play-off zone.
Reid said: “This has been on my mind for a while and probably since the previous Chairman Ronnie MacDonald left almost a year ago. No disrespect to Les Gray the present chairman but it was Ronnie who brought me here and who I worked closely with during our First Division win and our 3 year spell in the SPL.”
“I have probably been unsettled since then so I had a chat with the club and decided to look for something new. There has been no fallout or anything like that it is just time to move on.”
Gray said in a statement: “The club would like to thank Billy for his almost eight years in charge - a period which has seen the club at its highest level in almost 80 years. We won promotion to the Scottish Premier League in 2008 had three seasons in the SPL - including a 7th place finish - three Scottish Cup quarter-finals and two Ramsdens Cup finals,"
"The decision to separate was an amicable one. Billy felt he needed a fresh challenge, and the club was like-minded. It was simply and naturally felt that it was the right thing to do at the right time.”
Reid appears to still be a supporter with Gray adding: “Billy has already indicated that he will be at Dunfermline to support the team on Saturday and will be at the home game versus Airdrie United next Tuesday as well."
Club captain Alex Neil and Academy Director Frankie McAvoy will assume first team duties until the end of the season.
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